I was watching Hardball on MSNBC this afternoon when host Chris Matthews did a segment titled "Whatever Happened to John McCain?" He quoted extensively from a Time Magazine article written by Joe Klein, in regards to McCain's opposition to the Dream Act and his crusade against repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. McCain distinguished himself doubly this weekend, opposing the Dream Act and leading the opposition to "Don't Ask," despite the very public positions of his wife and daughter on the other side of the issue. I used to know a different John McCain, the guy who proposed comprehensive immigration reform with Ted Kennedy, the guy--a conservative, to be sure, but an honorable one--who refused to indulge in the hateful strictures of his party's extremists. His public fall has been spectacular, a consequence of politics--he "needed" to be reelected--and personal pique. He's a bitter man now, who can barely tolerate the fact that he lost to Barack Obama. But he lost for an obvious reason: his campaign proved him to be puerile and feckless, a politician who panicked when the heat was on during the financial collapse, a trigger-happy gambler who chose an incompetent for his vice president. He has made quite a show ever since of demonstrating his petulance and lack of grace.
I've felt that way about McCain for many years, but didn't quite know how to verbalize it effectively. Bravo, Joe Klein.For more, read the entire Swampland blog entry written by Joe Klein titled Two Dreams, One Dead.
I've always been an advocate of Congress relinquishing their benefits as Americans struggle to survive in the current economy. As lawmakers make or block decisions that affect millions, why should they reap the benefits of healthcare, hefty salaries and pensions as their constituents flounder? See Collective Ineptitude, Power to the People, Malice McCain and Healthcare Foes.I'm glad to see someone has taken it a step further by creating a petition:- Repeal THEIR healthcare: GOP leaders want to repeal health reform? Let the hypocrites start by giving up their OWN government sponsored care.
Credo Action's petition reads:Senator McConnell and Congressman Boehner, I am calling on you and your fellow Republicans in Congress to practice what you preach, and to give up your government-sponsored health care.
For two years, you opposed any effort at reasonable reform and derided attempts to help tens of millions of uninsured Americans as "socialist." And yet, you seem to have no problem at all accepting government-sponsored health care for yourselves.
Practice what you preach, and stop being hypocrites. You want to repeal health care reform? Fine, start by repealing your own.
Signing the petition certainly can't hurt. Nothing else seems able to spurn the right-wing into action.
How sick is the current atmosphere of "compromise" being conducted in Washington DC? Right-wing legislators will now cave on extending unemployment benefits only after President Obama agrees to extend Bush tax cuts for the rich.What the hell? Why not take the money saved from denying tax cuts to the rich and giving it over to the common folk who can't find jobs?When I saw the sour-faced Mitch McConnell on Meet the Press on Sunday, I had the strong urge to vomit. This sorry excuse for a man went on about the voters "having spoken" during the elections last month. Where were the Republicans when the voters spoke during the 2008 election? Did they listen to the voters then? No, they did everything in their power to block everything President Obama tried to do to help the American people.I detest prejudice in every form, but I can say without equivocation that I hate the Republicans and all they stand for. Their party needs to be abolished, or better yet, taken down by angry public mobs. The GOP doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. Their self-serving agenda is enough to turn normally rational and decent people into snarling, livid beasts.
