Tuesday, August 26, 2008

How Many Houses Does It Take To Make A Loser

O.K. I know that this whole thing has been blown up out of proportion, but,then, it was the Rove Regiment who got that started, so it's not seemly that they be squealing now. (How does the word "elitist" sound when it's coming in your direction, hmm?) McCain is answering by playing the P.O.W. card ("I spent five and a half years in a prison cell, I didn't have a house, I didn't have a kitchen table...."). In other words, we should honor his past before we diss his present--just so long as we don't start honoring the other guy's struggles or that we don't go too far back in time to when he was an undistinguished student at the Naval Academy--more or less a "legacy" case in the way that his recent "strange bedfellow," George Bush, was at Princeton. ("Undistinguished" only refers to his grades. Having come from a well-to-do family and rating visits by high-ranking brass, pals of his father and grandfather, put him otherwise out in the spotlight, thank you very much.)

So,we are to begin our critique of Senator McCain only after the Vietnam experience and to cut him slack as a result of that experience. Sure. His marital infidelities can be forgiven. After all, a guy who has spent so much time in the weeds deserves some clover when he can get it. (Sounds exactly what he was saying in his "houses" defense,now, doesn't it?) Or he has the right to slip ups on matters of national borders (Iraq and Pakistan,for instance), enmities (Sunni, Shiite--who cares?), houses ("My staff will get back to you on that.)

O.K. Fine. And I'm down with all of that. You bet, I'll make him some room. He's done his share, and he's more than paid his dues.

Still, the question that I'm left with after I give him all of these passes and agree that he's entitled given his trials is this: Does a guy who, through no fault of his own, undergoes life-altering experiences to the point of mental and psychological impairment deserve to be taken seriously as a candidate for the highest office in our land?

Sure McCain is the "experienced" candidate, but not all experience leads to positive outcomes. Heck, any visit to a local correctional facility should be enough to tell you that.

I'm just asking. And I'm asking because I'm the Mortal Cynic. Experience has made me that.

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