Shame On You!

Another month, and another opportunity to bring to light yet more stupid and inane behaviors that consistently defy common sense. It’s getting so bad, I’m finding it harder and harder to “narrow” the field.

So this month I will devote the entire piece to one winner. This nominee has had some, shall we say, interesting and colorful moments during his lifetime, but his actions of late have taken the proverbial cake, as it were. Hence he has earned this month's spotlight all by himself.

On a personal note, this will be the last time this piece appears in this blog. Starting this month I have started a new blog aptly called “The Conscience of a Progressive.” A takeoff on Paul Krugman’s blog on The New York Times website titled “The Conscience of a Liberal” I decided that the word liberal for me was too vague for my liking and invites the usual stereotypical, knee-jerk responses from opponents. There is nothing vague about being a progressive, and it’s time I realized who and what I am and stop trying to wax poetically around it.

This blog was supposed to be about hypocrisy within the Church, and while I have made a concerted effort to keep it on track, I must also admit that at times it more closely resembled a political blog. And while I have nothing to apologize for regarding my stances, the two lines were beginning to blur way too much for my tastes. In the spirit of keeping it simple, it was time to reassess what the original goals were for this blog and return to them.

The envelope please…


John McCain: Whatever political capital and self respect this self-described maverick once had has long since gone the way of the dinosaur. It is hard to imagine that once upon a time this man was taken seriously as a presidential candidate and that voters on both sides of the political aisle viewed him with respect. He was his own man, beholden to no one. A Republican, yes, but he had the courage to stand up to the base of his own party and challenge its conventional wisdom.

He called out the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and properly referred to them as intolerant and called then candidate George Bush’s proposal for a massive tax cut for the rich something he could not “ in good conscious support.” He was a moderate Republican at a time when the Party was moving farther and farther away from the center and towards a much more militant base; a base which now completely owns and controls it.

During the 2000 Republican primaries, it looked as though McCain might actually eke out a win against Bush and give the nation a chance to vote for the first moderate Republican since Eisenhower. And then South Carolina happened. The vicious rumor that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child – posed as a question to avoid the appearance of a direct attack by the Bush campaign – ostensibly did in the Arizona senator. He never recovered. Bush went on to secure the nomination and eventually was elected President. The nation was this close to having a legitimate choice and electing a leader who wasn’t afraid to admit that the gap between rich and poor was widening and needed to be dealt with.

In the ensuing years McCain did distinguish himself by authoring various by-partisan legislation, and with the exception of his continued and ardent support for the Iraq War, he remained in the eyes of many America’s best hope for a presidential candidate that could transcend political polarization.

And then 2008 came. McCain had run a successful primary campaign against the likes of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, not by moving to extreme base of his party, but by once more steering towards the middle. The strategy proved successful. Despite attacks from Rush Limbaugh and Mary Matalin, McCain beat the odds and went on to win the Republican nomination.

And then, in what can only be described as a Titanic moment, McCain chose to run one of the most negative campaigns against Democratic nominee Barack Obama. McCain didn’t just move to the right, he threw himself at his base in a desperate attempt to garner their support. In the desperation move of the century he chose as his running mate Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, a move that gained him the long awaited support from ultra conservatives, but which cost him the bulk of his support from the center, once considered his strength.

In the final six weeks of the campaign, McCain became more desperate as poll after poll showed his support eroding. The attacks were stepped up, but to no avail. McCain and Palin were routed in the general election.

In the year and a half since that humiliating defeat, McCain has continued his slide into a caricature of himself. The “maverick” had become Palin’s side kick. So damaged was his reputation both among independents and conservatives that the Tea Party movement nominated its own candidate to challenge him for his senate seat in the Arizona primary.

And now the man who stood not once but twice on the precipice of becoming President of the United States has outdone himself by declaring earlier this month that Times Square Bomber Faisal Shahzad – an American citizen – should be denied his Miranda rights. You heard right. Old blood and guts, in yet another desperate attempt to curry favor with conservatives in his home state, has sold himself out.

What next? An appearance with a fake sheriff along the Mexican border imploring the government to “complete the danged fence?” Oh, he did that too!

What happened John? Where did your soul go? I know politics is one of the two oldest professions in the world; the other has to do with selling your body for money. And I know it can’t be easy being a Republican these days and holding onto your principles. But you weren’t just any Republican and you didn’t just run for any office in the land. OK, so you saddled us with the mouth that keeps roaring in the person of Sarah Palin. That would be bad enough for one lifetime, but the depths you have sunk to over the last year has completely destroyed any hope of salvaging what was once a brilliant and distinguished career in the Senate.

Regardless of what happens in your state’s primary, you need to know this. What you have traded for is not worth the price you paid for it. Whether you win or lose, you have lost all respect from those who once believed in you, who saw in you a transformative figure who could be relied on to speak his mind and lead with conviction and dignity. Now the only thing any of us can rely on from you are the comic relief bits you bring to life on Letterman and Saturday Night Live.

Shame on you, sir. You knew better.