He Mooned the Flag My Grandaddy Rebelled Against

I know I'm supposed to be a one-dimensional America-hating hippy; I do what I can in that regard but don't always succeed. However, where I fail on my own, others do their part to push me more and more into caricature. If you didn't see Jon McCain's appearance on Meet the Press this Sunday, you missed a doosie. I sometimes think I could support Jon McCain. I know that doesn't fit who I'm supposed to be but there it is. Luckily he's been letting his presidential aspirations get to him lately and this past Sunday he helped me flatten my thinking into a smaller point.

Conveniently, Farhad Manjoo of Salon wrote a bit about this appearance. (You have to watch a commercial to read the article for "free.") reflecting some of how I feel about Jon McCain and what his statements might mean. He doesn't say exactly what I would say, but provides some background and reflection I would and now don't have to. In case you don't know what was said and don't want to read the link, the gist of it is this: back in 2000 McCain called the likes of Falwell, Roberstson, Sharpton,and Farrakhan, agents of intolerance and said no party should pander to the views of these extremists.

McCain called Falwell an agent of intolerance and said they weren't good for the Republican party back in the day. Since that day, when he was an agent of intolerance, Falwell has said "that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped [9/11] happen.'" That's what he said. McCain no longer thinks that type of thinking has no place in politics.

Well... in his defense Falwell did apologize... sort of, for saying that, revising his position to saying the terrorists are to blame but secularists "created an environment which possibly has caused God to lift the veil of protection which has allowed no one to attack America on our soil since 1812." I'm not sure how that's different, but to Jon McCain, they are not the words of an agent of intolerance. McCain now thinks there is a place for Falweel in mianstream Republican leadership and policymaking. I guess Robertson's call for murder, Farrakhan's Anti-Semitism, and Sharpton's general insanity somehow work for McCain too.

I may be disheartened by this for different reasons than Farhad. He says it depresses him because it makes McCain look less straight-shootery and diminishes any chance McCain had. The fringe won't be convinced he's real and any base he did have might be frightened away by his pandering or appearing crazy.

While I did think (I no longer know- correctly or not) McCain was more honest than other politicians- now... not so much, this is not what concerns me. Being kissed on the forehead by Bush aside, what bothers me is that Falwell and Robertson represent a constituency that McCain thinks must be catered to to win. Rather than saying, "That's crazy, dishonest, bad for America, and not the Christianity I know" He embraces them. Maybe they are maninstream, maybe they must be catered to to win, but I thought McCain represented something else. Now he thinks the fringe is good.

If he does so cynically, that's bad enough. But if he does so because this is what has emerged as Christianity, and it really is what he believes to be true, then you'll have to excuse me while I crap.