Hey McCain: Grow Up!
Yesterday The Hill reported that John McCain has rejected Secret Service protection, despite it being standard practice to protect presidential nominees. This, of course, is in stark contrast to Barack Obama, who began receiving Secret Service protection in May of 2007, earlier than any other candidate in history. McCain cited traffic concerns of all things, as well as the cost of protection, which is more than $38,000 a day.
In actuality, McCain is using this an opportunity to look tougher than his opponent -- a military man turned cowboy -- the kind of decision that could actually make one yearn for the days of George W. Bush. One must wonder whether McCain's irresponsible decisions about his own life will foreshadow equally reckless decisions made from behind his desk in the Oval Office.
That decision is, after all, unbelievably reckless and so obviously political. For a man who runs a campaign based on fear, one who adamantly insists that we must continue to fight terrorists in Iraq lest they fight us here at home, it is also horribly contradictory. If there is a real threat at home, shouldn't the Republican nominee be protected? And if there isn't a real threat, why does he keep telling us there is one?
But while McCain might believe that shrugging off protection will score him political points, it seems that it could, perhaps, hurt him even more. While some will see his decision as evidence of his toughness, others will see it as a product of his age. One is reminded of the heroine using grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine who argues to his grandson that, "at your age you'd be crazy to do this stuff, but at my age, I'd be crazy not to." Only a 71-year-old man, someone who might not expect to even survive the full term of his presidency, would be crazy enough to run for president in 2008 without Secret Service protection.
But Mr. McCain, the decision regarding your protection should not just be left to you. The Secret Service is about more than protecting your life. It is about protecting our liberty.
John McCain was democratically nominated by the people of his party. If he wins the presidency he will have been democratically elected by the people of this country. He cannot allow the actions of one madman to be more powerful than the voice of the rest of the people. That is the tragedy of assassination -- not just the loss of life, but the loss of our democratic choice.
The people of the Republican Party chose you Mr. McCain. You have an obligation to ensure that their choice is honored. Your decision to score cheap political points at the expense of their democratic preferences is, as much as anything else, strong evidence that you do not understand the sanctity of the office of the presidency, and that you do not deserve to ascend to it. You might be nearing 72-years-old. But it's time for you to grow up.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
mccain is an arrogant ass. He probably thought everyone loved him until he got booed.
He changed his mind and he is in the process of making the arrangement to accept secret service protection
"John McCain was democratically nominated by the people of his party. If he wins the presidency he will have been democratically elected by the people of this country." Well, I'm a registered Republican and I've had to witness the disgraceful treatment of Ron Paul by a neoconned Party. The whole affair is a shameful betrayal of the democratic process by a cowardly G.O.P. which deserves to lose the next election. I would never vote for McCain and his "On to Iran" pal, Lieberman.
Agreed and I'll go one further. As long as those rubber stampers are still in office I'll never vote republican again. I was a republican but I'm an American first and they betrayed us with their giant rubber stamp and their ceding of power to bush and corporations.
"But while McCain might believe that shrugging off protection will score him political points..."
How so? He didn't make this public. It came out in a congressional hearing on Secret Service expenses. I watched it on tv. The Secret Service guy giving testimony was very reluctant to say which candidate didn't have protection. The congressman had to drag it out of him. Now that it's been made public, he's going to go ahead and get protection. So your argument that this is purely political is blown.
McCain is showing signs of mental confusion and maybe delusion. When people's brains get old, they often can recall events from decades ago in great detail, but cannot remember what they did yesterday. People's minds often drift back to much earlier in their lives, and they actually begin to think they are their younger self, they are 20, they are strong and sharp, as opposed to just being a tired confused old man.
This is the kindest read I can give to McCain's glorification of his life, his father's, his grandfather's life of war. Other than war, there ain't nothin much to talk about it. Love war, worship war, talk war, tell war stories, promote war. It's like he can't wait to be in charge so he can nuke someone, start more wars.
No mention of the real suffering, the deaths, the amputations, the mutilated, the brain dead. Nope. Much like in any militaristic society, those who participate in killing during war are the heroes, and everyone else has no importance. You note that McCain didn't need a GI Bill of Rights because he came from money and married a rich lady. And he won't vote to give the returning veterans any assistance at all. You can almost hear him thinking: "tough it out, like I did, like my dad did." Old, tired, confused, twisted, maybe delusional. Nothing for peace. Everything for war.
To criticize McCain on his policies and his record is fair game. But to criticize him by making blanket generalizations about all seniors is stupid and pathetic.
by the same logic then, Obama by Not rejecting the good Reverend will lead the country with racist, antisemitsm and antiamerican platforms
I'd be very surprised if he didn't already have someone protecting him.
