Matt Taibbi's take on John McCain - love the caricature, too.

[Vinca]

Here's a paragraph, but you need to read the whole thing:

"According to current political wisdom, John McCain is "controversial" among Republicans because he lacks true conservative credentials. His main offenses, ostensibly, are a smattering of domestic-policy positions that defy the GOP's Limbaugh-Hannity orthodoxy: He took a public stand against the Spanish Inquisition, he shared a room with Ted Kennedy for a few hours to fashion a failed immigration bill, he passed a roundly criticized campaign-finance-reform bill, he accidentally deemed the Bush tax cuts insane out loud before realizing that this was a political error."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/18721308/mccain_resurrected

[leftynyc]

1. He's a terrific writer

with a very keen sense for politics. I've been enjoying his appearances on Bill Maher's show.

That the pubs don't think he's conservative enough makes my head spin.

[Shakespeare]

2. Hannity with a Hitler 'stache.

PERFECT. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[TheDoorbellRang]

3. Here's the part that should be a dash of icewater in our faces

As we rip each other to shreds in these Hillary vs. Barack attacks:

"No matter how moderate McCain seems on domestic issues, on the issue of war he's stark raving mad. He's a wounded, crusading Ahab, and civilian command and diplomatic restraint are his Great White Whale. If he gets put in charge of a Middle Eastern war that is easily widened, it's whirlpool time for all of us."


Fellow DUers. We MUST set aside our differences and unite this fall. I can't even begin to imagine the consequences if we don't.

[TexasObserver]

5. Matt is great, and that quote on McCain is why I keep saying he's more dangerous than Bush.

He's absolutely nuts and will outWAR Bush.

[invictus]

6. Hillary and McCain both voted for the Iraq War

Yes, McCain is pure evil when it comes to war, but I am not sure that Hillary is much better. I can't forgive her for voting for IWR. If you give her a pass on this, she's just going to pull it again with another war. That's business as usual for DINOs. They pass all the Republican legislation like the IWR, NAFTA, and the Patriot Act and then after all the damage is done and they have run for reelection they claim they were "fooled" by the Repubs and they should be given a second chance. No more second chances. Especially not for a has-been political hack like HRC.

[Vinca]

10. You certainly hit on the most important part of the piece.

We have to stop him from becoming president and if it means holding your nose and pulling the lever for someone you haven't supported, consider it your duty in order to save the country from the war mongering maniacs. Uh oh, MSNBC is just now reporting war ships off of Lebanon. What the hell is King George up to now?

[anigbrowl]

11. All th rabid conservatives I know...

(as opposed to the thoughtful but cautious conservatives, who I respect) have this in common. THE easiest way to find out what sort of conservative you're dealing with is to casually mention Viet Nam in a neutral way - that is, solicit their views rather than set them up for an argument.

All the rabid ones (regardless of when they were born) are FURIOUS that the US gave up on Viet Nam. They all think that the military was sold out by a bunch of civilian pussies who wouldn't let the 'get the job done'. Don't waste your time (like I did) pointing out that *just maybe* dropping napalm on peasants was not an appropriate task of the US military. These are the same people that argue we had to drop two nuclear bombs on Japan because otherwise we would have been attacked with sharpened sticks by staging a ground invasion. (the real reason, although I disagree with it, was to scare the pants off Stalin before he got the idea to liberate France too).

To these folk, the US decision to get out of VN is a massive betrayal. This is the fuel for all those 'POW*MIA' campaigns, Rambo movies etc. They hate McCain because he has insulted them in the past, with comments like 'dime store Rambos' and so on. He's actually been the real deal so they can't argue with his experience of war, but transfer their annoyance at him onto other parts of his record. Believe it or not, there's a conservative conspiracy theory that McCain actually spent most of his captivity enjoying hookers and blow in return for giving the NVA all kids of useful intelligence info.

Anyway, while McCain has genuine war hero status, he still has to deal with the fact that he was a hero because he got captured and survived a long time, as opposed to because he bombed Ho Chi Minh's HQ or something. And so we are hearing lots and lots of talk about 'finishing the mission' in Iraq - I can't help feeling that in some ways this is the 'mission' he never got to finish himself because he was shot down. It may or may not be the case in McCain's mind, but it is certainly so in the minds of rabid conservatives. And since they loathe him so much, the only way he can get them back on board and out to vote in November is to promise them a great triumph in the deserts of the Middle East.

