Friday, September 08, 2006

John McCain is no "Straight Talker"

John McCain has become the favorite candidate of the set who which to be seen as "moderate" or "above the fray". Really, this is quite sad when one considers the actions of the politician himself. McCain has shown numerous times he has no opinions of his own and just goes with the flow. His "straight-shooting maverick" persona is just a carefully crafted marketing strategy to pickup disenfranchised voters. McCain is really the prototypical "Washington Insider".

Let's for example consider McCain's "straight talk" about the Religous Right. In 2000 he called men like Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance". However, now that the winds have changed, McCain has changed direction 180 degrees. In 2006 he went to Falwell's Liberty University to kneel before the Religious Right because he needs their vote. He later went on Larry King to say "I admire the Religious Right for the dedication and zeal they put into the political process". So which is it McCain? Are Falwell and his ilk "agents of intolerance" or are they admirable for their "dedication and zeal"? I guess it depends on who's vote you need at the time.

Or consider McCain's relationship with George W. Bush. In the 2000 Republican Primary in South Carolina, Bush's campaign used such nasty and immoral tactics to defeat McCain that the Senator said "that there is a special place in hell for people like those". In 2004 McCain said that helping Bush get reelected "was one of the proudest moments of my life".

Uh-huh. Words have no meaning for a man like McCain. He is only interested in one thing and that is power.