Jasper Journal

I am so tired of John McCain. He continues to be a thorn in the side of conservative republicans with his fawning over the media and the cultivation of his role, which they encourage, of being a senior spokesman, a man who can rise above partisan rhetoric, a compromiser. They love him in New York and Washington because he often criticizes his party and sides with the president on very unpopular issues. Today was yet another example of his toadying up to his friends at the Washington Post in an op ed piece on the President’s speech in Tucson.I have posted the piece below if you have the stomach for it.

I have written  in a previous blog that I thought the president did a reasonably good job although i did not like the allusions to political discourse which had nothing to do with the shootings, or dedicating the deaths to an improved political debate. Unfortunately, John McCain jumps right on board with this, supporting the media narrative that it is the political climate that needs to change. The worst part of this incredibly syrupy op ed is a statement similar to what he said in the campaign about then Senator Obama, that he was well qualified to be president of the United Sates. Here is his latest spin on that:

“I disagree with many of the president’s policies, but I believe he is a patriot sincerely intent on using his time in office to advance our country’s cause. I reject accusations that his policies and beliefs make him unworthy to lead America or opposed to its founding ideals.”

Really, after two years of Obama, his disastrous foreign and economic policies, his gutting the defense establishment, the overreaching of the government, his appointing unqualified judges to the supreme court, his blaming everyone but himself for government failures… I could go on and one, . However, it is unseemly to have the former standard bearer for the republican party praise the presidents motives.

I don’t  praise his motives. I don’t agree with them ,  I don’t agree with him, and I consider him woefully unqualified to be president. So having said that, here is McCain’s op ed. There is a word for politicians like McCain… they are called Losers.  What do you think?.

OP ED by John McCain

President Obama gave a terrific speech Wednesday night. He movingly mourned and honored the victims of Saturday’s senseless atrocity outside Tucson, comforted and inspired the country, and encouraged those of us who have the privilege of serving America. He encouraged every American who participates in our political debates – whether we are on the left or right or in the media – to aspire to a more generous appreciation of one another and a more modest one of ourselves.

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The president appropriately disputed the injurious suggestion that some participants in our political debates were responsible for a depraved man’s inhumanity. He asked us all to conduct ourselves in those debates in a manner that would not disillusion an innocent child’s hopeful patriotism. I agree wholeheartedly with these sentiments. We should respect the sincerity of the convictions that enliven our debates but also the mutual purpose that we and all preceding generations of Americans serve: a better country; stronger, more prosperous and just than the one we inherited.

We Americans have different opinions on how best to serve that noble purpose. We need not pretend otherwise or be timid in our advocacy of the means we believe will achieve it. But we should be mindful as we argue about our differences that so much more unites than divides us. We should also note that our differences, when compared with those in many, if not most, other countries, are smaller than we sometimes imagine them to be.

I disagree with many of the president’s policies, but I believe he is a patriot sincerely intent on using his time in office to advance our country’s cause. I reject accusations that his policies and beliefs make him unworthy to lead America or opposed to its founding ideals. And I reject accusations that Americans who vigorously oppose his policies are less intelligent, compassionate or just than those who support them.

Our political discourse should be more civil than it currently is, and we all, myself included, bear some responsibility for it not being so. It probably asks too much of human nature to expect any of us to be restrained at all times by persistent modesty and empathy from committing rhetorical excesses that exaggerate our differences and ignore our similarities. But I do not think it is beyond our ability and virtue to refrain from substituting character assassination for spirited and respectful debate.

Public life has many more privileges than hardships. First among them is the satisfying purpose it gives our lives to make a contribution to the progress of a nation that was conceived to defend the rights and dignity of human beings. It can be a bruising business at times, but in the end its rewards are greater than the injuries sustained to earn them.

That doesn’t mean, however, that those injuries are always easy to slough off and bear with perfect equanimity. Political leaders are not and cannot reasonably be expected to be indifferent to the cruelest calumnies aimed at their character. Imagine how it must feel to have watched one week ago the incomprehensible massacre of innocents committed by someone who had lost some essential part of his humanity, to have shared in the heartache for its victims and in the admiration for those who acted heroically to save the lives of others – and to have heard in the coverage of that tragedy voices accusing you of complicity in it.

It does not ask too much of human nature to have the empathy to understand how wrong an injury that is or appreciate how strong a need someone would feel to defend him or herself against such a slur. Even to perceive it in the context of its supposed political effect and not as the claim of the human heart to the dignity we are enjoined by God and our founding ideals to respect in one another is unworthy of us, and our understanding of America’s meaning.

There are too many occasions when we lack that empathy and mutual respect on all sides of our politics, and in the media. But it is not beyond us to do better; to behave more modestly and courteously and respectfully toward one another; to make progress toward the ideal that beckons all humanity: to treat one another as we would wish to be treated.

We are Americans and fellow human beings, and that shared distinction is so much more important than the disputes that invigorate our noisy, rough-and-tumble political culture. That is what I heard the president say on Wednesday evening. I commend and thank him for it.

The writer, a senator from Arizona, was the 2008 Republican nominee for president.

Thank the Lord someone is going to challenge John McCain in the Arizona republican primary. His name is Chris Simcox. He is the founder of the Minuteman group which assists law enforcement in preserving border integrity… something McCain and this administration apparently don’t care much  about.

Here is a sample of what Simcox has said about McCain:

John McCain has failed miserably in his duty to secure this nation’s borders and protect the people of Arizona from the escalating violence and lawlessness,” Simcox said. “He has fought real efforts over the years at every turn, opting to hold our nation’s border security hostage to his amnesty schemes. Coupled with his votes for reckless bailout spending and big government solutions to our nation’s problems, John McCain is out of touch with everyday Arizonans. Enough is enough.”

I dont have a feel yet for Simcox appeal, but suffice it to say that many of us are tired of McCains grandstanding antics, appearances  on late night comedy shows, and his bucking of real conservative principles whenever he wants.  Maybe its time for John to let Cindy take care of him and enjoy the Sedona desert. But please, retire from politics now!

Last night I was watching JayLeno when the ubiquitous John McCain came out as a guest.  Doesn’t that guy have a real job? I am stunned by how glib and happy our former republican standard bearer appears. Hey buddy, you cost us the white house, and the country is going down the tubes! You lost, so get off the stage and stop trying to act like you are the presumptive senior spokesman for the party. Heck in my opinion , he dragged Sara Palin down !

To add insult to injury, when asked who the leaders of the republican party are today,  he listed four without once mentioning his running mate Sara Palin. What an ingrate! Such colossal bad manners and lack of tact come from someone with an incredible ego. Perhaps he wasn’t our best choice, but he was all we had.  Clearly there are those of us who held our noses while voting for him in the hopes that Sara Palin could bring him to his senses.  But now to spurn a running mate who gave her all ,and inspired the audiences like he never could is unconscionable. I saw Sara Palin twice at rallies. I never would have gone to see him . My college age children also went to see Palin because she inspired them. He didn’t.

 So while McCain soaks up the limelight and adulation of comedians and press sources who like to see him agree with Obama, my advice is this:  think back on how lucky you were to have someone like Palin in your corner. You would have gone down in flames without her. And by the way, you are not that funny.