Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Desperate politics
If someone were to have asked me not long ago whom I would consider the best qualified presidential candidate of either party, I would have chosen Senator John McCain. Even though I'm a Democrat, I have always considered MCain to be a man of impeccable integrity and professionalism. I did up until his love-in with Jerry Falwell after earlier denouncing the man as a divisionist and a bigot. This uncharacteristic hypocrisy was disappointing and made me wonder if the lure of the presidency overpowered his natural honesty. The second blow came recently when he appeared in Baghdad at a press conference enwrapped in kevlar body armor, surrounded by American soldiers with five helicopters hovering overhead and proclaiming how safe the streets of Baghead had become since the "surge". Michael Ware, the CNN correspondant who has been living there for three years, wondered what part of never never land was the senator from. This was probably the first time in McCain's politicals life that he looked like an absolute fool and that did it for me. I still admire the man for what he was, but less so for what he has become, just another white house wannabe out of touch with reality.
George Morin
Auburn, Ga.
