How McCain Reconciles Lies With Honor

The New Republic: The Logic And Rationale Behind John McCain's New Sleazy Campaign Style

(The New Republic)  This column was written by Jonathan Chait.

About a week after John McCain's campaign unveiled a vice-presidential nominee who incessantly boasted about her decision to turn down federal funding for a notoriously pointless bridge ("I told Congress 'thanks, but no thanks' on that Bridge to Nowhere"), the press corps began to notice that Sarah Palin had, in fact, vigorously championed the project until it was no longer tenable. Political fibs, even brazen ones such as this, are hardly unprecedented. What happened next, though, was somewhat unusual. Despite having its claim exposed in nearly every media outlet, the McCain campaign continued to assert it anyway, day after day, dozens of times in all. It was as if Bill Clinton had persisted in his claim that he did not have sexual relations with that woman even after the appearance of the semen-stained dress.

But what happened after that was even more unusual, and possibly without precedent: McCain's supporters simply suggested that the truth or falsity of their statements didn't matter. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said this to Politico about the increased media scrutiny of the campaign's factual claims: "We're running a campaign to win. And we're not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it." Republican strategist John Feehery made the point even more bluntly, telling The Washington Post: "The more The New York Times and The Washington Post go after Sarah Palin, the better off she is, because there's a bigger truth out there, and the bigger truths are: She's new, she's popular in Alaska, and she is an insurgent." Then, he added, "As long as those are out there, these little facts don't really matter."

Here we have the distilled essence of the McCain campaign's ethos: Perception is reality. Facts don't matter. McCain has presented himself as the grizzled champion of timeworn values. But the defining trait of his candidacy turns out to be a postmodern disdain for truth. How could McCain--a man widely regarded, not so long ago, as one of the country's most honor-bound politicians, and therefore an unusually honest one--have descended to this ignominious low? Part of the answer is that McCain is simply doing what works--and there is good reason to believe that his campaign's strategy of persistent dishonesty will pay dividends come November 4. But part of the explanation for all this recent dishonesty may lie, oddly enough, in McCain's legendary sense of honor.

No presidential candidate has ever gone through an entire election without stretching the truth. Certainly, Barack Obama is not totally innocent. Last March, Obama said that McCain "wants to continue a war in Iraq perhaps as long as one hundred years," when in fact McCain said that he would favor an indefinite peaceful military presence. (Obama was repeatedly called on this distortion by the press, and subsequently stopped saying it.) He has accused McCain of helping to permit a corporate takeover in Ohio that has led to the threat of layoffs--a literally true claim that inaccurately implies that the takeover caused the problem. He has also accused McCain of favoring nearly $4 billion in new tax breaks for Big Oil--literally true, but misleading, insofar as McCain is offering tax cuts to corporations in general, not Big Oil in particular.

But McCain's untruths, in their frequency and their audacity, defy any modern historical precedent. He has been concocting falsehoods for months on end, all of which serve a clear political purpose. Last summer, Obama--on the heels of a New York Times report that the Bush administration in 2005 had canceled at the last minute a snatch-and-grab operation targeting Osama bin Laden's lieutenants in Pakistan--pledged to follow through on any actionable intelligence against Al Qaeda. After Obama's nomination became likely, McCain--then trying to portray Obama as dangerously naïve and uninformed--accused him of having "once suggested bombing our ally, Pakistan." Obama had not said anything about bombing. His speech merely conveyed his support for small, special operations missions--the types of missions, incidentally, that the Bush administration has since undertaken.

During Obama's overseas trip this summer, he called off a meeting with wounded troops at a military hospital after the Pentagon told him that the trip might run afoul of a policy against visiting soldiers in the course of campaigning. A McCain ad accused him of canceling the meeting because he learned that cameras couldn't accompany him. (In fact, the press had never been scheduled to come along.)

Just last week, McCain attacked Obama for proposing to cut defense spending. "During the primary, he told a liberal advocacy group that he'd cut defense spending by tens of billions of dollars," charged the GOP nominee. "He promised them he would, quote, 'slow our development of future combat systems.'" Actually, Obama had pledged to cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful military spending (he also favored increasing the size of the military). Worse, almost any listener hearing this claim would come away thinking Obama was proposing to cut funding for weapons systems in development. In reality, Obama had promised to slow the development of a specific project called "Future Combat Systems," a controversial program. Indeed, McCain himself had proposed eliminating this very program in July.

