What's even more bizarre about this story is, back in December, the Times agreed with you, and spiked the story anyway.
Apparently, one of the reporters who did the legwork (or perhaps it was a Romney plant) leaked the tale of the spike to TNR, who warned the Times they were running with that tale, forcing publication.
Hmm. Poor Marty Peretz. He's not going to get two scoops of "gotcha" next issue.
I mean, of course, agreed with you that it was a non-story from a sex angle.
I said the same at my place with panties attached. Thanks, litbrit. xo
Panties?! This I gotta see! Will be by shortly.
yes, the sex angle is the teaser. mcCain has never claimed any high moral authority on that front. he's actually pretty tolerant when it comes to sexual peccidilos. i can attest that war hero sex is often, well, uninspiring. you see, the nicks and insults of an active life can really limit one's imagination (and for me, imagination is the biggest sex organ) by imposing painful physical limits.
it's the whole mcCain pattern of saying one thing and doing another. which, when proper account and respect is given to his truly heroic term of captivity makes his current pandering and lusting after his place on the porch with the big dogs all the more tawdry and shabby. to rail publicly against the corruption and favors while taking those same favors puts him in the same moral class as a bill bennett who pontificates about "moral authority" in between gambling junkets. it's the same hypocrisy that larry craig exhibited while publicly preaching sexual mores and condemning homosexual citizens for a lifestyle they have no real choice in having, all the time knowing exactly what bathroom to visit in his off the route stops in milwaukee. it's the same with the vitters, the barrs, the hydes, and the gingriches who railed against the indiscretions of bill clinton while their own houses were messy beyond comprehension.
it ain't the sex. it's the corruption and the need to hide the venality of their hearts and souls behind a thin, and easily pierced veneer of respectability.
it saddens me more with john mcCain though. he was at one time, a truly selfless hero who sacrificed his own health and risked his life to effectively lead his fellow prisoners. that took sincere and honest courage every day. he found it somewhere. he could withstand tortures beyond the understanding of people who have not seen it face to face, but he couldn't pass by the buckets of easy cash, or the sniggering deals to be made on the path to power.
Minstrel, I agree 100%. Hence the title "Gods, Monsters...".
We've all got both within.
It's tragic, because he is a real hero (and nothing can change the reality behind that) but the truth is pretty plain: McCain has, for some time now, been listening to and indulging the latter.
There's a reason I avoid watching network news broadcasts. At least on the internet I get to choose what to read and what to ignore.
McCain's soul got eaten by the American nightmare...What's left is a meat puppet bound to do what it is bid to do by the shadows within.
Perhaps he could have done better, but it's far too late now.
There's never a shortage of apologists for GOP scandals, is there? I agree with you that in a perfect world, the corruption would be the angle. In this world, the sex has a much better chance of getting the public's attention, and of doing any real damage to his candidacy.
darkblack | Homepage | 02.21.08 - 6:58 pm | #
Well put.
it also reminds me of one of the wisest things i ever heard silas, the ha'taallii say, power does not corrupt. it merely is, like the wind or a river. power does attract the already corrupt.
silas would make a great president, but he would never leave his shot out trailer on the edge of a mesa. he'd miss the sunsets too badly to cope.
Another interpretation: McCain really believes that he is different - that he has successfully avoided for the most part the influences that taint the judgment of lesser mortals. He can receive gifts and promises of gifts, and simply resolve not to favor anyone, as he did by simply asking the FCC to resolve the issue without specifying in whose favor. The analogy that springs to mind is the idea that eating donuts with diet soda cancels out the calories. McCain is Kirstie Allie on a diet.
The analogy that springs to mind is the idea that eating donuts with diet soda cancels out the calories. McCain is Kirstie Allie on a diet.
Well said!
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