Today john McCain spoke at the place where Martin Luther King jr was assassinated. He was booed by the crowd when he mentioned not voting for MLK day to be a national holiday, even though he apologized for it. He walked on the balcony where MLK was shot.
NOW he is meeting with the Secret Service and is going to accept their protection.
I wonder how expensive his military protection was for his stroll through a peaceful Iraqi market (a market which is now too dangerous for him to visit). Didn't see him turn down protection for that, did we?
The irony to me is that McCain realizes that one can never be completely safe - in his comments, he makes reference to the fact that in the end, it is almost impossible to stop an assassin . Yet at the same time, he seems to support “security measures” for the nation in general that are not only unconstitutional (wiretapping), but also are at best ineffective (toothpaste checks at airports) and are at worst wind up making us less safer by making the rest of the world hate us so much (torture).
I don't think it's a matter of growing up, I think it's a profound disconnect with the reality of the situation in Iraq which is rooted in his service in Viet Nam.
The stick to your guns, stand by the boys, go down with the ship mentality is the thinking of a grunt soldier. You half expect anyone addressing Senator McCain as sir, if he wins the presidency, god forbid, to snap indignantly, " You don't call me sir, I work for a living!"
We don't need prospective commanders in chief strolling about markets in Iraq, popular sights for suicide bombers. That's crazy. We don't need prospective commanders in chief proving how brave or tough they are. The highest office of this country requires more than Mr. McCain seems to think. It requires thought, and knowing when a cause is lost.
He's never really left that POW camp, it seems. His actions show he's going to support the boys on the field to the bitter end, and ignore the public sentiment that thwarted us from winning in Viet Nam. Well, Senator McCain, there was no winning in Viet Nam, nor in Iraq, other than leaving and letting people decide for themselves whether or not they want democracy.
"He's never really left that POW camp, it seems."
Very thought-provoking and interesting take on the subject.
If Mr. McCain has declined Secret Service protection at this stage of his campaign, I'd guess he did so after consulting first with the Secret Service... if someone is entitled to protection from the Secret Service, then I'm sure they're also entitled to consult them about what risks, if any, the Secret Service would assess the person as facing, from assault or whatever... I have to guess the Service Service to have informed Mr. McCain that he is low risk in these matters, or else he would not have declined their protection (and also, were they to consider the man to be high risk in these matters, they might insist, or at least press hard, that he allow them to protect him)...
In any case, it's a strange leap of the imagination, to claim that Mr. McCain's decision in this matter, is irresponsible, or an attempt to "look tough".
You want to know what strikes me as irresponsible?
To scream out that Sen. McCain has no Secret Service protection!
Most people would never know such a thing... and as I guessed above, the Secret Service themselves might think that few people are interested in Mr. McCain's protection (or lack of it), for there being perhaps few people interested in harming him.
Anyway, it's strange and irresponsible even, to make a big public and published deal about someone not having a Secret Service detail attending to them.
I bet you never even considered that, did you?
Though bitterly loathed by Vietnam war-era POW-MIA families (I wonder why?), he has found a friend in YOU -- and is a presidential nominee to boot! How terribly, terribly, terribly nice. How well things turned out, time and again, for this one guy.
Yes, we don't need to let McCain turn himself into another Arch Duke Ferdinand..
lol / thank g-d, I'm not the only history junkie here.
But yes, I don't think, it's very wise of him to ignore the security personnel.
"Play it safe - always use protection."
This is his way of saying "I am a macho kick ass kind of guy" some of his base with the mental capacity of a sponge will think this is great. It is more Bring 'em on bush talk. Look out Iran.
John McCain has always been reckless. He trashed a lot of expensive aircraft as he was learning to fly. In Vietnam, McCain ignored his RHAW and got shot down by a SAM. He spent 5 1/2 years in the Hanoi Hilton because he was reckless and stubborn, and while he was there, he collaborated with the enemy. To think the Republican party is so short on talent that they would present a candidate like McCain as a resonable choice for POTUS. Oh, my......
A G R E E (with every word).
Such cheap shots from bitter old hags on this site. If you disagree with McCain, do so on policy, record or his positions, but to spill out this bile about a man's service to his country, to impugn his character, and assassinate his reputation is disgusting, even for you turds.
I hope you Obama supporters keep up with the cheap shots and lies. Your candidate will be another McGovern if you do.
IOW, his policies and insistence on maintaining those policies will closely resemble Bush's because his responses to reality closely resemble Bush's.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
