Country first?
Barack Obama's reaction to the bill's failure: "One of the messages I have to Congress is, get this done, Democrats. Republicans, step up to the plate. ... Democrats and Republicans in Washington have a responsibility to make sure an emergency rescue package is put forward that can at least stop the immediate problems that we have."
John McCain's reaction to the bill's failure: "From the minute John McCain suspended his campaign and arrived in Washington to address this crisis, he was attacked by the Democratic leadership: Senators Obama and Reid, Speaker Pelosi and others. Their partisan attacks were an effort to gain political advantage during a national economic crisis. By doing so, they put at risk the homes, livelihoods and savings of millions of American families. ... Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill. ... This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country."
What can one say? You'll notice Obama didn't say "this bill failed because John McCain...put politics before country." Instead, he urged further constructive action, by both parties. So, who is being "partisan" here, again? And who is being a "leader"? I think the American people can figure that one out for themselves.
John McCain: self-aggrandizer, hypocrite, and grandstanding buffoon. A shadow of his former self. How sad.
UPDATE: In comments, I'm taking some heat for the above paragraph being over-the-top. Point conceded. I think McCain is demonstrating some of his less savory tendencies here, but it's inaccurate and unfair to judge him quite so harshly across the board. I think McCain sometimes behaves in a self-aggrandizing, hypocritical, and/or granstanding buffoonish fashion, and I think he's doing so here, but I don't think those adjectives summarize his character as a whole, any more than "self-important, silver-tongued windbag" summarizes the whole of Barack Obama, even though there is sometimes some truth to each of those statements. :) So anyway, I've stricken it out.
I also want to clarify something. I am not suggesting that Democrats in general, or Obama in particular, have not used the financial crisis for political purposes. Of course they have. So has McCain. And that's precisely the point. McCain is putting on this absurd holier-than-thou act while playing precisely the same political games the Dems are playing. Indeed, he is being extremely, undeniably political in the very act of pretending not to be political. He is also playing the victim of something he's not actually the victim of, and simultaneously using this phony victimhood as a bludgeon to go after the other guy. This sort of weird insta-hypocrisy really grates on my nerves and offends my sensibilities.
If you're going to be political, be political. Everybody's political! But don't sit there and say, "Look at me! I am so bipartisan and apolitical! I am much less political than my scumbag opponent! Unlike him, I put my country first, because country is more important than politics! My opponent sucks!" Such statements are inherently, obviously political. The very act of saying such things contradicts the words themselves.
Somebody really needs to remind McCain of the mantra "show, don't tell." Throughout this crisis, he's been repeatedly telling us what a wonderful leader he is, telling us that he intends to put politics aside, grandstanding about how he puts "country first" -- rather than simply letting his actions speak for themselves. He behaved the same way during Hurricane Gustav: postponing the convention and organizing relief efforts, then sending out surrogates to brag about what a wonderful and patriotic action this was, and to attack Obama for being as bipartisan and non-political as McCain. This sort of juvenile nonsense totally undermines and taints that action that you're trying to get credit for.
If you want people to think you're a leader, act like a leader. (This is what Obama is doing right now -- for political gain, of course! But he's doing it the right way.) If you want people to think you're bipartisan, act bipartisan. If you want people to give you credit for putting country ahead of politics, do it. Don't tell people you have these character traits. Show them. And dial down the self-aggrandizement. It's unbecoming.
John McCain's reaction to the bill's failure: "From the minute John McCain suspended his campaign and arrived in Washington to address this crisis, he was attacked by the Democratic leadership: Senators Obama and Reid, Speaker Pelosi and others. Their partisan attacks were an effort to gain political advantage during a national economic crisis. By doing so, they put at risk the homes, livelihoods and savings of millions of American families. ... Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill. ... This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country."
What can one say? You'll notice Obama didn't say "this bill failed because John McCain...put politics before country." Instead, he urged further constructive action, by both parties. So, who is being "partisan" here, again? And who is being a "leader"? I think the American people can figure that one out for themselves.
UPDATE: In comments, I'm taking some heat for the above paragraph being over-the-top. Point conceded. I think McCain is demonstrating some of his less savory tendencies here, but it's inaccurate and unfair to judge him quite so harshly across the board. I think McCain sometimes behaves in a self-aggrandizing, hypocritical, and/or granstanding buffoonish fashion, and I think he's doing so here, but I don't think those adjectives summarize his character as a whole, any more than "self-important, silver-tongued windbag" summarizes the whole of Barack Obama, even though there is sometimes some truth to each of those statements. :) So anyway, I've stricken it out.
I also want to clarify something. I am not suggesting that Democrats in general, or Obama in particular, have not used the financial crisis for political purposes. Of course they have. So has McCain. And that's precisely the point. McCain is putting on this absurd holier-than-thou act while playing precisely the same political games the Dems are playing. Indeed, he is being extremely, undeniably political in the very act of pretending not to be political. He is also playing the victim of something he's not actually the victim of, and simultaneously using this phony victimhood as a bludgeon to go after the other guy. This sort of weird insta-hypocrisy really grates on my nerves and offends my sensibilities.
If you're going to be political, be political. Everybody's political! But don't sit there and say, "Look at me! I am so bipartisan and apolitical! I am much less political than my scumbag opponent! Unlike him, I put my country first, because country is more important than politics! My opponent sucks!" Such statements are inherently, obviously political. The very act of saying such things contradicts the words themselves.
Somebody really needs to remind McCain of the mantra "show, don't tell." Throughout this crisis, he's been repeatedly telling us what a wonderful leader he is, telling us that he intends to put politics aside, grandstanding about how he puts "country first" -- rather than simply letting his actions speak for themselves. He behaved the same way during Hurricane Gustav: postponing the convention and organizing relief efforts, then sending out surrogates to brag about what a wonderful and patriotic action this was, and to attack Obama for being as bipartisan and non-political as McCain. This sort of juvenile nonsense totally undermines and taints that action that you're trying to get credit for.
If you want people to think you're a leader, act like a leader. (This is what Obama is doing right now -- for political gain, of course! But he's doing it the right way.) If you want people to think you're bipartisan, act bipartisan. If you want people to give you credit for putting country ahead of politics, do it. Don't tell people you have these character traits. Show them. And dial down the self-aggrandizement. It's unbecoming.
posted by Brendan Loy at
9/29/2008 05:05:00 PM
