John McCain v. America
By Adam Graham (05/01/06)
Senator John McCain (R-Az.) crossed a line in a recent response to Don Imus. Without Imus asking about it, McCain responded to a critics attack on his campaign finance reform stance, "I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government."
Enough with all that, "Protect and defend the Constitution" stuff he swears to every six years. Oaths are cheap. We just need a government where the trains run on time. McCain believes the problem with our government is found in citizens expressing their viewpoints 30-60 days before an election.
McCain's cavalier attitude towards our constitutional guarantee of free speech is the latest in a series of events this year that raise questions as to his fitness for the presidency. With all he does, McCain has an air of self-righteous arrogance. Everything he proposes is about reform, and woe to the man or woman who stands in the way of reform. McCain will not let peons in the Senate or among the American people stand against him. In a crystallizing moment in 2000, McCain proclaimed that he was "Luke Skywalker trying to get out of the death star." He said everyone was out to get him, but that "We're going to kill them. We're going to win this election."
I would suggest that the Senator bares a stronger resemblance to another Star Wars character, Senator Palpatine, who became the Emperor. Like McCain, Palpatine talked of reform and attacked the corruption and partisanship of a Senate beset more by ambition than the best interests of the people. Also, like Palpatine, McCain is willing to compromise fundamental rights to achieve his goals.
McCain is called many things: a maverick, a moderate, and a nut. Yet, in the White House, a man of his temperament is extremely dangerous. He's a zealot, who views reform as above the Constitution, and believes that his ends justify the means. If he, as a member of Congress, cannot respect the limits of the Constitution, how can we expect him to as President?
Some will be aghast that I raise the question, after all the noble service he did for our country in Vietnam. That's true enough, and I respect his service, but it doesn't give him a pass. Look at world history. How many war heroes have become dictators? How many have come home only to destroy the freedoms of the country they defended?
The future of America is too important to risk on John McCain. I'm a Republican, but I'm an American first. A man who believes our government must be protected from the influence of the people, and that our constitution is less important than a smooth running bureaucratic machine, is unfit for the presidency or any other office. Whether he wins the nomination or not, John McCain will not have my vote in 2008.
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