Thought for Food

Jun 14, 2008

Is there really a need to defend McCain?

I’m driven to respond to Marc’s lengthy defense of McCain,* which he wrote on the dubious grounds that “someone on Tumblr needs to stick up for [him]”.

Why dubious? Obama-worship and McCain-bashing by bloggers other than, say, the Drudge Report and Daily Kos have exactly zero influence on political thought and even less on political action. And by the way, I have never witnessed McCain-bashing on my tumblr dashboard, as apparently Marc has, but this is, of course, a matter of who he is following.

Marc says,”McCain is far more conservative than I am and I disagree with him strongly on Iraq and on some social issues, but I respect him greatly.”

In this, he echoes the overall tone not only of the Obama-supporting bloggers I follow, but the mainstream media, including Maureen Dowd, George Stephanopoulos , and Wolf Blitzer.

The highlights of Marc’s defense:

McCain volunteered for combat (to which I add: he volunteered to fight in a war that many of his fellow citizens believed was unjust, unnecessary, and doomed to fail)
McCain survived torture, captivity, and solitary confinement, and refused to be released without his comrades in arms
McCain won many medals for his military service
Since 1982, McCain has served Arizona as congressperson and Senator
McCain is not too conservative on some issues
McCain adopted a Bangladeshi girl in need (actually his wife did this — so she told Vogue — and he obligingly went along with it)

Marc concludes: “So, get as pumped as you like about Obama. I’m certainly pumped. […] But, don’t diss John McCain with jokes about his age, smile, or personality. McCain deserves better. McCain has given us better.”

I disagree.

What he has given us in 25 years of service: The McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill, support for the Iraq War.

And what he will give us: more war, more deficit.

He voted against Bush’s tax cuts — which, of course, passed anyway — but is now planning on extending them, even for the wealthiest of the wealthy.

Result: his plan will reduce tax revenues by $3.7 trillion by 2018 ($1 trillion more than Obama’s plan).

Result: his plan with increase the federal deficit by $4.5 trillion ($1.2 trillion more than Obama’s plan).

And finally, on the age thing:

McCain has cracked jokes about his age on SNL and Letterman, among others. So: lighten up, Marc.
His age does matter. As an American male, McCain’s life expectancy is about 73. Statistically, we can assume that he will be dead before the end of his first term. Joking about his mortality may be the only way to address something that is inevitably on our minds.

*I read Marc’s post because hipsterdiet reblogged it.

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