In their minds, if we don't a full-sized, unarguable grade-A 'Result' in Iraq, then the whole thing has been a waste of time. If we do get a huge win, then it's OK - all the pain, suffering, money and time is OK as long it bring Glory. Conversely, no amount of brilliant diplomacy, strategy, whatever can ever make up for the 'cut and run' feeling if we pull out o Iraq before that country comes to resemble the 51st State of the USA.

Deep down, subconsciously even, rabid conservatives feel as embarrassed and humiliated by W as anyone...not only have been in Iraq and Afghanistan longer than it took for the whole of WW2, but every time Bush talks to Saudi Arabia they are keenly aware that he is basically kissing the ass of a feudal king, and that Saudi Arabia makes Iran look like a liberal democracy. Rabid conservatives are authoritarians, who are psychologically biased towards accepting dominance, submission and humiliation as facts of life, and indeed the natural order of things. The fact that Saudi Arabia is not obviously kissing our ass can only be interpreted one way - when push comes to shove, they are more powerful than we are. This notion is crushingly humiliating to anyone who has gone through their life believing that the USA is the best country in the world because of its ability to Kick Ass. (Indeed, it's noticeable that these people are obsessed with being able to Kick Ass. Not to land a knockout punch, or fool the enemy, but specifically to kick their asses. And you wonder why so many GOP politicians have boy problems).

McCain can only reactivate the conservative base by promising Revenge. Revenge against the illegal aliens, revenge against the damn A-rabs (never mind the details, everyone east of Jerusalem is some kind of damn muslim to them), even revenge against Europe for their snotty 'I told you so' attitude. Of course he can't say this out loud...but the big thing this year will be the 'clear and presnt danger' of Iran (or any other catchy Tom Clancy book title they can get to fit. They all love tom Clancy - he makes them feel intellectual).

In short, McCain himself is only part of the problem. The real danger is that the people he needs to vote if he is to be elected desperately, passionately want a giant shooting war, and would be entirely happy for it to go nuclear.

[washingdem]

4. Thumbs up to him, he's good.

[Mz Pip]

7. Definitely worth the read

There does seem to be a disconnect between fantasy and reality when it comes to McCain supporters. I am astonished that there are DUers who have expressed some support of McCain should their Democratic candidate of choice not win the nomination. Supporting McCain, voting for Nader, or writing in Kuchinich rather than voting for our nominee will just help put this insane warmonger's finger on the button.

Scary thought.

[JimGinPA]

8. K&R

[progressoid]

9. "All they have left to offer is this sad, dwindling, knee-jerk patriotism"

He's survived because Onward to Victory is the last great illusion the Republican Party has left to sell in this country, even to its own followers. They can't sell fiscal responsibility, they can't sell "values," they can't sell competence, they can't sell small government, they can't even sell the economy. All they have left to offer is this sad, dwindling, knee-jerk patriotism, a promise to keep selling world politics as a McHale's Navy rerun to a Middle America that wants nothing to do with realizing the world has changed since 1946.



This is a good piece. K/R

[anigbrowl]

12. But don't underesimate it

It looks sad and dwindling to us. And against the backdrop of a failed foreign policy and a sagging economy, even more so. But the core conservative narrative is still 'manifest destiny'. In the eyes of conservatives (and not just in America), this country beloved by God and has been sold out by liberals to the Middle Easterners and the Chinese.

McCain pretty much has to appoint some young, virile conservative as his running mate to balance his ticket. He's old, physically weak, and insufficiently ideological enough for most conservatives - this spring the conservative meme is that they are not giving another red cent to the GOP until it damn well delivers something. I don't know who the running mate will be, but you can bet it will be some fire-breathing conservative rather than a technocrat. If the running mate is sufficiently aggressive enough for the base, they'll donate and vote on the theory that they're electing a president-in-waiting.

Comaprisons between von Hindenberg and Hitler in 1930s Germany come to mind. Above all, the conservative mindset is based upon a belief in concentrated entitlement. If McCain can find someone that can be given a 'deserving' narrative, the conservatives will fall into line.