John McCain: A Man Without Honor

Posted by Booman, Booman Tribune at 1:25 PM on October 4, 2008.

John McCain is going to make the last month of this campaign as unpleasant and dishonorable as possible.

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In one of the most petulant columns in recent history, Charles Krauthammer made a begrudging admission yesterday:

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. famously said of Franklin Roosevelt that he had a "second-class intellect, but a first-class temperament." Obama has shown that he is a man of limited experience, questionable convictions, deeply troubling associations (Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Tony Rezko) and an alarming lack of self-definition -- do you really know who he is and what he believes? Nonetheless, he's got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president.

When even Charles Krauthammer is forced to admit that Barack Obama possesses a 'first-class intellect and a first-class temperament' and, in that regard, is superior to Franklin Roosevelt, it's a pretty good argument that Sen. Obama is a good man for the job of president. But, notice also, that Krauthammer mentioned his 'associations', because that is where McCain now plans to go. The Washington Post reports:

"We're going to get a little tougher," a senior Republican operative said, indicating that a fresh batch of television ads is coming. "We've got to question this guy's associations. Very soon. There's no question that we have to change the subject here," said the operative, who was not authorized to discuss strategy and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Now, John McCain talks a lot about honor and the concept seems to be quite important to him. John McCain would be doing us all a service if he raised questions about truly troubling associations that might lead to legitimate questions about Obama's judgment and fitness for office. But Obama's acquaintance with William Ayers is the worst kind of reach. His relationship with Tony Rezko has been thoroughly vetted. And the nation has already rendered its judgment about the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Even Charles Krauthammer concedes Barack Obama's excellent qualities of mind and temperament.

I'm sympathetic to the concept that a political campaign's number one job is to win. I understand that campaigns will occasionally stretch the truth. Politics isn't a civil sporting event. But, even in politics, there is sportsmanship and there is integrity and there is, I hope, honor. Is this honorable?

Two other top Republicans said the new ads are likely to hammer the senator from Illinois on his connections to convicted Chicago developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko and former radical William Ayres, whom the McCain campaign regularly calls a domestic terrorist because of his acts of violence against the U.S. government in the 1960s.

As for Jeremiah Wright, he won't be appearing in commercials (at least, not from the campaign directly), but not for any reasons of fair play.

The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. appears to be off limits after McCain condemned the North Carolina Republican Party in April for an ad that linked Obama to his former pastor, saying, "Unfortunately, all I can do is, in as visible a way as possible, disassociate myself from that kind of campaigning."

You might remember that Hillary Clinton brought up William Ayers and Tony Rezko, to little effect. And I don't think a reprise by John McCain will save his bacon. McCain has been successfully painted as a man with a bad temper and a nasty 'get-off-my-lawn' disposition. He's suffering from a 41%-46% favoribility rating, which is only slightly better than the 41%-51% favoribility rating of his running mate. Negative attacks raise your opponents unfavorables, but they also do the same to you. Considering that Obama enjoys a rating of 58%-31%, McCain probably cannot afford to be relentlessly negative.

Likewise, the American people are unlikely to reward a diversionary tactic aimed at moving the conversation off their main concern, the economy. McCain would be lucky to see foreign policy become a focus, but people are not interested in strained personal attacks.

It looks to me like John McCain is going to make the last month of this campaign as unpleasant and dishonorable as possible. And that is going to leave a mark on his legacy almost as large as his decision to select a beauty contestant as his running mate.

Tagged as: mccain

Booman is the proprietor of the Booman Tribune.

AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.

