Former supporter despairs over "the ugly new McCain"

Richard Cohen - once an admirer of John McCain - laments in the Washington Post about "the ugly new McCain's" deliberate lies and reckless decisions.

"Following his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 South Carolina primary, John McCain did something extraordinary: He confessed to lying about how he felt about the Confederate battle flag, which he actually abhorred. "I broke my promise to always tell the truth," McCain said. Now he has broken that promise so completely that the John McCain of old is unrecognizable. He has become the sort of politician he once despised.

"The precise moment of McCain's abasement came, would you believe, not at some news conference or on one of the Sunday shows but on "The View," the daytime TV show created by Barbara Walters. Last week, one of the co-hosts, Joy Behar, took McCain to task for some of the ads his campaign has been running. One deliberately mischaracterized what Barack Obama had said about putting lipstick on a pig -- an Americanism that McCain himself has used. The other asserted that Obama supported teaching sex education to kindergarteners.

"We know that those two ads are untrue," Behar said. "They are lies."

"Freeze. Close in on McCain. This was the moment. He has largely been avoiding the press. The Straight Talk Express is now just a brand, an ad slogan like "Home Cooking" or "We Will Not Be Undersold." Until then, it was possible for McCain to say that he had not really known about the ads, that the formulation "I approve this message" was just boilerplate. But he didn't.

"Actually, they are not lies," he said.

"Actually, they are.

"McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains -- his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that's all -- but just as honorably. No more, though."

"I am one of the journalists accused over the years of being in the tank for McCain. Guilty. Those doing the accusing usually attributed my feelings to McCain being accessible. This is the journalist-as-puppy school of thought: Give us a treat, and we will leap into a politician's lap.

"Not so. What impressed me most about McCain was the effect he had on his audiences, particularly young people. When he talked about service to a cause greater than oneself, he struck a chord. He expressed his message in words, but he packaged it in the McCain story -- that man, beaten to a pulp, who chose honor over freedom. This had nothing to do with access. It had to do with integrity.

"McCain has soiled all that. His opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir -- the person in whose hands he would leave the country -- is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not.

"At a forum last week at Columbia University, McCain said, "But right now we have to restore trust and confidence in government." This was always the promise of John McCain, the single best reason to vote for him. America has been cheated on too many times -- the lies of Vietnam and Watergate and Iraq. So many lies. Who believes that in Afghanistan last month, only five civilians were killed by the American military in an airstrike, instead of the approximately 90 claimed by the Afghan government? Not me. I first gave up on the military during Vietnam and then again when it covered up the death of Pat Tillman, the Army Ranger and former NFL player who was killed in 2004 by friendly fire.

"McCain was going to fix all that. He was going to look the American people in the eyes and say, not me. I will not lie to you. I am John McCain, son and grandson of admirals. I tell the truth.

"But Joy Behar knew better. And so McCain lied about his lying and maybe thinks that if he wins the election, he can -- as he did in South Carolina -- renounce who he was and what he did and resume his old persona. It won't work. Karl Marx got one thing right -- what he said about history repeating itself. Once is tragedy, a second time is farce. John McCain is both."

Comments

[Colette]

I saw the Charles Gibson interview of Palin. My sister phoned me from the U.S. to tell me to switch it on. Palin was so ignorant, it made me shudder. Never mind that she said "Charlie" about a hundred times (annoying to the max). Living across the border, U.S. elections affect us too.

And, about Hillary Clinton supporters turning to Palin, that's largely a fantasy now. Polls are showing otherwise.

[tangobaby]

It is very telling to me that now we rely on daytime television (no offense to Barbara Walters and the rest of the gals on the View) as well as cable comedy channels to frame the issues and ask the tough questions.

I'm sorry, when exactly is Sarah Palin appearing on Meet the Press? [crickets chirping]

I too remember John McCain from the 2000 elections. I remember when he took pride in being different from Bush. It's sad to see that he gave up everything he stood for to be remembered as a sell-out in the end. But to him, I guess winning IS everything.

[amber]

"McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not."---

It actually hurts me to admit this is how I have come to feel.

:(

[Amy {berriehead}]

It is making me sick! It is now being stated that WOMEN who were for Hillary are now turning to palin???? What the hell is that all about??? Hillary was FOR WOMEN & women's rights and issues; Palin does not even come close to resembling Hillary. Quit voting simply on who has a vagina or not* Also the last time I checked it was McCain against Obama for pres not palin against obama...come on women you are smarter then this!

Tara responds:
I think that is a temporary blip; once those women learn more about McCain's platform, hopefully they will come to their senses. You are right - Palin can't hold a candle to Hillary - or to any other woman in public life, including the Republicans. She is a right-wing extremist, with philosophies even further to the right of George Bush and Dick Cheney. By picking her as his running mate, McCain showed he is desperate and will do or say anything to try to win. He has insulted our intelligence and recklessly endangered the country, should he become president.

[My Mélange]

Tara, so true!! I saw that View interview and he failed miserably!! Why it took talk show hosts to do what the MSM should be doing is beyond me.

Between that interview and his ignorant statement about the economy being strong- after Lehman and Lynch go under yesterday, it is enough to make me wonder who could possible vote for him???

Glad to see that some in the media are now starting to question this idiot!!