[xlib]

Guess there''s nothing sleazy about what has been going on with Palin. No one can say that the messiah''s minions aren''t behind the attempted destruction of not only Sarah, but her family.
Guess there isn''t anything wrong with the messiah''s campaign running Spanish only ads in 4 states using lies to say mccain is against immigration when he co-sponsored the amnesty bill with ole ted. Nope, nothing wrong there.
So far the mccain campaign has been using the messiah''s own words. And, let''s not forget msm part in this. We all know the collective media is in the tank for the messiah. Just admit it for God''s sake.

[mswolfestock]

McShame lies because he thinks we are all stupid enough to believe him. That is what makes him totally unacceptable as President. Every time McShame lies he insults my intelligence.

He incessantly claims to love his country, he says he is a patriot, but that is a lie, too. How can anybody love their country while they show all the citizens such contempt, how can he love his country while he tells such outrageous lies?

He''s beginning to sound more crazy than Richard Nixon ever was, and Nixon was crazy as a bedbug.

[xlib]

mswolfestock-Uh, sweetie, all you did in your post is use the word lie quite often. So, please tell use exactly what lies mccain is telling.
Come on lib, reach way, way down into your addled brain and tell us just one.

[bchandra90]

John Feehery made the point even more bluntly, telling The Washington Post: "............facts don''t really matter."

There is no one so blind as the man that doesn''t want to see. If you think lying doesn''t matter look at the Iraq War. Tell the parents and children of those that are already dead that the "facts don''t really matter." Oh, sorry that''s what the last president did.

John McCain should be ashamed. He has no honor. It makes me wonder how long he has truly felt this way and what other lies he has told.

[strangeworld]

It is sad that mcCain has become completely devoid of honor. The man is a bum.

[mswolfestock]

XLib -

During Obama''s overseas trip this summer, he called off a meeting with wounded troops at a military hospital after the Pentagon told him that the trip might run afoul of a policy against visiting soldiers in the course of campaigning. A McCain ad accused him of canceling the meeting because he learned that cameras couldn''t accompany him. (In fact, the press had never been scheduled to come along.)

You are just as bad as McShame - a Lie becomes a Lie when somebody like you chooses to take it as a fact.

Merriam Webster''s defines Lie -

"to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive,"

or -

"to create a false or misleading impression."

This article is a great accounting of a man who doesn''t really know what the truth is, and he never will know.

[noloyalisti]

I am glad to see the media finally using the l word as in lies. Maybe if they had used it when McBush was doing it, we would have save thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. Instead we have more the McSame and NO ONE has any idea why they would vote for this naive, senile war-monger. His party has ruined America and we want more of the Same?

[lhwrites]

It''s not fair to compare Bill Clinton''s evasion ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman") to Sarah Palin''s out and out lie that she turned down the money for the "Bridge to Nowhere." Anyone whose ever taken a health ed class knows that Bill Clinton did not have sexual relations. To borrow a concept from the McCain people, the "larger truth" in that situation was that it was IRRELEVANT. Sarah Palin, who was willing to take the earmark, is an opportunist, not a maverick.

[al_in_alabma]

The honerable journalists are tired of being duped, manipulated and kicked around. The McCain campaign went too far, and many truth-seeking journalists, having learned some lessons in the last decade, have risen up and said no more. I wonder what would happened if all of the reporters, tired of the abuse, had refused to take photos and video of Palin''s chat with Karzai; it seems this almost happened. Imagine the outrage in the McCain-Palin camp.

[incog-nito]

This article summarizes a lesson that the Dems have yet to learn: In order to accomplish your political objectives, you must first win, and do what it takes to win. In politics, the ends do justify the means. The Republicans understand this, and that''s why they''ve been successful in the past two elections. Forget about the "high road". Modern presidential contests are actually pretty tame compared to those in early American history.

[jmurrieta11]

The same way he reconciles his collaboration with the North Vietnamese with his "war hero" status??

Posted by incog-nito
-------------------
If we continue to buy into "the ends justify the means" philosophy, we continue to put our country in great peril.
We seem to forget that there is always two sides to this "lie" business.
1. The person telling the lie in order to achieve a desired result.
2. The person who buys into the lie usually because it''s what he/she wants to hear - or - "willful ignorance".
The idiot-son told his lies in order to achieve his political ends. He was successful because a lot of people believed him because he was telling ''em what they wanted to hear. He was successful, he achieved his political ends, and his "believers" were successful because they achieved theirs.

But now look where it got him and the country.

And now McCain has replaced his primary campaign staff with the Karl Rove proteges in order to copy what the idiot-son did to him in 2000. We see that in the lies coming out of his campaign recently.

