John McCain: Decisiveness or Duplicity?
56John McCain: Decisiveness or Duplicity
I do not normally engage in politics in my writing but this morning I can’t help myself. I am extremely chapped by the news responses this morning to the announcement that John McCain is suspending his campaign to go to Washington and help find a solution to the current financial crisis.
I was overseas in Southeast Asia when John McCain was released from a North Vietnamese prison. I watched him walk across the tarmac and saw the big smile of relief on his face. I read his autobiography. While I can’t say I agree with or approve of every detail of their lifestyle, I am immensely proud of the McCain family’s service to their country. For over one hundred years these men have stood in positions of leadership during peacetime and during times of national crisis.
Now, I have to admit that John McCain was not my first pick for a presidential candidate. But since the only alternative is Barack Obama I have little choice but to support Mr. McCain.
I think people need to think about a few basic facts surrounding this latest surprise from Mr. McCain’s campaign. First of all, John McCain is a United States Senator from Arizona. His first and foremost job is to occupy his seat in the Senate chambers and represent the great state of Arizona. He was a senator long before he was a candidate for the Presidency. Regardless of his motivation, Mr. McCain has risen to the task of his first calling. He has stated he will go back to Washington to help find a solution to the latest crisis. In a national emergency, where would you rather your president be? In a debate somewhere or at the helm steering the ship of state?
Remember during 9/11 all the hue and cry, primarily by Peter Jennings, about where President Bush was during those first horrific hours? Now we have a presidential candidate who is at least willing to be in Washington D.C. to be a part of the present situation. Once again, no matter where you stand or who you support you have to admit actions still speak louder than words. No matter what Mr. McCain’s motivation, you can’t dispute the fact that he is in Washington doing the best he can to help find a bipartisan consensus on a solution to the financial crisis. Is Mr. Obama?
Obama is also a senator. Where is he during this present crisis? Is he in the Senate chambers or in a Senate committee working to help find a solution where he should be? No, he’s in mid-country working to keep from disappointing and losing the support of the media who arranged a debate few people are interested in hearing anyway. What has Obama done to foster support and help find a solution to the financial crisis? Make some broad generalizations about it? Why isn’t he in Washington in the Senate chambers? Because his motivations are as plain as the media claims Mr. McCain’s are.
In response to Mr. McCain’s announcement, Obama stated that a presidential candidate must be able to multi-task and so Mr. McCain should attend the debate, by implication, inferring that Mr. McCain can’t multi-task. This is pure, unadulterated foolishness. A person that is able to set priorities is not by default unable to multi-task. So, the fact that Mr. McCain has chosen the course of the decisive leader and suspended his campaign to serve in the Senate chambers where he should be during a national crisis does not mean that he cannot multi-task. On the contrary, it indicates that Mr. McCain is able to set priorities and act decisively on them. That is a character trait that I find highly desirable in a potential President of the United States.
Nobody is perfect and just the fact that the present crisis and its solution rests in the hands of the current crop of Republicans and Democrats is reason enough to be nervous. Whether one supports Obama or McCain, I would hope that we would be able to look past the media ravings and foolish rhetoric and scrutinize the candidates past history, their voting record, their actions, and their position on various issues and support them in a dignified, responsible manner without casting aspersions on their motivations, personality, or character traits.
For better or for worse, one thing we all have in common is: WE ARE ALL AMERICANS.
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Comments
Yeah, sigh, I think neither is the "better" choice. As I said, I wouldn't have preferred Mr. McCain but I can't tolerate the socialist views of the Democratic Party and I think the nation has a grave surprise in store for them if they put Obama in the White House. I appreciate your input, chef Jeff. I'm afraid I don't have tv, just the internet and I don't routinely follow politics but I still stand behind my statements. I still feel that Iraq was party to 911 and point to the continued involvement of Al Qaeda there as proof. How can Al Qaeda be in both Iraq and Afghanistan and Afghanistan be the only guilty party? Sorry, but I'm afraid the logic there doesn't wash.
I don't know what Mr. McCain's attendance record was in the Senate prior to this latest national emergency and I'm quite sure he was completely occupied with the campaign but I still admire his willingness to put himself at the disposal of the government in Washington to assist in whatever way possible. Even though he does not sit on any involved committees or has not yet been called as a witness before any of them he may well have talked to one or more of the principals involved and, given the present media bias, it may not have been reported. Even if none of that took place, the fact that he is running for president lends credence to his presence in Washington for the sake of national morale and influence with fellow senators and congressmen. Maybe he could just as easily have accomplished those purposes in the field by telephone, but I maintain his presence in Washington serves a purpose, maybe a calming influence on the markets and the American public, because he is running for president. As an aside, he may also be able to address the Senate and/or the house during the debates about the proposed bailout or even take part in the floor debates.In short, I think there are many ways Mr. McCain's presence in Washington could contribute to the overall good.
