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John McCain Thinks He Knows How to
In his speech today, John McCain emphatically stated that he knows how to "win wars". Putting aside my personal belief that having a president with this mindset regarding "winning wars" would be disastrous to the long-term health of America, it shows, along with the repeated references to Czechoslovakia, that John McCain is locked into a mental paradigm of a world that no longer exists.
First, with regards to Iraq, no one can seem to define what "winning" means. This isn't a Cold War zero-sum game in which the "winners" & "losers" are clearly defined and easily identifiable. John McCain, like many leaders that cut their teeth [or at least formed their perceptions] during Vietnam, seem pre-disposed to a foreign policy world-view that America must continually re-fight Vietnam.
John McCain seems to see the problem with Iraq much the same way that he saw the problem with America's involvement in Vietnam: it wasn't that we went to war in those places; but rather, that once we did went we didn't do what was necessary to win. Of course, this view is substantially akin to piling continued lives and money on top of an inverted pyramid. Without the base of support, the pyramid will not hold.
Next, with regards to the repeated references to Czechoslovakia, Sen. McCain betrays a foreign policy world-view that no longer exists. By the way,
although I am a strong supporter of Sen Obama and often poke fun at Sen
McCain for his repeated "misstatements", I'm less concerned with the
"misstatements" themselves then I am with the fact that John McCain's
foreign policy paradigm seems frozen in time.
I have no doubt that someone 71 years old is mentally nimble enough to be president. However, it seems terribly disconcerting that the Republican Party standard bearer [someone that, if elected, will be OUR PRESIDENT] is so locked into a mental paradigm of the world that has long since vanished.
During both the 2004 & 2006 elections, President Bush constantly knocked Democrats as having a "pre-9-11 mindset". Well, if that's true, then how do Republicans feel about their candidate being locked into an even older Cold War mindset. That would make me very nervous.
Being president of the United States is arguably the toughest, most mentally-taxing job in the world. It requires the ability to pivot immediately when events dictate. It requires a mental acuity that allows the president to abandon predispositions when situations warrant. If I were a Republican I would be extremely uneasy to have a standard-bearer for my party that seems unable to do that.
Actually, as an AMERICAN it makes me extremely nervous that this individual might be OUR PRESIDENT.
I hope it's just a blip and not a precursor for a larger problem. Either way, it's time to move on from leadership that wants to continue re-fighting the Vietnam War. Why do we continually elect politicians that re-fight the same old battles and expect different results?
Comments (17)
Well, he keeps telling us that he is a Reagan "foot-soldier."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCjQK1xN_zY
at 0:30 mark.
July 15, 2008 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great post. rec'd.
I do part company with this argument, though, couched as it is in the general:
`I have no doubt that someone 71 years old is mentally nimble enough to be president. However, it seems terribly disconcerting that the Republican Party standard bearer [someone that, if elected, will be OUR PRESIDENT] is so locked into a mental paradigm of the world that has long since vanished.`
I think we are all concerned with the particular, ie John McCain.
I'd argue that all the evidence so far points to the fact that this particular 71 year old is NOT mentally nimble enough to be president. He doesn't have the stable temperament and balanced judgment that normally one would have hoped would accrue with age. He clearly doesn't even have a grasp of facts and he certainly doesn't deal in nuance.
One just wonders how much longer it's going to take the press corps to wake up to reality and start doing its job.
July 15, 2008 7:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
John McCain claims he knows how to "win wars." I'd like to know which wars, exactly, he has won, and in what capacity? Last time I checked, Senators didn't have significant strategic or tactical influence over military personnel in the field.
July 15, 2008 9:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, but I don't expect anyone in the media to raise this issue, or even consider asking McCain about it. No doubt that would be calling into question his service to this country...
July 15, 2008 9:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
God forbid the media decided to challenge the fantasy "reformer" narrative that surrounds John McCain. The central part of McCain's political identity is his willingness to say whatever will score him political points at that particular moment. Follow the bouncing ball.
Keating Five scandal--transform yourself into the campaign-finance reformer that wishes to get big money out of politics.
Jerry Falwell "Agents of Intolerance"--go on the Pastor Hagee tour during the primaries to court the people that you once denounced because now you need them.
Bush Tax Cuts--they are unconscionable until you need to go along with them to hold together the Grover Norquist wing of the party.
Confederate Flag--it's a source of oppression until you needed the votes of South Carolina Republicans.
The media can believe and repeat the 'maverick', 'reformer' narrative all they want, but that doesn't mean that it's any way grounded in reality.
