Thursday, February 07, 2008

Waterboarding McCain

The talk-radio torture of the Republican candidate-to-be goes on and, unlike those five years in the Hanoi Hilton, is beginning to show results as he tries to placate Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other tormentors from the Rabid Right.

John McCain may be making a mistake in trying to win the hearts of the mindless. With the nomination all but locked up, kissing the rings of a mouthy minority may damage his candidacy with the sane Republicans and Independents he badly needs to be competitive in November.

He, of all people, should know they are an unforgiving lot. Can McCain woo Ann Coulter away from her bizarre new infatuation with Hillary Clinton? Can he win over Rupert Murdoch's minions who proclaim "Once John Wins, He'll Make a Left?" Does he stand a chance with the Conservative Political Action crowd who believe he has sacrificed conservatives’ fundamental beliefs throughout his Senate career?

Sending Lindsey Graham and Phil Gramm to plead his case with Rushbo et al is as much a waste of good will with the larger electorate as throwing red meat to a howling pack that will never accept McCain's vegetarian brand of Republican politics.

He would be well-advised to take stock in the old Arab proverb, "The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

McCain presents an interesting case. Do his Republican opponents want to compromise their principles to try to get him in or hope he loses so that they can jump and shout about Hillary. Since they make their money and audience by yelling they probably would prefer to see him lose so they will continue to oppose him.

In any event, the country is fried. If Clinton wins she will be so afraid of a terrorist attack happening on her watch she'll bring back the color codings, increase surveillance, and impose more restrictions upon Americans. Then to show her bona fides she'll launch the military on some type of attack.

McCain, of course, is a mad dog who has never seen a war he did not think was winnable by the injection of more force. He's surrounded by neo-cons so he'll have us at war with Iran if Bush can't get around to doing it. We'll win easily but it may be the last one since the dollar won't be worth much.

Obama gives some hope but he has no chance. The Clintons own the Democratic party and they'll soon bring Obama to heel.

In the not too distant future people will talk about the pre-Bush and post-Bush Americas as two different countries.