The fact that he doesn't seem to support some of the Republican platform is the reason that I wasn't too thrilled with him as a Republican candidate but he supports the main ones I am interested in: The right to keep and bear arms, against abortion, for smaller government, etc. I wish he had a different position on immigration but he has not yet consulted with me about that. I do believe he has the right track on foreign policy in as much as any human can at the present. I also think he will stand up firmly in the presence of Ahmajinadad, Kim Il Jung, Medvedev, Chavez, and others who are potential enemies or current ones and I do not believe for a minute that Obama will.
I have to admit being taken with Ron Paul early on but the reason I can't support him is historical in that it will take votes away from McCain and I fear that, as has happened in the past, it will put a Democratic candidate in the White House.
I, too, question the wisdom of the bailout although I'm torn because, on the one hand, as a conservative, I don't think the public should have to bear the sins of a few greedy investors and companies. On the other hand, I don't want to see the country thrown into a recession that may hurt far worse than shelling out hundreds of billions of dollars to correct the financial sector's failures.I truly don't know what is the best thing to do about that.
Like you, I am old enough to remember the days of JFK, LBJ, and all the others since. I remember the struggles of my family during the late fifties, the sixties, and the late seventies and early eighties. All periods of democratic rule. I personally prospered under both state and federal republican administrations during the eighties, nineties, and early 21st century. A state democratic administration cost me my business that I had spent thirteen years of my life building up. That story is too long to relate here. Suffice it to say, I am for smaller government, less micro management. tightening immigration rules and enforcement, and stricter criminal justice and law enforccement. I believe that John McCain will work one way or another for those issues even though I also think he will be completely thwarted at every turn by the Democratic congress: what is called "gridlock".
Once again, thanks for your input, Chef Jeff. I appreciate the opportunity to kick things around with you. I also appreciate your service to the country and support Veterans issues.
God Bless.
Chef Jeff says:
15 months ago
Actually, I disagree that McCain has anything to do in Washington right now. When the vote comes up in the full Senate, then yes, he will have a vote to cast. But since he seems to be making no sense at all about the present crisis, he is actually just muddying up the waters, giving strength to those Republicans who oppose the bailout.
I personally do not agree with the bailout. As for Obama, he has been in contact with the principals in this crisis, meeting with, either in person or by phone, Paulson, Bernanke, Cox, and Senator Dodd and others.
Where has McCain been? On the campaign trail too, but he has ignored the whole thing at first, reluctantly saw it as something of importance, and now says it is a crisis. And now he comes rushing to Washington? Why??? He does not have a seat on any of the committees, and he is not a witness before any of them.
After he said he was rushing off to Washington, he took time to speak with Katie Couric on TV, to show up at the Clinton affair, and has done many other things than "rush to Washington" as he said he had to do last night. (He arrived this morning and did not participate in anything important until the meeting with President Bush in the afternoon.)
I suported McCain in 2000. But now i agree with George Will. He has changed, and in my opinion, not for the better. As for the Republicans, they would have been better off making Ron Paul their candidate. He does not run from his beliefs and change them every other day. He is a solid Conservative, with the credentials to uphold the party values. I admire him ten fold over McCain.
The most important point in my opinion is this - how come so many Republicans are going ga-ga over a candidate that basically rebels from Republican values? Voting for McCain as a Republican candidate is like saying "I'm voting for a man who despises most everything I stand for." After all, he is touted as the maverick. Maverick from what? The Republican party! Either he is opposed to and looks down on what the Republican party stands for (thus being a maverick) or he is not a maverick and embraces what the Republican party stands for. He can't have it both ways! And truthfully, I see very little difference between McCain and Obama on so many issues.
McCain (Like Obama) has not been in his seat reresenting Arizona since April, and precious little even before then since he began campaigning back last year. At other times he was either absent or refused to go to the floor from his office to vote on issues of importance to me - Veteran's benefits. He knee-jerked and claimed Iraq was behind 9-11, and he was wrong about that. He has made many errors of judgement, in my opinion, and while in the past he would admit to them, today he does not.
Like you I am a Vet and I am very disappointed in McCain for how he has ducked the entire veteran's issue.
I personally don't know if Obama is the better choice. The Democrats got what they wanted, or at least half of what they wanted. But in the end, who is the better choice? Perhaps neither of these men.