"There is not such thing as objective, independently verifiable reality" Karl Rove (direct quote). This is the centerpiece of Rove''s philosophy - it got the idiot-son elected, and now McCain is trying it.

[incog-nito]

"If we continue to buy into "the ends justify the means" philosophy, we continue to put our country in great peril."

Posted by hadenough43 at 04:33 PM : Sep 24, 2008

While you may not agree, what you mentioned in your own post supports the idea that the ends DO justify the means. Good or bad, it works.

[xlib]

mswwolfstock-you need to cite your source for your statement. Oh and BTW, I won''t accept the dailykos or huffingtopost. OK?
As for your allegation as to the reason the messiah didn''t visit the troops, I learned of it on line and I do believe it may have been cnn. I don''t recall seeing a mccain ad. So, cite your source.
And, please, enough with the nastiness,ok? How about a civil discourse.

[magnetrack]

Obama still needs to be vetted. If he gets elected, we''ll have an abysmal vetting while he''s in office, since there are so many gaps and so many stories.

[xlib]

hadenough-Perhaps the mccain campaign should have tried to hire begala. Since he no longer works for fannie mae since last month and the clinton camp is out of funds he might be available.

[bluestardad]

REPUBLICANS CANT RUN ON RECORD!

REPUBLICANS CANT USE PARTY NAME IN POLITICAL ADS

JOHN MCCAIN KEATING 5

ACCOUNTABILITY!

[bpai99]

McCain''s self-image of moral superiority is deeply offensive and not a trait a sane person would want in a leader. Coupled with how he uses it to justify the most sleazy campaign lies and tactics, we can see what a McCain Presidency would be like.

[paris1969]

The New Republic can hardly wait until we are a socialist country!!

"If we continue to buy into "the ends justify the means" philosophy, we continue to put our country in great peril."

Posted by hadenough43 at 04:33 PM : Sep 24, 2008

While you may not agree, what you mentioned in your own post supports the idea that the ends DO justify the means. Good or bad, it works.

Posted by incog-nito
---------------------------
Steroids "work" too. They make anybody stronger and faster, but in the end, they destroy the body.

[skysoldier75]

The GOP attitude that "Lies work better, so we will continue rely on them" is alive and well within the McCain campaign, and that attitude makes him indistinguishable from Bush (remember all the WMD lies?).

McCain = Bush

There really is no difference at all.

[stevekelson-2009]

When is a national cartoonist going to draw McCain stumbling through a stump speech, with Sarah Palin holding a fire extinguisher....trying to put out the flames as his pants catch on fire?

Next time McCain speaks......will someone throw a bucket of water on him? Voters, carry your pails to the next McCain/Palin speech. Make this 8 year National Nightmare melt away by dousing McCain and the entire GOP

Only when all the lies end, can America can return to the normalcy of honest government last witnessed during the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy eras

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain"
The Wizard Of Oz (R-KS.)

[balto_babs]

Xlib %u2013

You challenged %u201Cmswolfestock%u201D when they corrected you about the %u201Csnub the troops lie%u201D.

You wrote:
mswwolfstock-you need to cite your source for your statement. Oh and BTW, I won''''t accept the dailykos or huffingtopost. OK?
As for your allegation as to the reason the messiah didn''''t visit the troops, I learned of it on line and I do believe it may have been cnn. I don''''t recall seeing a mccain ad. So, cite your source.
And, please, enough with the nastiness,ok? How about a civil discourse.
________________________________________
Posted by Xlib at 04:49 PM : Sep 24, 2008


Personally, I think you may have spent way too much time reading Fox News or listening to Rush Limbaugh, but you need to try to verify your information by going to one of the numerous fact checking sites available. FACTCHECK.ORG is excellent.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/snubbing_wounded_troops.html

[enriquecaliente]

%u201CNaturally the common people don''t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.%u201D Hermann Goering

The above is how Republitards think and feel.

[incog-nito]

Steroids "work" too. They make anybody stronger and faster, but in the end, they destroy the body.

Posted by hadenough43 at 05:49 PM : Sep 24, 2008

I don''t quite agree with the analogy. There is no reason why you cannot be aggressive during campaigning, and still work to implement your platform after you get elected. If you don''t win, not only you don''t get to implement anything, the other side gets to impose THEIR agendas on you.

I don''''t quite agree with the analogy. There is no reason why you cannot be aggressive during campaigning, and still work to implement your platform after you get elected. If you don''''t win, not only you don''''t get to implement anything, the other side gets to impose THEIR agendas on you.