John McCain is an opportunistic politician [which isn't automatically a bad thing]; the media should leave the fairy tales for Disney.
July 15, 2008 10:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
"John McCain is an opportunistic politician [which isn't automatically a bad thing]; the media should leave the fairy tales for Disney."
If it's the dominant characteristic of your character yes it is.
July 16, 2008 7:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I know how to turn $1000 into $1 million. Send $1000 to this P.O.Box address and I can do it for you to.
July 16, 2008 7:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Can we question his military credentials now?
July 16, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's traits unfortunately mirror the traits of a significant number of American voters, including the 'Bush base'. The MSM seems intent on reinforcing and expanding these shortcomings in the population.
July 15, 2008 11:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
He is upsetting the important Czech constituency in United States that does not want to re re-united with their country cousins the Slovaks. The urban centers of St. Louis, Milwaukee, New York, Chicago and Cleveland are lost to him. We are especially prevalent in states like Nebraska and Texas. Ever read any Willa Cather?
Now let's move on to the issue of Russia, oh I mean the USSR, and its petro-rubles buying unwarranted G8 membership. I guess he did not like Reagan's detente.
July 16, 2008 12:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wes Clark was right on in stating that McCain's experience as a POW does not qualify him as commander and chief. I wish that he had been encouraged and supported rather than criticize him. He was someone with the authority to say what he said and I don't understand the over apologitic, distancing from those remarks.
July 16, 2008 1:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
The over-arching problem with John McCain is that he is so hide-bound in the Repbublican polemic that he couldn't find his ass while sitting in a bathtub.
July 16, 2008 7:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of course, at 71, is ass fills up the entire bathtub. So, in that sense, he really can't miss there.
July 16, 2008 8:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
There's two kind of age 71. Some at that age are simply riding the experience they've had in the past and possibly trying to extend them.
Others are out there learning, adapting to the new world we are in, and changing themselves. McCain's lack of awareness of how to do the simplest computer search suggests that he is the first kind.
I'm 65. I'm currently taking computer programming courses. I'm tired of just being a computer user, which as a logistician and accountant I got good at. I am also making another effort to learn Spanish, while reading as much history as I have time for. But I didn't graduate sixth from the bottom of my college class, either.
McCain is drifting on what he thinks he has already learned, and trying to get the prize of the Presidency as a symbol that he has topped his father and grandfather - which he failed to do in the Navy. (Sound familiar?) He didn't earn the Senate - he charmed and married the money that bought it for him. The Presidency is his last chance to justify his life on his own terms. He'll do or say anything to get it.
Can't really say I want to help him succeed.
July 16, 2008 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
jthomascronin,
I agree that McCain when is talking about" winning the war" he is depending on his Vietnam experience. But Vietnam was itself ideologically fought by the right-wing based on the American experience in WW II. There we fought until we received total surrender.
That was followed by the stalemate that MacArthur left in Korea, which itself infuriated the right wing as soon as they could blame it on Truman. Vietnam was to be in right-wing eyes another WW II, which is why Westmoreland determined that it could be won as a war of attrition.
The final resolution in Vietnam infuriated (again) the right wing. The Persian gulf War again infuriated the right wing because then we were clearly winning and Bush 41 inexplicably called off the war before achieving total surrender. A strong emotional reason for invading Iraq was exactly that - to complete the unresolved war that Bush 41 stopped before it was won to the satisfaction of the right-wingers.
McCain knows what it means to win a war - it means to accept the total surrender of the enemy and the occupation of his land until they are Americanized. McCain attended Annapolis from 1953 until 1957, at a time when our military was still totally focused on WW II and its immediate aftermath. The navy has never been truly central to any American military conflict since WW II. It was their last days at the center of glory.
Coming from a naval family, he never recognized the real postwar experience that has changed this nation. [I'd guess that his view of abortion and birth control is also pre-pill.]
You're completely correct that "winning the war" is what he learned from Vietnam. But that lesson was born in the "total surrender" that ended WW II.
July 16, 2008 9:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for the multiple interesting points. I appreciate the comments.
July 16, 2008 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
John McCain today telling an audience in Albuquerque that “I know how to win wars”.
John McSame learned one thing getting shot down,
Not to do in Aerial Combat what he did right before he got shot down.
That was IT.
Everything else he “learned” has NOTHING to do with winning a war;
Absolutely Nothing;
To paraphrase Gen. George Patton;
“You don’t win a war by becoming a POW,
You win wars by making the enemy a POW.”
July 16, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
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