Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The sadness of John McCain

Remember how John McCain was so brave because he stood up to Bush on the issue of torture? Well, all of that is no more, as McCain has now voted against a bill that would ban waterboarding.

It's easy to point out, as many have, that this demonstrates that McCain isn't really the straight talker that the media portrays him as. Of course, this isn't really news as he's already caved on things like lobbyist influence and religious fundamentalism in order to try to impress the conservative base before the election. But rather than gleefully pointing out McCain's inconsistencies, I think this particular action is best described as a profoundly sad event. McCain is someone who has been tortured, who knows what if feels like, and who has stated publicly that it doesn't work and that other methods are more effective at getting information. Yet, in order to get to the White House, he has now sold his last shred of human dignity to pander to the bloodlust of the far right. I often believe, despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary, that politicians retain at least some core principles even while they play the dirty game. Events like this do not help this belief.

Also, considering the bazillions of hours of press McCain got for criticizing torture in the past, it would be nice if the mainstream media would actually cover his shift in position.

3 comments:

Once the pen hit the pad it's dangerous said...

McCain, like nearly all politicians, is a knavish opportunist who knows how to play the game of deception. There is no way that McCain will be able to appeal to all the "Conservative" electorate if he continues as a moderate (unless strict Republicans place party over ideals). Thus, he has changed his position on an issue that seems more than slightly polarizing.
It's time that we lose faith in THESE politicians who refuse to represent the will of the people. Democrats are no different. We know that an Obama or Clinton victory will result in very little actual "change" for America.
Yesterday on Democracy Now, the intellectual Slavoj Zizek argued that "everybody in the world except US citizens should be allowed to vote and elect the American government." When asked how this would result, Zizek believed that it would have been better not only for the rest of the world, but also for US citizens. In addition, "the world" would elect someone more leftist than OBama. This is only theorizing, but I find his argument very convincing and also worthwhile in the sense that the citizens of the United States are continually electing (or trying to elect) politicians who do not idealize the progressive values that many of us hold.

And so I defend the need for an independent, mass party of working class people.

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Anonymous said...

Remember how Obama used to support pulling out of Iraq ASAP and now it depends on the conditions on the ground?

Where's your douchebaggy Sadness of Obama post?

Hypocrits.