Jack Kelly, conservative columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tried to convince the other conservatives who read his column that Senator John McCain most definitely is not Satan's first cousin. Only time will tell whether he succeeded.
This week, he's taking another tack. This time he's criticising those conservatives who call McCain a RINO (aka "Republican In Name Only"). Our friend Jack:
Hold on to your hats here, my friends, I think J-Kel makes some good points.The epithet is ridiculous, because it assumes that being conservative and being Republican are identical. Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower were good Republicans, but they weren't conservatives. Nor were Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Bob Dole or George H. W. Bush.
A political party is a conspiracy to obtain power, nothing more. In democratic politics there is nothing wrong with that, because the conspiracies are peaceful, open and -- in a two-party system -- moderating. For Republicans to be successful, they must embrace moderates as well as conservatives. This means moderates get to lead from time to time.
Unfortunately, however convincing I might think Kelly is, James Dobson will probably remain unconvinced. From the AP:
And a few paragraphs later:James Dobson, one of the nation's most prominent evangelical Christian leaders, backed Mike Huckabee's presidential bid Thursday night, giving the former Arkansas governor a long-sought endorsement as the Republican field narrowed to a two-man race.
In a statement first obtained by The Associated Press, Dobson reiterated his declaration on Super Tuesday that he could not in good conscience vote for John McCain, the front-runner, because of concerns over the Arizona senator's conservative credentials.
Dobson criticized McCain for his support of embryonic stem cell research, his opposition to a federal anti-gay marriage amendment and for his temper and use of foul language. He said he'd sit out the presidential election if McCain were the nominee.Temper and foul language? Well there's this from July of 2006.
And:A conservative website has launched a full-frontal attack on Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who the story says has an "irrational, explosive" temper, citing two former Republican senators and GOP aides.
At least two Democratic aides have told RAW STORY McCain has shown a similar temperament. Multiple sources have also said that McCain has a practice of leaking stories on those he doesn't get along with -- and is believed by several reporters and Senate aides to have been behind a series of leaks in the Jack Abramoff scandal. McCain's office has vehemently denied the claims.
Ok, then. Back to Jack:According to Newsmax, "McCain's outbursts often erupted when other members rebuffed his requests for support during his bid in 2000 for the Republican nomination for president. A former Senate staffer recalled what happened when McCain asked for support from a fellow Republican senator on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee."
"The senator explained that he had already committed to support George Bush," a former Senate staffer told the site. "McCain said ‘f— you' and never spoke to him again."
Extreme among the extremists, Ann Coulter is still at it. Here she is from a few days ago:But the dyspeptic denizens of the Right believe in addition by subtraction. To make the GOP stronger, moderates must be calumnized and driven from it. Polemicist Ann Coulter is so angry with Mr. McCain's occasional embrace of Democratic ideas that she says she'll campaign for Democrats if Mr. McCain wins the nomination.
Ms. Coulter says this sort of thing whenever she feels she's not getting enough attention. Her position is extreme, even among the extremists. But many, brimming with self righteousness, declare they'll stay home if Mr. McCain, or Mr. Romney, or Mr. Huckabee wins the nomination. These guys (and gals) are the true RINOs.
Unfortunately for Jack Kelly, my guess is that St. Ann-of-the-Bulging-Laryngeal-Prominence has a larger reading audience than the P-G's former National Security correspondent.On the litmus test issues of our time, only partially excluding Iraq, McCain is a liberal.
-- He excoriated Samuel Alito as too "conservative."
-- He promoted amnesty for 20 million illegal immigrants.
-- He abridged citizens' free speech (in favor of the media) with McCain-Feingold.
-- He hysterically opposes waterboarding terrorists and wants to shut down Guantanamo.
Can I take a breath now?
-- He denounced the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
-- He opposes ANWR and supports the global warming cult, even posturing with fellow mountebank Arnold Schwarzenegger in front of solar panels.
The only site that would have been more appropriate for Schwarzenegger in endorsing McCain would have been in front of an abortion clinic.
9 comments:
James Dobson is a moron. Seriously, I've had enough of these far-right kooks declaring they won't support Mccain just because of issues like same-sex marriage and illegal immigration. Yesterday, Kansas and Louisiana voted for Mike Huckabee...a man who has actually suggested that the constitution should be more in line with the word of God. Not only that, he knows absolutely nothing about foriegn policy, which is by far and away the most important issue out there.
