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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

What on earth has happened to Senator John McCain?

Posted on Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 05:53 PM

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What has happened to Irish American Senator John McCain, the man of principle, who stood up for what was right and to hell with the consequences?

Those of you who saw him on the Today Show yesterday will know what I mean.

Host Ann Curry asked him about the violence that is occurring around the country as fanatics target Democratic lawmakers who voted for the health care reform bill.

McCain's weasel words in reply, effectively saying there was nothing new in such tactics, do not fit the man who is a hero to so many Americans for his ability to speak truth to power.

The old John McCain would have spoken out directly against the acts that are being committed and would have insisted that everyone calm down.

But alas, with a tough vote in Arizona on his hands, where he is running against a Tea Party candidate in the primary, McCain it appears had to play the hardball angle every chance he gets.

What a pity for a man who had so much class that I even helped run a fundraiser for him two years ago because of his support on immigration reform.

Back then an impassioned McCain spoke powerfully about what it was like to find out that desperate immigrants, some of them young babies, had died of thirst trying to cross the border from Mexico and how he was committed to doing something about it.

The new McCain is an impostor I'm sure and if he wins his seat back let's hope we see the old McCain. U.S. politics badly needs him.

Perhaps he could take a lead from his daughter Meghan McCain,who made clear her feelings on Tom Tancredo, keynote speaker at the recent Tea Party convention who made several downright racist comments during his speech about Latinos.

“It’s innate racism, and I think it’s why young people are turned off by this movement,” McCain charged of Tancredo’s remarks. “Revolutions start with young people, not with 65-year-old people talking about literacy tests and people who can’t say the word vote in English. It’s ridiculous.”

That's the kind of McCain we need

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47 Comments

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seanomelbourne | Mar 30, 2010, 09:45 PM EDT

if they had IQ tests for voting rights what would all those right wingers do? It would be boring having the Dems in ad finitum.

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Monsoonman | Mar 30, 2010, 01:29 AM EDT

Anyhow these guys are in office waaaaay too long. Politicians are like dirty diapers, they start to smell and they need to be changed, often. If any of them were that great we wouldn't be in the mess we are in today.

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Monsoonman | Mar 30, 2010, 01:25 AM EDT

I just go by the criminal prosecutions of ACORNS voter registrars. As far as the Supreme Court getting involved in the gore/bush election, it did what it had to do. The democrats kept bringing ballots into closed rooms and coming up with new counts until they would win. I always thought they should have IQ and literacy standards for voters, then there wouldn't be the problems with ballots like they have.

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Pat Riley | Mar 29, 2010, 09:51 PM EDT

Gaulilu is mistaken.

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hyattsville | Mar 29, 2010, 03:18 PM EDT

@Monsoonman ‘many votes cast for obama were illegitimate and fraudulent’ – are you sure you’re not thinking about Dubya’s first ‘victory’ and the very dubious Florida count? You know, the election that was really won by Al Gore.

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Derrylass627 | Mar 29, 2010, 12:47 PM EDT

Earth calling Monsoonman! Get real! What's a whinger - it's a person who complains when the tide goes against him - like you! Obama was elected fair and square so deal with it. That's what we had to do when W was elected.

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gaililu | Mar 29, 2010, 12:31 PM EDT

When the going gets tough, the real John McCain has appeared. How he continue to align himself with Sarah Palin is beyond my comprehension. Most Americans think of her as a joke.

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Monsoonman | Mar 28, 2010, 10:17 PM EDT

"many votes cast for obama were illegitimate and fraudulent as registered by ACORN." What's a whinger?

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seanomelbourne | Mar 28, 2010, 09:57 PM EDT

people who do not vote deserve the government they get. they are usually the whingers who cry foul.

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Monsoonman | Mar 28, 2010, 07:37 PM EDT

Sorry Shawn, it is hard to differentiate rhetoric from a rheostat when it is writing only, I wasn't able to discern the sublety in your crafty wordsmithing. BTW, obama was not elected by a majority of the American people. Many American citizens chose not to vote and many votes cast for obama were illegitimate and fraudulent as registered by ACORN....have a nice day!

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seanomelbourne | Mar 28, 2010, 06:29 PM EDT

lighten up moonsoonman I am well aware of bush's 8 long lying years in office the statement was rhetorical, can't cant canya not disseminate the written word.

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Monsoonman | Mar 28, 2010, 05:31 PM EDT

Shuvonn I did pay attention when he ran for US Senate, liked what he said and liked his work ethic. When he said he would vote against obama/teddycare, it gave people a clear choice to voice their opposition. They chose Scott Brown and rejected the liberal democrat machine puppet that Irish have automatically kept in power these many years....It shows we aren't the fob starving desperates that we were 170 years ago.

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shuvonn | Mar 28, 2010, 02:01 PM EDT

Monsoonman: What did Scott Brown achieve before he was elected while he served in the state senate? He served 2004-1020 and I never heard of him before this. I am of the opinion that he was voted in because Coakley was a bad choice, didn't campaign, took it for granted that she was certain to get teh seat and was not a good speaker. He was voted in because she was a lousy candidate.

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Monsoonman | Mar 28, 2010, 01:12 PM EDT

Correction: President Bush served his two full terms as was mandated by the constitution, he and his administration, were not booted from office. Get yer facks, fax, facts, straight.

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seanomelbourne | Mar 28, 2010, 08:41 AM EDT

Gone to pasture one would hope. Felicia Bush and his gang got the boot by the majority of the American people.Would you like a box of tissues?

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