THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying that you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. For Presidential candidates, it is only necessary to fool a plurality twice, and occasionally thrice if your spouse runs as well.

Rarely has a politician been so misunderstood by the entire electorate as John McCain.

Those who should embrace him are his biggest detractors. Those who would normally heap ill-informed scorn on him shower him instead with ill-informed praise.

John McCain is a media darling. This alone leaves the left drooling and the right suspicious. He favors campaign finance reform, which only enhances his love affair with the media. The media loves campaign finance reform because the media loves restrictions on free speech with themselves exempted. That gives them more power. McCain was also a rival to President Bush, which again scores points with liberals and the media (redundant, I know), and grates conservatives, who in general like the President.

So why is everybody wrong? Because McCain is a down the line conservative. He is ultra-conservative. He is an arch-conservative. Every word applied to conservatives in pejorative terms fits McCain like a glove. He is pro-life, anti-gun control, a staunch supporter of the Iraq war and the surge. The media adores him for criticizing the way the war is being run, but the irony is he wants an even bigger escalation, which would make liberals apoplectic if President Bush suggested this.

Conservatives distrust McCain even though he is one of them because anyone adored by liberals and the media in conservative minds should be distrusted. Yet if conservatives believe that liberals are always wrong (I do not, because blinking VCRs are still right twice a day), why would they think liberals are right about McCain. It defies logic. Everything about the liberal view of McCain defies logic.

So why do so many people who know nothing about John McCain support him? More importantly, why do many people who know everything about McCain and vehemently disagree with him support him? Because of John McCain the Man Himself.

Many people know that John McCain was a war hero, but that is it. Others know he was a prisoner of war, but nothing more. What people do not know is that John McCain is an American hero. As the son of a famous admiral, The North Vietnamese offered him an early release and an end to his miserable experience as a prisoner of war. He was chained, beaten, and tortured. When I say tortured, I mean real torture, not the summer camp games of Abu Gharaib and Guantanamo Bay that liberals love to carp about. Not the torture of working a 35 hour week that French people complain about. Not the $200 an hour pleasure beating from Mistress Evil (man she was hot…dressed like Catwoman, could use a cattle prod like no woman…what a lovely woman…gimme a few minutes).

Ok, back. He was T-O-R-T-U-R-E-D. Given that most rational people would surrender after listening to 10 minutes of a Barbra Streisand album, having your bones broken for sport would break most people. McCain was given the right to go home. He said no. He made a commitment to his military brethren that he would not leave them behind. Either everyone would be released or no one would. The North Vietnamese released no one. McCain was beaten day after day. He did not yield. Several years later, he was released with the rest of his men.

This is why liberals and the media love McCain. They are in awe of him. They are sheepish around him, and honored to be in his presence. In keeping with the blinking VCR theory, on this issue, the liberals are right. I have met the man. I have shaken his hand, looked into his eyes, and briefly conversed with him. I had on an Arizona Diamondbacks t-shirt, and as the line was approaching, I felt compelled to quickly put on a collared shirt and an appropriate necktie. I felt it was the respectful thing to do. He was the potential presidential candidate, and yet it seemed more important that I had his approval.

I totally disagree with McCain on campaign finance reform. It is a violation of free speech, and as predicted, liberals broke the rules anyway by creating 527s. Then again, Ronald Reagan raised taxes in 1982, which forever will be my answer to a politician who needs one get out of jail free card to avoid a black mark on an otherwise spotless career. McCain was part of the Keating 5, but when all was said and done, he took the blame. He leveled with the American people. He took responsibility for his actions, which saved the taxpayers a multi-year investigation. (Are you listening Bill and Hillary Clinton? If you confess what you did, there is no scandal, the short-attention spanned media gets bored, and the story dies quickly.)

Conservatives are angry because McCain is admired by liberals and the media. Ronald Reagan stated that with regards to the fringes, they agreed with him, not the other way around. McCain is not a liberal posing as a conservative. He is a conservative that liberals like. Conservatives should get out of the way and let liberals figure it out their own (or as in most cases, not). This poses no ethical dilemmas because McCain has always stated he was a conservative. No one is listening.

So why do I admire John McCain, despite disagreeing with him on his signature issue, and on other issues? Because the world needs leadership. It needs real heroes. John McCain is a hero. I do not agree with his persona or all of his policy positions. I agree with who he is. I admire the man himself.

It was an honor to shake your hand Senator McCain. Thank you…and a hearty hero’s welcome home.

eric

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007 at 11:51 pm and is filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.