McCain: 'I Always Aspire to Be a Dictator'

Posted by Ben Armbruster, Think Progress at 8:36 AM on October 1, 2008.

Discussing the Wall Street bailout yesterday during an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said the failure of Congress to act is "just not acceptable." Then -- presumably making an attempt at humor -- McCain added that, if only he were a dictator, then the bill would be just right:

MCCAIN: I just want to make a comment about the obvious issue and that is the failure of Congress to act yesterday. Its just not acceptable. […] This is just a not acceptable situation. I’m not saying this is the perfect answer. If I were dictator, which I always aspire to be, I would write it a little bit differently.

But less than one minute later, McCain said, "[L]et’s not point the finger of blame for a while," despite the fact that he himself blamed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) for the bill’s failure.



But McCain isn’t the first U.S. government official to dream of dictatorship. President Bush has said on at least two occasions that a dictatorship "would be a heck of a lot easier."


Update: Josh Marshall has more on McCain's Des Moines Register interview.

Tagged as: mccain, dictator, des moines

Benjamin J. Armbruster is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.