In the end, it doesn't matter. Mccain doesn't need the support of a bunch of god fearing combine drivers in the midwest...he has the ability to draw in the moderate and independent vote. Seriously, Anne Coulter and James Dobson don't have any idea what they're talking about.
In November, wee need to elect a president who has the ability to unite and appeal to everyone, whether left or right.
John McCain's ability to unite is clear from his incredible success in uniting the Far Right Wing of the Republican Party (like, say, you, Mr. Monotheist) with the Really, Really Far Right Wing of the Republican Party (like, say, Dick Cheney).
Until now, I've been saying Hillary can't win, but it looks as though McCain will fracture the Wingnuts into splinter groups giving her, a fairly moderate Republican, the victory in November.
All of this, of course assumes that there will be elections in November -- by no means a sure thing.
John K. says: The fact that this left wing blog endorses Sen.McCain says it all. Jack Kelly is right. Or perhaps you folks are so far left you think a rino is a conservative. Once again, unless the hypocrite tag applies I fully expect you folks to be voting for McCain in November.
Again John K shows his amazing ability to comprehend simple English.
That's right. This blog has ENDORSED John McCain.
Yea, and Bush never went AWOL.
John K. never disappoints. Gotta love it.
And C.H. apparently has decided that if you don't support McCain, you're either a far-right or far-left kook, depending on the slant taken in the criticism of him (e.g., immigration = far-right kook, Iraq = far-left). Question, C.H., if J Mac is such a natural uniter and "doesn't need" the support of folks like Dobson and Coulter, then why the kiss-assing of the religious right from his camp, why the begging at CPAC?
And, to go further off-topic, have you and John K. been seeing all that wonderful progress over there in Iraq? Nothing says "we're winning" like lots of car bombs and dead innocents. Man that surge has worked wonders. How many more Friedman's do we need, C.H.? Just 1 more? Maybe 2? What will make this mythical Iraqi unity rise from the ashes of a burned-up Baghdad car bomb?
Don't tell me, the answer has something to do with Darfur, right?
Man that surge has worked wonders. How many more Friedman's do we need, C.H.? Just 1 more? Maybe 2?
In fairness to C.H., Fill, he has already answered this question, albeit in his incarnation as Militant Monotheist.
His answer was that he does not care how many years, how many hundreds of billions of dollars, how many displaced Iraqis, or how many dead Americans. According to C.H., we can't pull the troops out until there is an operating democracy in Iraq and all the insurgents are dead.
I'm sure that he will correct me if I have misstated his position.
It's so cute when you haters celebrate over the deaths of innocent people in Iraq. I can't think of anything more sick than people who tout death and destruction solely for political purposes.
Al-qaeda and the ansar al-sunna probably just love it when they have you people glorifying their accomplishments.
By the way, I hear its FREEZING in Pittsburgh today
Polemicist Ann Coulter is so angry with Mr. McCain's occasional embrace of Democratic ideas that she says she'll campaign for Democrats if Mr. McCain wins the nomination.
Ms. Coulter says this sort of thing whenever she feels she's not getting enough attention. Her position is extreme, even among the extremists.
IMHO, Coultergeist's "endorsement" of Hillary over McCain has nothing to do with ideology and everything to do with money. Annie made a career out of Clinton-bashing; since her latest book tanked, she needs the Clintons back in the White House in order to scare the rubes into buying more of her books.
Rachel Maddow nailed it on MSNBC a couple of weeks ago, "Ann Coulter needs publicity the way a tapeworm needs a large intestine."
It's so cute when you haters celebrate over the deaths of innocent people in Iraq.
I wonder if you lie like this just to be hateful, C.H., or if you have really become this far removed from reality and mental health.
Al-qaeda and the ansar al-sunna probably just love it when they have you people glorifying their accomplishments.
Actually, the terrorists "just love it" when your heros, Messrs. Cheney and Bush, aid them in their recruiting efforts as they have been doing for the past 5 years.
By the way, I hear its FREEZING in Pittsburgh today
Yep, and the fact that it is UNUSUAL to have freezing weather in Pittsburgh in early Feb is further evidence of global warming. We used to get this kind of weather for consecutive weeks. Now we seldom see it even for consecutive days. Tomorrow we'll be going back above average.
Just can't win with your distortions and venom, can you? You hyper-conservative Republicans are just so terribly negative.
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