LA Times cuts to McCain's core

Here's a nice little piece by the LA Times' Assistant Editorial Page Editor, Matt Welch. Some juicy exerpts:

If his issues line up with yours, and if you're not overly concerned by an activist federal government, McCain can be a great and sympathetic ally. But chances are he will eventually see a grave national threat in what you consider harmless, or he'll prescribe a remedy that you consider unconscionable. Nowhere is that more evident than in his ideas about the Iraq war.

McCain has been banging the drum from nearly Day One to put more boots on the ground in Iraq. "There are a lot of things that we can do to salvage this," he said on "Meet the Press" on Nov. 12, "but they all require the presence of additional troops." McCain is more inclined to start wars and increase troop levels than George W. Bush or Bill Clinton.

McCain, who has tried so hard to paint himself a libertarian, is the exact opposite. Personally, I believe in business regulation as protection for the middle class and consumers, but as a social libertarian- ie. of the belief that what you do in the privacy of your own home is your business- McCain scares the crap out of me.

McCain, on the other hand, is a third-generation D.C. insider who carpetbagged his way into office, believing to his core that "national pride will not survive the people's contempt for government." On Nov. 7, those conflicting worldviews collided when Arizonans voted on whether to outlaw gay marriage. McCain campaigned in favor of the ban, in the name of "preserving the sanctity" of heterosexual unions. His exhortations went down to surprising defeat. Not, one suspects, for the last time.

McCain's lack of conscience

McCain admits he has no conscience:

"They will not be easy to find. We should have begun to increase significantly the size of the Army and Marine Corps the day after 9/11. But we did not. So we must turn again to those Americans and their families who have already sacrificed so much in this cause. That is a very hard thing to do. But if we intend to win, then we must.

It is not fair or easy to look a soldier in the eye and tell him he must shoulder a rifle again and risk his life in a third tour in Iraq. As troubling as it is, I can ask a young Marine to go back to Iraq. (emphasis mine)"

Three thousand troops have sacrificed their lives, tens of thousands more have suffered life changing injuries, over a hundred thousand Iraqi civilians have been killed (133 on Thanksgiving alone), and even Mr. Prolonged struggle himself, Henry Kissinger, says we're in an unwinnable war. And McCain wants to send MORE troops into that quagmire.

Without endorsing his '08 candidacy, let me quote the 1970's John Kerry: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

Apparently, John McCain has no problem asking for that sacrifice.

Welcome to Straight Talk Exposed

With the 2008 Presidential Election race officially under way, I've decided to make my contribution to the pursuit of an open and truthful dialogue that will help America make the best choice for its next Commander in Chief. With the mainstream media often buying into the spin and hype of certain darling politicians, I've realized it's the everyman's job to cut through the spin (unintentional Bill O'Reilly sound byte) and deliver to his fellow citizens the facts that those in Washington spend millions of dollars to obscure and make sure you don't know. Thus, while I'll be working in other ways on this campaign as well, I've taken it upon myself to begin to debunk the myths eminating out of Washington that prevent the American voter from making a decision at the polls based on fact and what's best for him/her and his or her fellow citizen.

I'll be posting as much as possible, and I hope you help me find and translate anything and everything that will make clear who is really working for middle class America.

- JD