NY Mag on the "angry" John McCain

[ProSense]

What Would a Maverick Do?

John McCain, still at war.
By Joe Hagan

<...>

Then, during an event in a YMCA recreation facility in the suburb of Carefree, he can’t hold it together anymore. A woman takes a paper from her purse and begins reading McCain’s own concession speech from the 2008 election. After he was beaten by Barack Obama, the senator from Arizona promised “to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences.”

“That was your words,” says the woman. “I was very heartened when I heard these words, and my question is: ‘What happened?’ ”

Blinking rapidly, McCain develops an expression like a grenade about to detonate.

“Simple,” he snaps. “This administration has decided to govern from the far left without any consultations or negotiations or any compromises to be made with the other party!”

<...>

In a world where the economy was in turmoil and populist anger was percolating, Obama’s suggestion looked to McCain more like an invitation to political self-immolation, especially in Arizona, where McCain faced a reelection campaign in 2010 with a volatile electorate sliding toward tea-party politics. The exchange stoked lingering feelings over all that had happened in 2008: the economic collapse that stole his thunder, the bickering in his campaign, the press’s abandoning him, how the choice of Sarah Palin threw his judgment into question. He sees Obama less as the leader of all the people than a man who beat him, with a few lucky breaks. “He’s angry at Obama, at former staff, at his family life, at his fellow Americans,” says a veteran Republican strategist who has worked closely with McCain. “He’s angry.”

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[TwilightGardener]

1. I'm a big Obama supporter, but I do have to laugh at the notion that he's

governing from the far left. Unless McLame means he's governing from far to the left of the most extreme in the Teabagger realm. :shrug:

[elleng]

4. Agreed. That's there (losing) meme.

[FSogol]

2. Old Man Yells at Cloud.

Anyone have that picture?

[beac]

8. Found this one:

:rofl:

[FSogol]

9. Perfect. Thanks. n/t

[mascarax]

23. +1 - thanks for making me laugh

Great article too.

[damntexdem]

3. Well, we've long known that he's mad.

And he's angry, too. ;-)

[Voice for Peace]

5. angry and vengeful. mccain is all about getting revenge on whomever beats him.

vengeful and mean. arrogance big time.

[Bitwit1234]

6. So Obama and most of the Democrats don't try to comprise

and show bi-partianism...can you imagine that. And I know, I know why McCain is angry...he lost the election to Obama and he can't get over it. He wasn't this darn mad at Bush when he was beaten, cheated or whatever for the nomination in 2000 now was he.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. True. There is that disgusting picture of McCain and Bush hugging...

[Phx_Dem]

7. Angry old men should not be legislators.

Add to that the fact that he's not terribly bright.

[DrToast]

10. McCain might be the biggest phony in all of politics

All that "maverick" crap from a few years ago was nothing more than a calculated career move. He has no convictions and will only do/say whatever he thinks will help him get ahead.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. My impression of McCain was that he has ALWAYS been a very angry, bitter man....

Perhaps he did a better job of hiding it in the past..

[theothersnippywshrub]

13. “Hi, Mother, this is John McCain.” Bizarre, even for a Republican. n/t

[BlueIdaho]

14. John "flavor of the month" McCain flip flops, again.

What a phony old shit.

[karynnj]

15. McCain is nothing if not complex

Who else could have the lifetime pattern that the writer describes of claiming lofty values and spectacularly failing to meet them and STILL having some people believe that he is man of great honor and integrity that he is said to be? If it were just the media, it could be dismissed, but it appears to have been the view of many Democrats.

This in spite of the fact that he acted despicably towards his first wife, completely violated ethics laws as one of the Keating 5 - where he was treated as less guilty, his pandering with the confederate flag, his backtracking in less than a day on his defense of Kerry from the SBVT (in spite of the fact that Kerry led the defense of him in 2000 with the Senate vets and vet organizations that Kerry had good ties to and in spite of McCain own description of how Kerry kept him from publicly exploding in many MIA/POW hearings) and his lack of decency in singing bomb, bomb,bomb, bomb,bomb Iran.

The unusual thing is that in a time where one misstatement or one lapse in judgment can erase decades of good work, McCain has been given pass after pass. His temper was known to all his peers and all the media from various accounts, but the publicly seen facade was the somewhat earnest, oddly soft spoken highly edited McCain. One question is why did both his fellow Senators and the media often ignore and not speak of (or report) the apparently common bursts of anger.

