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In a revealing US News & World Report interview, John McCain: “We Live In a Very Dangerous World”, Kenneth T. Walsh provides the reader with a chilling sense of exactly how John McCain can win the election unless he is truly confronted on national security and economic specifics.
This statement may sound odd, since any dunce knows we must confront McCain on both these issues. But bear with me. Because the interview shows that McCain is completely capable of talking convincingly about things in such a way that people nod their heads, without a scintilla of enlightenment on the realities.
The interview reveals McCain as the Wizard of Oz.
Up close, John McCain seems almost diminutive, certainly more slender and physically fit than he appears on TV. He is 5-foot-7, weighs 163 pounds, and is in good health for a septuagenarian, according to his latest medical report. On a bright morning in mid-August, the polls showed the Republican presidential candidate locked in a tight race with Democrat Barack Obama, and McCain was getting positive media attention for his strong reaction to the Russian invasion of Georgia.
Sen. John McCain talked about dealing with a troubled economy and a dangerous world.
Read carefully because McCain never really talks about the economy. He avoids it.
I think it’s very clear that the overriding issue is the economy. Americans are hurting very badly, and we are in extremely challenging and difficult times. But I also think that national security is an underlying issue because we have just found out in the last few days that we live in a very dangerous world. And there are situations which can arise which are not readily foreseen, certainly not by average citizens who are going about their daily lives, that in my view require experience, knowledge, and judgment.
Now read on:
People can’t stay in their homes, suddenly have lost their jobs, can’t afford the health insurance, and that’s the overriding issue of concern. And then we see a tiny country [become a] victim of Russian aggression, and over time they will tie that to part of our economic problem here in America and that’s the world’s energy supply, which is part of this whole situation in Georgia as it is evolving today, unfortunately.
This inspires the interviewer to ask about Russia:
Well, I’ve talked about it for a long time: They’ve murdered people in London. They’ve used oil as a weapon, most recently against the Czech Republic. They have threatened Georgia on several occasions. They brutally repressed Chechnya. There’s been a series of measures taken by [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin since he came to power that indicated what Russian ambitions are, what Putin’s ambitions are, and that is the restoration of the old Russian empire, and that means the “near abroad,” where surrounding countries are either vassals or clients.
By the way, let me quickly add one point: I don’t think we’re going to reignite the Cold War. I don’t think there’s going to be a nuclear confrontation with Russia. I don’t think there’s going to be a Cuban missile crisis. I do think that there’s going to be a dramatically different relationship unless the Russians change their behavior.
By this time, the interview is mired in the area where McCain appears to shine, referring to his own military experience and his involvement in national security matters.
Obviously, I think that having had military experience is a good thing. I don’t know anybody who would disagree with that. Perhaps more importantly, I’ve been involved in every conflict since the Cuban missile crisis, when I sat in the cockpit of an airplane on the deck of the USS Enterprise. Perhaps far more importantly than that, in the first Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, this latest situation — I’ve been heavily involved in all of these conflicts and had a role in the decision-making process.
I’ve been involved in literally every national-security challenge and issue before this nation for the last 20-some years. And I think my role on the Armed Services Committee and my national security, not military, experience and background gives me the judgment necessary to lead in these difficult times.
When we finally get back to the economy, here is what John McCain says:
The first thing you can do overall that’s most important — because 80-some percent of the American people think the country is on the wrong track — is restore trust and confidence that the government will work for them. People are outraged that the Congress went on a five-week vacation and we haven’t addressed the energy crisis. They want some hope. They want some confidence that someone who’s there will put their country first. I know how to work with the Democrats to put my country first. Now, that has made some in my party angry. I know that. But again, it has to be done in a bipartisan fashion. You can’t sit still saying, “Here’s my agenda, like it or not.”
I have said McCain is the gift that keeps on giving and that is because, when you get beneath these generalities, the scene is a disaster, just like Oz when Dorothy discovers her hero is humbug.
Read this closing excerpt with care:
Should there be more study commissions followed by negotiation?
I don’t know exactly. The problem that happened in 2005 is that we got sidetracked on the private savings accounts. It never should have been a major issue. I personally favor them, but is that the solution to the fate of Social Security? I don’t think so.Is there a bipartisan solution for healthcare?
I kind of think that success breeds success, which makes me lean toward saying [focus first on] Social Security, and the healthcare [issue] is a little bit longer term. But I’m also keenly aware that most presidencies, it’s the first couple of years before you all of a sudden get into the next cycle. You’ve really got to get a lot done.
Humbug.
It is my belief that the only way to beat McCain is to press him on specifics, something that is possible in these days of citizen journalists.
On national security, McCain’s generalities work because they do not address the wisdom of having gotten into Iraq, how exactly McCain helped pimp the Iraq War. whether he agrees with the neocon premises of his main foreign policy adviser and if he would EVER walk away from a conflict, once we are in it.
Also, what does McCain think of the United Nations and has he not, in fact, advocated an alternative?
On domestic affairs, you see above a Social Security disaster waiting to happen, but McCain needs to be cornered on his attitude to private accounts. Attacking McCain does little good. McCain revealing his own crazy specifics is about 100 times more effective.
Digby published the following chart the other day, a devastating comparison of the actual impact of the McCain and Obama tax plans.
Somehow the key to beating John McCain is to nail him on specifics. As in how many houses does he own? Does he believe in a draft? Has he ever supported illegals?
At the moment, McCain is simply saying that the world is dangerous and he can protect us and that whatever gets done he can do in a bipartisan way.
At the moment, absent a coherent Democratic response, that could be enough in itself to win the election.
There are more than thirty specific things McCain should be asked about, sourced, here.
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