McCain: Most Dangerous Man in America

Bill Scher (Mr. Liberal Oasis) at the HuffPo
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-scher/mccain-most-dangerous-ma_b_11715.html

It should also rise the question of why we support somebody: issues vs personality.

the fact that the whole "personality" thing is just a big media construction. I think McCain has a horrible personality.

article in January. A lot of people here are mad about his betrayal of JK and such. But that is peanuts compared to his hawkish ideology. I feel like if he were elected president he would escalate the war in Iraq and try to start a couple of more wars, and further alienate Europe. And in the end, he doesn't have the personal "charm" * has. Like it or not, when * goes on a charm offensive he has had some success, particularly with Europe at the beginning of the year. McCain has no such talents and is even less diplomatic (if you can imagine that)than *. He was extremely rude to the Germans last year, and they were taken aback by his undiplomatic language. It was a good thing that McCain was not interested in being VP for Kerry. That NEVER would have worked. JK should continue to work with McCain on an issue by issue basis as is customary in Senate. And certainly, if he enjoys hanging out with McCain, who am I to criticize? But if McCain is the '08 nominee, regardless of whether JK is the Dem nominee, that guy needs to be Goldwaterized (ever seen that ad where they show a mushroom cloud explaining this is the risk you take voting for Goldwater). He's a warmonger plain and simple and makes John Bolton look like a sherry sipping career diplomat.

seriously considered McCain as VP, seriously talked to him, or even offered it to him.

The one statement I heard Kerry say was that he would not tell anyone who he talked to or who was on a short list. He made a point that other than the man helping him vet the possibilities, he would tell no one.

The stories came out as rumours, then McCain statements. I think some like Biden talked about it as interesting. The McCain statements, as is typical of McCain, are intentionally self serving and they became more elaborate over time. The comments that Kerry was screaming and swearing and McCain was cool and collected and pointed out the problems of the proposal seem contrary to all known observations of Kerry's behavior. I don't think that he was ever accused of screaming in the 1970s.

I really think that these rumours and then McCain's comments were either overblown or spread by Republicans.

the media which adores him.

as you say they were self serving and continue making it seem as if McCain is some special thing. remember, around the same time we also heard that Bush wanted McCain as vp also. this further makes McCain seem more important than he is. BOTH parties want him. he ins't just a "moderate" that Dems love as is the case with Lieberman and Republicans. but his own party wants him also. he is loved and wanted by all.

i also agree that the stuff about Kerry losing his temper which went along with these stories is further evidence they were false.

because the press picked it up so quickly and even had polls on it immediately - which made it seem a setup. Having seen enough back scenes Kerry he seems far more soft spoken than I ever expected. I think we may get inside information on this from Alexandra's book.

It never made sense as they are politically too different - I also think the RW would have gladly assassinated Kerry as he worked to get us out of Iraq, to get McCain who would have kept us in. I seriously doubt Kerry would have had him as SOD as well - even if it was legal - they clearly were not on the same page on the war.

As this thread said, McCain is the most dangerous man there is. His face which would morph easily into a smiley face, but he distorts and lies at will.

McCain is very strong in trying to balance the budget and trim pork out of the budget. That nicely fits with Sen. Kerry's desire to instill 'pay-as-you-go' budgeting. And so forth.

That screaming scene doesn't sound right. The same MCain says that jk's patience was what saved the MIA-POW hearings on Vietnam. Hmmm, maybe someone is projecting their own faults on to someone else.

projecting.

the thing about McCain is he isn't a total conservative in that he does support some government funding of programs to help people and opposes Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy.

he is also better on the environment than most Republicans.

his reasons for supporting war isn't as clear as with many others who do which usually are for selfish personal reasons such as Cheney and how he profits from it.

with McCain it really is about the whole glory of it. he still has not gotten over the fact that we lost Vietnam. and refuses to acknowledge that we could not win.

Chuck Hagel is a bit different in this in that he has a horrible record on taxes, environment etc. but when it comes to foreign policy and war specifically he is more moderate and seems to really get or understand different cultures and what we can or should do.

so i think Hagel would be better for defense sec than McCAin.

I had actually been surprised at the chapter in McCain's book. A non-biased reader would likely come away far more impressed by Kerry than Bush.

I think the screaming was a Newsweek/McCain slime after the election loss. It really seems contrary to anything that's ever been written about Kerry.

I would never believe that of Kerry! Remember that story about how it was Kerry who kept McCain from blowing his top during the POW/MIA hearings, I think it was. Sheesh, how things get reversed.

edit to add: I hope McCain's lack of charisma will prevent him from getting a nomination, should he try for it. That reasonableness can be really deceptive--I agree, he's quite hawkish.

He's hawkish and ethnocentric. At first you wouldn't think that of McCain, but the more you read...he's all for American Power and American Glory. He'd be even more scary than * on foreign policy. And the thing that his betrayal of Senator Kerry (after stating that he'd "never do that") illustrates, is that both his loyalty and perception of the truth are arbitrary. What makes him even more terrifying is that he has flashing moments of rationality, which make him appear reasonable to the casual observer. Combine all this with his existental bent and yeah, this man is seriously dangerous.

It seems that JK's compassion for McCain transcends personal hurt feelings he may have had over McCain's betrayal. He certainly understands what McCain suffered and why. JK knows that John McCain is an American patriot and a hero. And he's right. We owe Senator McCain a debt for his service. That does not mean that McCain is someone who should be anywhere near the proverbial "button."

It will be difficult for the Dems to "Goldwaterize" McCain, without appearing to "Manchurianize" him as well. Let's hope it doesn't get that far.

look at how he stands up for those who are attacked on their service. from Bob Kerrey, Max Cleland,McCain, Murtha etc.

even when he was upset at McCain and refusing to speak to him he would still have easily came to defend him if he was attacked on his service again.

I've never liked McCain's foreign policy, but this really puts it all in perspective. It is easy to be blindsided by McCain because he can appear to be so reasonable at times.