Posted by incog-nito
--------------------
HUGE difference between an "aggresive" campaign and a campaign filled with demagogery and lies.
But it is true that the winner gets to impose his/her agenda, but an agenda based on lies is ultimately self defeating. The idiot-son won, short term and small picture, but is ultimately losing a whole lot more than he ever won, and he''s taking an awful lot with him.

[incog-nito]

hadenough43: Don''t know about you, but I''d rather not wait another 4 years for the self-defeating agenda to run its course. An aggressive campaign does not have to rely on lies. McCain''s military records can be scrutinized, his Keating 5 involvement resurrected, his flip-flopping stance on issues highlighted, etc. So far I don''t much of that being done, at least not forcefully.

[sean7phil]

This is an extremely dishonest column. CBS was grossly biased in publishing it.

The lies were told by this reporter, not McCain.

[andor3]

McCain is simply a danger to America. He really believes he should not be held to the same standards of honesty and integrity as others, that he is special. Sound familiar? George W. Bush suffered from the same illness (and it is a mental illness, ask a psychologist). Palin seems to have it going on too.

[marjuh]

even though this is an election campaign, we are facing a real problem with our economy which at this moment is a priority. there is so much rhetoric on both sides of the fence there is precious little critical thinking going on. this article is far from responsible reporting, full of complete bias and subjectivity. I am really disappointed in CBS for fronting this article, as I was with the comments made this evening by Katie Couric regarding what she thinks is "obvious" regarding John McCain''s motives for addressing the economic crisis this week. Most economists agree that it needs to be done this week. We all know who is running, we know they both want to win, the debate will take place. Delaying a few days could be vital in changing the direction of this crisis we face. Instead of us all fostering volumes of "leaders" and press won''t curb it, we can as individuals in our being more thoughtful. Could there be any room left in this public and country and those in power, including the press, for reason? Of course we have the capability, why in heavens name would we not use it? Our dialogue does not need to continue to promote hostility and angst.

[toby2957]

And so... it begins. The fall of the neocon regime. Bush and his cronies are on his way out, and is beginning to look like people are wising up on McSame.

Endless war.
Boundless corruption.
A wrecked economy.
Constant lies.
A weakening of our world standing.


That''s all it took. That''s all it took for enough American partisans to pull their heads out of their backsides long enough to understand that they were in trouble with Bush and the Neocons.

Maybe now we can get a few things done.

[colvinatch]

No real news here, simply put the right wing nut jobs in this country believe what they choose to believe (or what Rush tells them to believe), truth be damned. It''s he mentality that has caused the financial meltdown: saying that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong" all the while gutting regulation and destabilizing the banking system for the benefit of your Wall street donors, or how about this one: "absolutely we are winning in Iraq", all the while the insurgency that you insist doesn''t exist rages and more soldiers die. McSame is simply exploiting that with his base who actually believe and regurgitate this *** as if repeating it enough makes it true, never mind the facts.

[bluestardad]

KEATING 5

REPUBLICANS ARE ALWAYS TELLING BUSHIT!

THEY WONT CARRY 5 STATES!

[doctor--o]

Very sad but true. The majority of Republicans care little about facts. They don''t care because they don''t know the facts. What they ''know'' is what they choose to believe. What''s more pitiful is all too often they become indignant when you point out the truth.

Moreover, it makes perfect sense to demonize the press. That way whenever some inconvenient fact comes up in complete opposition to the Republican fantasy world view you can blame the ''liberal media'' for some how ''making it up''.

I am no longer amazed by this repugnant behavior. It is the logical result of mediocrity.

[skysoldier75]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A grainy YouTube video surfaced Wednesday showing Sarah Palin being blessed in her hometown church three years ago by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for her protection from "witchcraft" as she prepared to seek higher office.

The video shows Palin standing before Bishop Thomas Muthee in the pulpit of the Wasilla Assembly of God church, holding her hands open as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?vkj-on3kfWuE&featurerelated

[billmel8er]

This shows how rotten to the core McCain and these neocons are.

Sorry, but I dispise liars and cheats. These "people" are liars and cheats and criminals and traitors.

McCain himself is guilty of squandering the public trust.

Everything lie he tells about liberals and Democrats and Obama, it turns out that if you replace liberal with conservative and Democrats with Republicans and Obama with McCain in each sentence you will suddenly have a truthful statement. Try it sometime. Just listen to the rant and replace the words.

Bill Clinton once said that whatever they accuse you of, they are guilty of themselves. Bill surely didn''t lie about that!

[usclimey]

This is an extremely dishonest column. CBS was grossly biased in publishing it.

The lies were told by this reporter, not McCain.

Posted by sean7phil

You know CBS also publishes NRO articles. NRO is essentially Rush Limpbore in print and we ALL know what that means.

