John McCain's Newspeak Express
Mark Anderson
January 11, 2008
John McCain has earned the reputation as a "maverick," per what members of the Establishment tell us. But objectively, John McCain is indistinguishable from any other political hack, and he proved that in the Republican debate last night.
"I'm telling you, it's [Iraq war surge] succeeding. And these young people are going to come home. But it's not going to be decided by any politician in Washington. It's going to be decided by the man that should have been Time magazine man of the year, General David Petraeus. That's who should decide when American troops come home," said John McCain.
Trying to strike a chord with voters, you can see that John McCain tries to put a not-so-clever, populist disguise onto his Establishmentarian positions. In this instance, McCain was appealing to the people's distrust of politicians. But let's not forget that he is using this distrust to misdirect people into supporting his very own failed record on the Iraq war.
Looking more carefully at what John McCain said in response to Congressman Ron Paul's position, you can see he--i.e., John McCain the politician--has decided that the troops shouldn't come home, but then says that politicians shouldn't decide when the troops come home. That decision, says John McCain, should be left up to military generals, like General David Petraeus.
McCain can now be called the great doublespeaker. And is it just me, or does McCain demonstrate a complete lack of understanding about how the government and the military are supposed to work? I guess John McCain needs a civics lesson, too. Maybe Congressman Ron Paul can give John McCain a reading list, like he did for Giuliani. If so, he should start with the U.S. Constitution.
It is the duty of the people's body, i.e., politicians in the Congress, to decide whether or not we go to war, the Executive branch to prosecute the war, and the military to fight the war. How can General Petraeus end the war if the Congress keeps funding it? The military has no more authority to decide when a war starts and ends than does the FBI to decide what statutory law should be.
McCain's silly statement conceals not only the Congress' responsibility, but also President Bush's. Does McCain really believe the military brass would undermine the President? Does McCain believe that General Petraeus would say or do anything without the President's permission? If he did, he wouldn't be Commanding General of MNF-I for very long. Or does McCain believe that troops would be in Iraq without President Bush's approval?
One of the very reasons politicians have such bad reputations is because they support things like the war. The politicians in both parties--with the exceptions of Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, and Ron Paul--are doing nothing to end the war, in defiance of popular opinion. While McCain may have a point about how unqualified the prevailing lot of politicians are, it is craziness to leave war-making powers up to unelected officers and bureaucrats.
John McCain's remarks had to be the most outrageous I have heard. Perhaps John McCain has a point about at least one politician being too incompetent to make decisions about anything, much less the war: Himself. His "Straight Talk" Express can now be called the Newspeak Express.
"I'm telling you, it's [Iraq war surge] succeeding. And these young people are going to come home. But it's not going to be decided by any politician in Washington. It's going to be decided by the man that should have been Time magazine man of the year, General David Petraeus. That's who should decide when American troops come home," said John McCain.
Trying to strike a chord with voters, you can see that John McCain tries to put a not-so-clever, populist disguise onto his Establishmentarian positions. In this instance, McCain was appealing to the people's distrust of politicians. But let's not forget that he is using this distrust to misdirect people into supporting his very own failed record on the Iraq war.
Looking more carefully at what John McCain said in response to Congressman Ron Paul's position, you can see he--i.e., John McCain the politician--has decided that the troops shouldn't come home, but then says that politicians shouldn't decide when the troops come home. That decision, says John McCain, should be left up to military generals, like General David Petraeus.
McCain can now be called the great doublespeaker. And is it just me, or does McCain demonstrate a complete lack of understanding about how the government and the military are supposed to work? I guess John McCain needs a civics lesson, too. Maybe Congressman Ron Paul can give John McCain a reading list, like he did for Giuliani. If so, he should start with the U.S. Constitution.
It is the duty of the people's body, i.e., politicians in the Congress, to decide whether or not we go to war, the Executive branch to prosecute the war, and the military to fight the war. How can General Petraeus end the war if the Congress keeps funding it? The military has no more authority to decide when a war starts and ends than does the FBI to decide what statutory law should be.
McCain's silly statement conceals not only the Congress' responsibility, but also President Bush's. Does McCain really believe the military brass would undermine the President? Does McCain believe that General Petraeus would say or do anything without the President's permission? If he did, he wouldn't be Commanding General of MNF-I for very long. Or does McCain believe that troops would be in Iraq without President Bush's approval?
One of the very reasons politicians have such bad reputations is because they support things like the war. The politicians in both parties--with the exceptions of Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, and Ron Paul--are doing nothing to end the war, in defiance of popular opinion. While McCain may have a point about how unqualified the prevailing lot of politicians are, it is craziness to leave war-making powers up to unelected officers and bureaucrats.
John McCain's remarks had to be the most outrageous I have heard. Perhaps John McCain has a point about at least one politician being too incompetent to make decisions about anything, much less the war: Himself. His "Straight Talk" Express can now be called the Newspeak Express.
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