It might be that to the media his lofty values put him on a higher plane - and the failure to meet his own standards and his apologies humanized him - letting the media see him as both bigger and better than they - but at the same time failing to be better than they are thus like them. I suspect that his folksy candor also had the effect of signaling to the many reporters that he confessed his transgressions to that they were special "McCain" family to him. At any rate, he seemed to always get the benefit - even if their were no doubt.

As to angry, it appears from many accounts that he always has been subject to uncontrolled bouts of anger - bouts angry enough that they would have completely destroyed the reputation of any other politician. (Remember how Dean - with NO such examples - was painted as too angry?) As to sad, I suspect it could be even more than that. At the risk of being melodramatic, I wonder if he has completely loss his sense of who he really is.

In 2008, Kerry at the convention contrasted the McCain running for office with the Senator that he and many Democrats had praised in earlier years. There was a long list that showed that he had rejected a huge number of long held positions. This was a nice political frame solving the problem of the Democratic praise, but in the years sense - McCain has continued to run from nearly every position that he should have been proud of having the courage to take.

I think that the "sadness" for the media is seeing that McCain is not even someone who tried to be better than he was and failed, but that he is - at the end of his career - becoming a shadow of himself and a political hack. But, that characterization is why I disagree that he will not again after re-election go back to try to redefine himself as a maverick - the alternative will not meet his view of himself.

[Blue Owl]

16. He's an angry bottom

Didn't the Daily Show call him that in '08?

[Moosepoop]

17. He's sure angry at a lot of people.

I'll bet he's still angry with Letterman, too. :D

[opihimoimoi]

18. All BULLIES get angry when losing...His Run in the Sun is done...he is in the SHADOWS now

It only gets worse...and he noes it but refuses to let it go...

Hey John,,, Its time for Young Blood....you ole guys had your OP and Blew it

[Brewman_Jax]

19. Angry old man, here's something that can help

If he felt better, he would be in a better mood. Better mood, better decisions. :think:

[Moochy]

20. wow he is angry!

[Catshrink]

22. Get off my lawn!

He's an angry old man.

[karynnj]

21. This video of Clinton, Kerry, and McCain gives me hope that he can get past the anger after he is

re-elected. (I prefer the Democrat, but McCain is the likely winner.)

This 15 minute video has the three men speaking yesterday at an event commemorating the reconciliation of the US and Vietnam. All three speeches are interesting - Clinton theme is good, though he looks weaker than when I last saw him. Obviously, I think Kerry's comments fascinating - but my point in placing this here is that McCain looked happier than he has for a few years when he spoke of working with Kerry -he had kind words for both Kerry and Clinton.

I looked for another source, but this may be it - I couldn't find it on CSPAN - so surprisingly given that the combination of speakers should have gotten some coverage. (One JK poster suggested that it could be that given that McCain is involved in a nasty primary and that it could hurt him to be seen with 2 of the men the right hates. She might be right and it might be for that reason that Newsmax put this very nice video out there.)

McCain is the last to speak and, IMO, the way out of anger is to follow the path he did then.

So pardon the RW source - I assure you that the video is completely not RW in any way at all. http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/McCain--Kerry--Vietnam--Normalization/2010/07/16/id/364858

[saltpoint]

24. My theory is that McCain is not angry in a principled

anger kind of way, but just angry because he can't navigate his sub-standard mind through a complex world.

I don't believe he holds a vision of a great nation or sees himself as its protector or architect.

I think he's not very bright to begin with, has a famous temper, equally famous poor judgment, can't articulate how his frustrations as a Senator don't entitle him to any respect beyond the Sunday news talk shows, and stalks the meeting rooms along the Potomac growling and snapping at people.

My suggestion would be to Baker Act him in a locked psych ward and let the treatment team do the best they can. Empty the formulary shelves.

I'd suggest Cindy take a condo downtown someplace where she can shop and give their 7 or 8 houses to the homeless.

[Dulcinea]

25. Another politcian with daddy issues.

http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan08/mccain_military_record.htm


We had a guy with daddy issues last time. How well did that work out?