George Will Disses McCain As 'Situational Ethicist'

Last week, John McCain earned himself a brief respite from being called a political turncoat by his fellow conservatives because the New York Times wrote that poorly sourced, unsubstantiated story about McCain bringing Vicki Iseman to, uhm...cloture. But now that McCain's running around rejecting and denouncing the fear-mongering warm-up addresses of Bill Cunningham and hypocritically holding forth on campaign finance (he claims that even though he used the promise of future public financing to secure a loan, he should be still allowed to opt out of the public financing now because technically, he never spent the public financing itself) conservatives are starting to attack McCain again. And the latest shot at McCain comes courtesy of the courtly dyspepsia of George Will.

Will's piece is especially harsh. He calls McCain out for a lack of social graces, for being a "situational ethicist", and for being a victim of his own "towering moral vanity." He throws the book at McCain on substantive issues as well: McCain's unwillingness to support Bush's FEC appointment, the mind-bending hypocrisy of establishing a lobbying organization to lobby against lobbying, and the fact that he took the easy road to Ohio ballot access by saying he's do what he now wants to wriggle out of doing: taking public financing.

But the unkindest bit of jujitsu that Will unleashes comes in his lede, where Will - quite masterfully - un-tethers McCain from his recent source of conservative pity and goodwill:

Certain kinds of conservatives, distrusting Richard Nixon's ideological elasticity, rejected him -- until 1973. Although it had become clear that his administration was a crime wave, they embraced him because the media were his tormentors. Today such conservatives, whose political compasses are controlled, albeit negatively, by the New York Times, have embraced John McCain. He, although no stickler about social niceties (see below), should thank the Times, for two reasons.

First, the Times muddied, with unsubstantiated sexual innuendo about a female lobbyist, a story about McCain's flights on jets owned by corporations with business before the Senate Commerce Committee, and his meeting with a broadcaster ...who sought and received McCain's help in pressuring the Federal Communications Commission. Perhaps McCain did nothing corrupt, but he promiscuously accuses others of corruption, or the "appearance" thereof....

McCain should thank the Times also because its semi-steamy story distracted attention from an unsavory story about McCain's dexterity in gaming the system for taxpayer financing of campaigns.

Methinks the honeymoon is over.

Comments

[fairwitness]

Thank goodness the honeymoon is over--we can't stand any more schtuuping by that creepy old war-bag. Let him schtuup himself and his lobbyist companions while the country gets on with its spiritual revival after the dark Bushian ages.

[afgail]

The honeymoon is not over yet. The media loves McCain. The media had a lovefest for Bush II for literally years until his approval poll numbers sunk to 34% and stayed there. And only then after months and months did they finally turn on him. There is absolutely zero intellectual honesty in the main stream media. It is all personality all the time. Funny thing is that McCain has all of the same personality flaws as Bush II. Mac is dumb, bottom of his class in the Naval Academy. Dishonest on most issues. Revenge driven. Stubbornly wedded to his own opinions and unmoved by facts or evidence to the contrary. Has a mean streak a mile wide. He would literally be the equivalent of a third Bush II term.