Glenn Greenwald-The John McCain "centrism" fallacy

[Ichingcarpenter]

In a lengthy and largely (though not completely) admiring profile of John McCain, Newsweek's Michael Hirsh writes:

Lieberman, fellow centrist, recently seems to have assigned himself the role of McCain's monitor. Just two weeks ago, when McCain mistakenly said Iran was training Al Qaeda in Iraq fighters, it was the Connecticut senator who again pulled him aside, gently reminding him that the Iranian regime has been accused of training fellow Shiite extremists, not Sunni Al Qaeda.

(There's that generous and patently false "McCain-was-merely-mistaken" media defense again). And there's also this:

There is much to like in both McCains. He's pragmatic in the service of the national interest; he rises to passion when he believes that America's best values are at stake. Even some of those who fret about his zeal and temper say they plan to vote for him (just as many ultraconservatives who worry about his centrism say they'll reluctantly pull the lever as well).

And here's the glorifying headline:

The World According to John McCain

Link:http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/31/mccain/index.html


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Glenn gives us plenty of Ammo in the article to fight this Bastard

[Bill McBlueState]

1. actually, the idea of centrism is always a fallacy

"Centrism" isn't a political philosophy of its own; it always has to be defined in relation to the current political scene. If a country's entire political discourse shifts way too far to the right, like ours has, then so-called centrists will actually be right-wingers.

In my experience, people who call themselves "centrists" are those who live comfortable lives, really don't pay much attention to politics, and have a lot of scorn for those of us who do.

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. If anyone is interested? This is an attack McCain strategy

We need to battle this guy

[Supersedeas]

3. also an indictment of the corporate media that give McCain a free ride