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Straight out of the Ass. of God [Report this comment] Posted by: AlexLawyer on Oct 4, 2008 7:31 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Sarah Palin's worldview comes straight from the Assemblies of God, a far-right biblical literalist outfit that believes in tongue-speaking and faith healing. She supports warmongering in the Middle East because it will bring on the Rapture. She believes that most of modern physics, astronomy, cosmology, genetics, zoology, microbiology, botany and geology are wrong because they conflict with a literal reading of Genesis 1. She opposes proven public health measures such as comprehensive sex education, condom use and needle exchange programs. She tried to fire the town librarian over Harry Potter and a Baptist pastor's book on counseling gays, made rape victims pay expensive fees for forensic tests, and wants them to be forced to bear their assailant's child. She does not believe that the billions of tons of carbon dioxide and other gases we dump into the air have any effect. Forget Obama's attendance at a church where the pastor sometimes criticized the US government--this woman has been married to a man who wants to secede from it. And now we know she has the ultimate penis envy--she wants to be just like the big Dick. The Republicans are playing a very dangerous game by going negative, because unlike Kerry and Gore, Obama will return fire, and he has plenty of deadly ammunition with which to counter their feeble, desperate potshots. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Straight out of the Ass. of God Posted by: waynep I can't believe the audacity of the McCain campaign! [Report this comment] Posted by: chuckjs on Oct 5, 2008 2:52 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Taking out ads and going hard against Obama's associations. What about John's associations with Phill, the two Charlies, black and keating, Rick Davis, Pastor Hagee(the gay hater), etc. Christ this election and the people in it are just bloody fools. So are the folks who gobble this bull up. The same folks who believe that Survivor and Lost are a good indication of how people would actually act after being stranded on an island. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: I can't believe the audacity of the McCain campaign! truly troubling associations Posted by: Lauren » RE: I can't believe the audacity of the McCain campaign! truly troubling associations Posted by: VZEQICVA McCain is not honorable [Report this comment] Posted by: conniegal on Oct 5, 2008 2:03 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I am getting tired of hearing about McCain's "honorable" military record and being a hero. Nothing could be further from the truth. He not only caved in to the North Vietnamese and confessed God knows what, but as he admits in his own book, he knew that he was never under any danger to his life because his daddy was one of the chief commanders in Vietnam at the time. He was treated better than the rest because he was "valuable" as a propaganda tool. Due to his own recklessness, he placed the lives of other prisoners in danger. Other prisoners were severely tortured (and some even died from the excessive beatings), but they did not cave in and confess. His own recklessness and lack of judgement were responsible for his plane being hit (again, he describes this in detail in his book). He never did anything to make him a hero. A hero is one who selflessly puts life on the line to save another. He never, ever did such a thing. But he did save his own hide. The man is a liar. He is no hero. To read a very interesting account of his POW experience, go to recklessmccain.com. And please share it with others - it is a very good read. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] In the immortal words of Ice Cube: [Report this comment] Posted by: hurricane hugo on Oct 6, 2008 9:02 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] "Goddamn, am I glad y'all set it off!" The Obama rolled out the John McCain + Charles Keating ad this morning. :D jdfu! [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] People who live in glass houses... [Report this comment] Posted by: Quannah on Oct 6, 2008 9:18 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] John McStain has many ties to nefarious characters, so he better watch out about what kind of shit he is slinging... it could come right back on him. What a statement of desperation! He can't talk about policies, because they have none. He can't talk about any specifics, because they have none. What a telling situation that McStain only has lies and smears and character assassination to fall back on. He knows he's lost this election, and he knows he has no way to get his campaign back on track at this point, so he will try any Rovian tactics he can think of to try to derail Obama. Absolutely pathetic! McStain deserves to lose this election. After having lost in 2000 in South Carolina due to Rove's hurtful lies and smears about McStain's "illegitimate black child" -- meant to pander to the racist voters in South Carolina so Bush would win there -- the fact that he would use the same disgraceful tactics against Obama now in order to win this election is the definitive obituary to McStain's political career. May he burn in hell. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] John McCain does not understand Karmic Laws, either! [Report this comment] Posted by: djnoll on Oct 6, 2008 9:30 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] There is a philosophical law of Karma that states that what we put out in the Universe we receive back tenfold! So basically, if we put out good, then we receive good back ten times better. The same goes for bad -bad out = bad back in x 10! So let McCain put out his attack ads and their outrageous lies! What he will get back is not just Obama attack ads, but Internet videos, blogs, news investigations, and whatever else we can think of to expose the liar for what he and his opportunistic Alaskan killer actually, truthfully are! McCain is a fool, a traitor, a liar, and a senile old warmonger! Palin is a vicious, vacuous idiot who would rather see the world incinerated in the name of her religion than find the Peace that Christ actually preached about for the world! So let them spew their filth, just make sure that what you throw back is just a dirty and is actually honest! The Rolling Stone Article should give you plenty of fodder! Go Get 'Em, Everyone! We have the power to do so, since there are not too may 527's to help Obama, it is up to us! [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] No Honor [Report this comment] Posted by: sherman on Oct 6, 2008 11:58 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] McCain has no honor; he never did. Just check his personal history, he has always leaned upon his father and grandfather's reputation and credibility. He is a zero from the start. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Out of touch, out of ideas & out of time [Report this comment] Posted by: JefffromCA on Oct 6, 2008 1:00 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] McStain is going to get nasty. Keating 5. Second marriage before first is over. Capitulating to his captors and capitalizing on his father's and grandfather's stars. McStain has no honor. He has to be the aggressor now that he is trailing. The global economy is melting and these guys are talking about things that happened 20 years ago. McBush has to be aggressive and imply Obama is linked to terrorists and security threats. But by taking a big swing, he leaves himself wide open to counter attacks. I am glad Obama is from Chicago. McStain might bring a gun to this fight but Obama will bring that bigger, badder gun. The republicans know they are on the ropes because they get no traction in the polls by espousing their platform, in fact as more people look at their platform more people say they will vote for Obama. The republicans cannot counter Obama on policy and so they will try the personal attack. After what happened to Gore and Kerry Obama knows how to counter-attack this. With the truth. GO8AMA [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Sinking Low [Report this comment] Posted by: wagnerrocks@gmail.com on Oct 6, 2008 5:17 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] John McCain...IT'S OVER...YOUR INSANE CHOICE OF PALIN AND YOUR FILTHY DESPERATE CAMPAIGNING HAS PROVEN WHAT A DISHONORABLE MAN YOU REALLY ARE. YOU WILL BE SWEPT INTO THE OCEAN OF SHAME BY THE OBAMA LANDSLIDE, ONLY TO AWAKE A STINKING RICH HAS BEEN WITH ABSOLUTELY NO POLITICAL POWER OR INFLUENCE> [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] McCain and Honor? [Report this comment] Posted by: modeler on Oct 7, 2008 11:45 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Plainly idiosyncratic. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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» RE: Straight out of the Ass. of God Posted by: waynep

» RE: I can't believe the audacity of the McCain campaign! truly troubling associations Posted by: Lauren

» RE: I can't believe the audacity of the McCain campaign! truly troubling associations Posted by: VZEQICVA

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» RE: Straight out of the Ass. of God Posted by: waynep

» RE: I can't believe the audacity of the McCain campaign! truly troubling associations Posted by: Lauren

» RE: I can't believe the audacity of the McCain campaign! truly troubling associations Posted by: VZEQICVA