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October
11, 2006 – We saw this coming, but I never imagined it
would be so obvious and flagrant.
When Senator John McCain (R-AZ) chose to
support George W. Bush in 2000 despite the amoral, dishonest
personal attacks Bush had unleashed on him during the primary
campaign, one had to begin questioning McCain's loyalty to principle
over party. Bill Bradley refused to campaign for Gore after he
deemed Gore too "vicious" that same year. But McCain, having
suffered far more disgusting and dishonest tactics, caved into to
party interests.
Then, in 2004, McCain supported Bush
again, despite the open assertion by the administration that it
believed in torture - something McCain could not feel more strongly
about. McCain could have supported his friend John Kerry.
But McCain supported Bush. He also
supported Bush's Iraq policy. He also supported Bush's N.
Korea policy.
And now that that last policy, the one
designed - supposedly - to tough talk North Korea into abandoning
its nuclear hopes, has failed, McCain has chosen to take his final
descent into Bush/Limbaughism by officially joining in their
blame-and-lie nonsense entirely without regard for truth, reality,
or decency.
Today Senator John McCain, um... let's
give the MSNBC headline:
McCain Takes on Clinton.
Yes, not only did McCain join on in the
blame-and-lie game the Bushies love so much; he went all out and hit
the "blame Clinton" mantra only the most pathetic of the
Bush/Limbaugh hacks continue to use SIX YEARS AFTER Clinton
has ceased to hold any office of any sort.
Six years.
For six years, John McCain and the
Republicans he campaigned to get elected have been in control.
And, by McCain's own admission even today, for six years, Bush and
friends have done exactly the opposite of what former President Bill
Clinton suggested.
From the article: "(McCain)
rejected calls for one-on-one talks between the United States and
North Korea. 'The worst thing we could do is to accede to
North Korea's demand for bilateral talks...'"
Clinton had suggested such bilateral
talks. Bush decided to do the opposite and refuse to talk with
North Korea directly. Clinton suggested a carrot-and-stick
approach. Bush - and today McCain - derided that idea, instead
opting for antagonism, not talking at all, and in general simply
letting the situation fester.
To put it simply, Bush, McCain, and the
GOP chose not to do what Clinton suggested but instead to follow a
completely different course.
And now that their policy has failed, as
North Korea explodes its first-ever nuclear tests, McCain is going
to blame someone whose policies were not followed for more than a
half-decade now.
It gets even better if you look at
reality. As useful Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) pointed out
today in response to McCain's comments, as reported in the same
MSNBC article: "...we had inspectors going in and we knew
where the (nuclear fuel) rods were. This way, we don't know where
the rods are, the rods are gone. There are no inspectors. Ask any
American which way is better."
So, to sum up, when Clinton left office,
we have inspections and surveillance of the fuel rods - thus, no
nuke making could be going on.
When Bush came in and cut off all talks
with North Korea and changed the carrot-and-stick policy to the
insult-and-ignore policy, the inspections were cut off by North
Korea, the fuel rods moved, and nuclear weapons were made.
Now, we expect FOX, Bush, Hannity,
Limbaugh, Rove, etc. to blame and lie. We expect them to still
- even after being in office almost as long as Clinton's entire term
- to still try and blame Bill for everything that goes wrong on
their watch. We expect them to lie. We expect them to be
delusionally out of touch with reality.
But there was a time when we expected
better of John McCain.
Today, John McCain could have come out
and said something honest, like that the policy the Bush
administration is taking toward North Korea has failed. He
could have said that the policies and administration he supported
and supports have failed.
But today John McCain chose to make
clear to America he is no different than any other of these new
breed of GOP lying hacks. After 6 years of doing the opposite
of what Bill Clinton suggested - after more than half a decade of
his GOP being at the helm - he sunk down to Bush's and Limbaugh's
level and sought to blame-and-lie, dragging up the name Clinton from
last millennium's retirement list.
And this from a man who refuses to bring
up the policies of Reagan and Bush I that built up Saddam and Osama.
It is sad to see another one bite the
dust, but today John McCain made it inescapably clear. For
more than half a decade since his famed "Straight Talk Express"
primary run, John McCain has shown that his "independent maverick"
status is complete bull, and that, in the end, he is nothing but a
lying, excuse making, finger pointing party loyalist. It is a
good thing for America to get to see as we move toward McCain's
obvious coming run at the White House in 2008.
The one thing America can thank George
W. Bush for is helping to bring out the real John McCain for America
to see from a distance. And I in particular can thank George
for interfering with my 2000 plan to vote for the Arizona Senator.
My conscience is clear, knowing I never cast a vote for a lying,
unprincipled sell-out hack like John
blame-and-lie-like-the-rest-of-the-GOP-losers McCain.
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