The fly back to Washington, faux campaign suspension, delay the debate announcement and contribute nothing shenanigans are not just bush league Machiavellian moves; they show a dangerous disregard for a nation in peril. McCain is a powerful Senator whose input and influence is valued, but he is not a direct party to any of the relevant committees negotiating the bailout. Crisis is read as a campaign opportunity and fear as potential political capital - Karl Rove's playbook is tattered and worn. McCain has found the limits to how far a war hero can go in wrapping himself in the flag and portraying blatantly political maneuvers as acts of patriotism. Captaining the McCain campaign is the weightiest executive position McCain has ever held - and it has been a reactionary, pin balling, flip flopping and unstable ship since it left port.
His reckless choice of VP, Governor Palin, is daily proving herself breathtakingly unsuitable for the Vice Presidency.
He calls for the knee jerk firing of an SEC chairman - fiscal conservatives cry foul.
The "always a deregulator" is now an ardent regulator. An errand boy to Keating and the Savings and Loan industry is now a crusader looking out for Main Street.
His campaign runs out of money, his campaign manager is fired.
He had no intention of over turning Roe v. Wade until this Presidential run - where he plans to appoint judges that will overturn Roe v. Wade.
His selects advisors who are also lobbyists to brutal third world regimes.
He can't seem to get Shias, Sunnis or the borders of Pakistan and Iran quite straight.
McCain has been absolutely consistent in two areas. He supported and supports the War in Iraq and he has wanted to be President since 2000.
At the invitation of my father, several years ago I attended a 35 th reunion of Air Force Academy graduates in Colorado Springs. The graduates were all Vietnam veterans and patriots who risked their lives for their country. I distinguished myself amongst this group of fighter jocks by locking the keys in the rental car several miles from the celebratory event. & It turned out to be a fortuitous life lesson. The man who gave me a ride back to my car was a fighter pilot, shot down and imprisoned in Hanoi for the remainder of the Vietnam War. He was easy going and chatted amiably about his current life and his time as a POW.
He said the things that stuck with him the most were not the horrors, but the absurdities. Parachuting into a rice paddy, he was immediately surrounded by villagers armed with farming utensils and machetes. They stood guard while Viet Cong regulars were summoned to take him away. For the next hour or so, the villagers entertained themselves and expressed astonishment over the zippers on his flight suit. Sleeve zippers, breast zippers, leg zippers and shoulder zippers. Everybody took a turn tugging at the zippers - all sharing a sense of delight in this ingenious western invention that fell from the sky. This pilot has seen things and contemplated things at the very extremes of existence. His wisdom is invaluable, his sacrifices redoubtable and his generosity of spirit humbling. In this sense, John McCain and he are very much alike - men worthy of respect and admiration.
John McCain's war record is the only thing that has made him a viable candidate for the Presidency and it is simply not enough. As a man he is admirable, as a leader: unstable.
