Ramblings

People who know me know that I've shifted my political beliefs dramatically over the last 4 years. I voted for Bush in 2004, which actually baffles me today. I used to believe in small government and non-interference in markets (for the most part), but I'm pretty much a typical liberal Democrat now, who believes that government should be spending money on health care, education, and infrastructure. So just keep that in mind while I explain why I think John McCain would be one of the worst presidents in recent decades. Not quite as bad as Bush, but I don't think I'll ever see one of those in my lifetime.

McCain has had more lobbyists working on his staff than any other candidate from either party. This is probably why he has such a problem maintaining a consistent position on any issues other than opposing abortion and always wanting more war.

McCain is probably most famous for campaign finance reform. Less well known is his exploiting loopholes in campaign finance law (yes, including the one known as McCain-Feingold) to guarantee a loan with the promise to stay in and seek public financing to pay it back, and then backing out of the commitment once he got the nomination to avoid spending limits. I really don't like that Obama isn't accepting federal matching funds (and the spending limits that come with), but he isn't doing anything borderline illegal and certainly against the spirit of a law he drafted himself.

As most people know, McCain spent time in a POW camp in Vietnam. He served honorably and complied with the Code of Conduct governing captured servicemembers. I have nothing but respect for his service in the Navy. Of course, he came back and treated his wife like shit. When he returned she wasn't nearly as hot was she was before, so he cheated on her. Once he met a younger, prettier millionaire heiress, he divorced his first wife and married the new one. What a classy dude. Actually, no, the classiest thing was probably calling his current wife a cunt (audio NSFW).

Also, I'm convinced that McCain hates servicemembers. He has a history of opposing increased benefits for veterans, and he's always trying to send more of us to foreign wars. The latest example of his veteran-hating is his opposition to this awesome new GI Bill, saying it's TOO awesome and it will hurt military retention. Because as we know, the military is most effective when it's filled with people who just don't have other options. Sorry, I'm not a fan of indentured servitude. Of course, now that it's reached a veto-proof majority, he's trying to claim credit for it. On veteran's benefits, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gives McCain a D. I mean, he might have been able to marry a millionaire when he got out, but I don't have much confidence that I'll be able to do the same after I come home from Iraq.

Finally, McCain is quite possibly a complete moron. Here's a guy who doesn't understand what the cap in cap-and-trade means. He doesn't know enough about economics to even evaluate who should be his economic advisors, so he hires people from all over the ideological spectrum to give him conflicting advice to sift through. For a ton of other examples, google "mccain confused."

I think there are a lot of legitimate criticisms against Obama, too, but he's still the far superior candidate on nearly every issue. I mean, I'm currently pretty disappointed in Obama for the moral cowardice of supporting the FISA bill this week. I didn't really mention McCain's Al Qaeda/Iran gaffe because Obama made a similar one about Arabic linguists in Afghanistan. I don't like that Obama dismissed the hard work and sacrifice of Iraqi politicians who really are trying to bring stability to their own country. I would've preferred that he remained a member of Trinity United, because it just seems that he does the politically expedient thing with his spiritual life - which sucks because he's the only Democratic candidate in many years who sounds comfortable using religious language in his speech. Also, I didn't think that his church was racist at all. The history of this nation has been racist, and pretending it wasn't won't make it so.

Anyway, there's no way I'm voting McCain in November, and it seems like voting for Obama will be the most cost-effective thing I can do to keep McCain from winning.

EDIT: I think this article in Fortune magazine is telling - when asked what the greatest threat to the US economy is, he struggles to answer, and finally comes up with "Islamic extremism" after about 11 seconds of squirming. Presidents have a lot of responsibilities besides commander-in-chief, and it's unfortunate that it's the only role he is the slightest bit interested in.