[usclimey]

Posted by billmel8er - Good post.

There can be no honor in lies.

[jmurrieta11]

McCain has no honor. Problem solved.

[inketolstoy]

Watch Warner Brothers'' "A Face in the Crowd" to see where Obama got his speeches from.

[billmel8er]

I had an incident at a truck stop a few months ago. There was this truck driver in line complaining about the price of fuel. He was ranting on about the liberals in congress, etc.

I asked him about what he thought the solution was and predictably he shouted drill drill drill. I was very calm, btw, and asked him why he thought that was the solution. Then he started going on about all the hate those liberals spew, etc. He was trembling with anger he was so livid.

So then I asked, can you hear yourself? I said, you are the only one spouting anything even resembling hate. He clammed up looking like a deer in the headlights as I think he was realizing the truth of what I said.

It probably only lasted until his next dose of Limbaugh, but that mentality is the mentality of the republican base. They believe what they hear. If a lie is repeated enough by those they listen to, they will simply accept it as gospel and begin repeating it themselves. And you can''t really blame them as they have essentially been brainwashed.

[billmel8er]

As long as there are no standards for truth in broadcasting, this is going to continue. The first thing the neocons did was deregulate the media to allow the big corps to buy all the newspapers and radio and T.V. stations. Bush and the republican congress nuetered the FCC.

It used to be that the media had to give equal time to opposing viewpoints. No single entity could own more than one media outlet in a given demographic region. This "deregulation" enabled all the rest IMHO. Until this is fixed, every election will be like the last couple. Lies and smears and lies and smears.

The internet is the only thing that has saved us from being completely immersed in the neocon lie pit.

[billmel8er]

Case in point - Plamegate. Does anybody remember Plamegate? The details of the outting of CIA agent Valerie Plame by Karl Rove and *** Cheney were all over the internet for 2 months or more before anybody in the mainstream media said a anything about it.

I was astonished at how that played out and day after day could not believe how the mainstream media seemed to be purposely ignoring this issue.

[bluestardad]

KEATING 5

JOHN MCCAIN

[observantx]

McLying has sold himself. It''s as simple as that. He wants to be POTUS so bad, he''s willing to throw away the honor he earned in the Hanoi Hilton.

Very sad and ultimately very poisonous for the country. "Country first?" Sorry, it looks like "Me first."

[leftywriter]

watch FOX and you might open your eyes to baabaama''s lies and manipulative brainwashing. He can''t stand alone, he must have all of his criminal advisors telling him what to do! You say McCain has not honor? What has babblebamma done for this Country? What?

[xlib]

blustardad-yep, keating 5, one REpublican and 4 dems. As I recall, when one of the clinton got into hot water and an investiagation was done and they were cleared of any wrongdoing we were told to drop it. So, based on that, mccain was investigated by a bunch of dems and cleared of any wrongdoing.
Maybe you should bring up something more recent like say, rezko and his deals with the messiah. Like your messiah''s real relationship with ayers and dorhn. How about 20 years of listening, ops, he didn''t know wright was like that, I forgot. Yea, listening to 20 years of anti-American and white hate speech. Say, where was the messiah the years that aren''t mentioned in his biop.
Oh, do bring things up, please. That was fun.

[terrapin78]

her hands open as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft."

Posted by SkySoldier75 at 07:46 AM : Sep 25, 2008

Your just mad because her voodo is stronger than Biden''''s voodo. Or Hillary''''s voodo.

Posted by littlebuddyd at 09:33 AM : Sep 25, 2008


So now the Repug Party endorses Voodoo?

Too funny!

You guys are toast!

[terrapin78]

KEATING 5

JOHN MCCAIN

Posted by bluestardad at 09:11 AM : Sep 25, 2008

And I might add, the only one of the Keating 5 STILL in Congress!

Shameful!

[xlib]

balto_babs-Did you read my post? The one you cut and pasted? You took it as a challenge, I meant it as a request. Funny how differently we see things. Anyway, I clearly stated that I did not see the mccain ad the poster mentioned. I clearly stated I read the news piece about the snub on cnn. Now, as far as I know, cnn is one of your many, many msm who are in the tank for your messiah.
Now, any take on the Spanish speaking ads put out by the messiah saying that mccain is against immigration?? Last I knew he wrote the amnesty bill with your teddy. So, I call that an outright lie, don''t you??
Also, that was a bit low on the messiah ad making fun of mccain because he can''t use a computer. The reason the man can''t use a computer is because of the injuries he sustained in Vietnam.
So, hope you get this post.