He'll Take The High Road

And, let Sarah take the low road.

So, now we know what desperation looks like, and it's pretty ugly to behold. John McCain has abandoned whatever sense of decency he may have once had and is hiding behind a woman's skirts. He knows that Sarah Palin is lying about Obama, claiming he is "palling around with terrorists", yet he allows her to go on saying them, or, maybe he even encourages her. And, there's more to come.

If there's anything I detest about politics, it's the way candidates tend to sell their souls when it begins to look as though they are losing ground. I first noticed this when George H.W. Bush abandoned all of the core beliefs that he had held throughout his entire career. He went from a moderate Republican to a Reagan idealogue, in exchange for Reagan's promise to back him when the time came for him to run for President.

After Bush's first term, when it appeared he was in real trouble against that upstart, Bill Clinton, he kicked over all the traces and unleashed the religious right at his convention, and they have been running rampant over the Republican Party ever since.

Then, George W. Bush got religion and the zealots embraced him, he won, and we all know how that worked out.

John McCain tried to follow that lead, and it didn't work for him, because the idealogues are uncomfortable around mavericks. Too hard to control, they think. Hence, Sarah Palin. McCain is hoping she can deliver the extremist wing of the party that has heretofore been coolish to him. It seems he has now turned her loose to do what she does best - trash the opposition. Like others of her ilk, she's not much troubled by the truth. "Any means to an end" is their mantra, because "God is on our side". She is as transparent as a pane of glass and she doesn't care who realizes it.

The McCain people have no doubt promised her their backing when she runs for President in her own right. Yeah, right. Like the Republicans are actually going to elect a woman as their candidate. When pigs fly, with or without lipstick.

John McCain has had a long and distinguished career. Once revered as a genuine war hero, he was his own man. Now, he's just a pathetic old man, desperate to fight Vietnam all over again, and relive the glory days when he was young and had the world by the tail.

The sad part of it is whether he wins or loses, he'll have to live out the rest of his life with the knowledge that he has diminished himself by allowing naked ambition to replace dignity, honor and integrity.

Maverick no more. Hero no more.

But, Seriously...........

I actually felt sorry for John McCain Thursday night, at first. So many things went wrong for him that night. It should have been his night to shine, but he was completely overshadowed by his choice for Vice President. First, when he appeared on stage, he looked old and tired, resembling anything but the "maverick" he claims to be. That green screen didn't help any. Then, the backdrop with the blue sky and the flag flying was supposed to make us think of Patton. But, McCain didn't bear any resemblance to General Patton. Instead of a rousing speech with the crowd on its feet most of the time, he launched into an "I have sinned" kind of speech that should have sounded humble, but it wasn't because he pretty much absolved himself.

The bulk of the speech was the same tired old reminiscences about how he got shot down and spent five years in the Hanoi Hilton, and other POW camps. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I think I sort of snapped during that self-aggrandizing speech. I actually wanted to yell at the screen and tell him that I knew plenty of guys who came back from Vietnam sick and broken after having been injured and/or held in POW camps. And, every last one of them came home and got on with their lives and didn't have to use their experiences to get ahead for the next 30 years.

Just take a closer look at John McCain. He proudly describes his own timeat the Naval Academy as a "four-year course of insubordination and rebellion." He claims his father and grandfather got a kick out of his antics.

He once toyed with the idea of joining the French Foreign Legion, until he found out that the Legion required nine years of service.

I wonder how they liked the fact that he was such a "hot dog" that he crashed one plane into Corpus Christi Bay in Texas. Then, he ejected from another jet that flamed out as he was flying solo. Was he showing off?

Later, he knocked down power lines by flying too low over southern Spain. Hot-dogging, again? It has to be unusual for a young fighter pilot to lose that many planes without being stuck behind a desk, or mustered out, or had his path to promotions frozen. Unless, of course, he has a grandfather and father who are both Admirals.

The fact that he showed such recklessness and lack of judgment that he lost at least four planes can't speak too well for his presidential ambitions. I say "four" planes, because being shot down in Vietnam can't be called a success. Considering his past, could he have been showing off once again, flying too low, taking chances, mindless of everything but the thrill of the kill? He admits that he never considered the idea that he could lose his life in the war.

During his speech, he didn't say one word about his policies, or his vision for his presidency. He really couldn't, you know. Because he intends to continue the damage that was done by the Bush Administration. He wants to privatize Social Security, pass a Constitutional Amendment making abortion not only illegal in ANY case, but making it a criminal offense. He has no intention of "reforming" health care, and has never uttered a word about education. He has voted against the Federal Minimum Wage 14 times. He voted against the new G.I. Bill until it became expedient for him to vote for it.

I could go on and on, and I probably will, but not right now. Right now, I am feeling pretty disgusted about that speech, and all the other speeches made during that pathetic convention.

More later.