I've Changed How I Feel About John McCain After The Debate

[Symarip]

Obama beat the crap out of him. It's painfully obvious. I don't need to go there and there's plenty of threads highlighting Obama's superior performance. My premise for this thread is a little different. And before anyone rushes to judge, please read this whole thing through and maybe it'll make more sense.

I don't hate John McCain anymore.

Before last night, I hated ol' gramps. There's really not much to love when you think about it. He represents the opposite of everything I've fought for, my single mother has fought for, my whole support system in life has fought for. I hated him because his Republican brand has destroyed our civil liberties, our economy, our military, our everything. The Republicans have really had the brown touch over the last 25 years and I'm happy to see American citizens finally starting to realize that the government fails when we put people in it that hate the institution of government, itself. I also hated McCain because he lies, mostly about himself and his accomplishments but sometimes about Obama, Democrats, etc. This 'mavericky' gimmick basically gives with one hand while taking with another. Last night, Obama called him on his bullshit just like he did two weeks ago, just like he's been doing since he's hit the campaign trail. And Obama is right. McCain is wrong. But now, I don't hate McCain so much.

See, it's not about what John's done or proposes to do. I'm fundamentally opposed to everything he stands for and the fact he really can't stand on any issue without being a complete hypocrite. But, I give McCain credit in one area of last night's debate(and this is the fundamental reason why I've changed my mind on him): he didn't try to make the debate a character assisination. Think about it. No Ayers or real estate deals or anything nonsensical. McCain actually believes he can win on the issues and I think when he's sincere when he says, I know how to fix blah blah blah. Unfortunately, John, it's too little too late. If you knew we were wrong years ago and heading in the wrong direction, you should have stopped pandering and stood up like a real maverick. You could have called your own party on its bullshit. You could have proved that you really are this middle of the road politician with sense and reason. But you didn't. And now even if you could do all these things you say you can, which I doubt, who's going to believe in you? Certainly not me.

So now, I don't hate him. I just feel sorry for him.

[knowbody0]

1. I fear he will die of a broken heart b4 the election

I try to put it out of my head, but know they would put Romney out front, who is supposedly a financial genius who could save the world like superman

[grannie4peace]

2. i'd save that pity for after the election

i can't throw that bastard very far!!!!

[gordianot]

3. John McCain has enough hate for everyone, he has not turned his last page.

[Symarip]

4. Oh sure

It's not like I can't go back to hating him. Just give me a reason, Johnboy.

[MadMaddie]

5. After last night's "That One" statement McCain confirmed for

me that he is a racist and that he has no respect for Obama.

McCain is what he is, a wanna be, shouda-coulda-wouda kinda dude. It's everyone elses fault that's the kind of Maverick Sidekick he is.

He will be a bitter old man until the end and he has no one to blame but himself.

[Symarip]

6. In no means am I trying to defend old Gramps

This season has been filled with racist overtones. But I don't think he was trying to convey racism in code with 'that one'. I think he was trying to be folksy, which came off as weird, awkward and kind of creepy in a Mr. Burns tells Smithers what to do kind of way.

It was just a dumb move, one way or another.

[Timmy5835]

7. I have a feeling.......

Within a year McCain will be hospitalized. He is NOW taking sleeping meds and supplements for dementia and let's not leave out his bouts with cancer. He's not really a well man. I think a defeat will do him in.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. Anyone notice how he turned his back to Oliver Clark when Clark asked his question?

I don't think McCain turned his back to the other questioners. Meanwhile, Obama looked directly at Clark. Is this some kind of subconsious thing with McCain or am I being unfair? I don't know if it's a racist thing as much as it is a defensive mechanism of McCain's in anticipation of someone he thought might have a question he didn't like (or maybe that IS a subconsciously racist reaction?).

[Window]

9. He didn't have to go there last night, his attack dog Palin has been going

there repeatedly, for days.

[stillcool]

10. I dislike him more..if that's possible..

He is a self-centered, angry, arrogant prick. The only reason why he did not bring up Ayers or Wright is because his handlers told him not to. Must not have polled well.

[Mother Of Four]

11. A politicians career is effectively over-

When passion (Either love OR hate) turns to pity.

Many of the voters pity McCain, that at the heart of it is why he was the worst choice for their party to go up against Obama. They needed a candidate they could be passionate about, and so they flocked to Palin in hopes they could rekindle that fire in their bellies.

Palin herself has turned out to be pitiable as well, however hers is for her drowning attempts to swim with the sharks. Her disastrous interviews were painful to say the least, and there were many times you could see the fear leeching off of her.

Pity has no place in politics, compassion does and Obama has that by the truckload.

[goodgd_yall]

12. I don't know if McCAin can be given credit

for not stooping to character assassination. How much is he in cahoots with what Palin is doing and the content of his campaign ads? I find it hard to believe he opposes those tactics. I think he's using Palin to be the attack dog while he continues to appear to have integrity.

[SurfingAtWork]

13. Don't unhate him too hastily. Methinks he was just keeping his powder dry.

[Symarip]

14. It's not just him, though

I kind of feel for Republicans, period. I'm a defense contractor and am under the rule of fundies by the nature of our business (by the way, McCain scores no points with those I work with after the last two debates). I hear them talking in my hall outside my office day in, and day out. 6 months ago, they were full of authority and zest. Now, they're beaten. Their will is gone. Some are probably starting to realize that the Reagan wasn't the genius they thought he was. We're now laying in the bed of deregulation we've made for ourselves. It's tragic, really, when you think you're right and it turns out to be the opposite.

As for McCain, I'm sure he'll piss me off between now and November.

[Mike Daniels]

15. I think he had Palin forced on him and for that I feel just a little sorry for him

There's been enough "chatter" that McCain wanted to pick Lieberman or someone else who he thought could help him with swing-voters/independents.

Instead he has an unknown low-experience fundamentalist whacko thrust upon him to appease the religious right nuts who pretty much said they'd stay at home this November.

No sooner does Palin step on the scene and all attention runs from McCain to her. She gets the press copy, she gets the crowds and McCain is stuck either playing second banana at joint appearances and when he goes off on his own he gets a pathetic turnout while Palin draws thousands.

Just when he had probably made piece with this insult and it looks like he may finally have some traction the economy bottoms out. To make matters worse, his VP then shows the world that she's a bubble-headed idiot who can't produce a coherent thought unless she's got a script in front of her.

Then, McCain gets to watch the aforementioned idiot go on camera, try to override his campaign decisions and for a finale proceeds to whip crowds into frenzies that result in them threatening reporters and his opponent.

Oh, and just to cap it all off, last night he gets owned in a debate that was in the format that he had been all over Obama to do 10 of earlier this cycle.


McCain may be a grasping jackass but I wouldn't wish the ego-destroying experience he's had near the end of his career on my worst enemy.

[frogmarch]

16. I still hate him. Maybe even more that I did. nt

[City Lights]

17. I dislike him more than ever and don't have an ounce of empathy for him.

He's a run-of-the-mill conservative who will say or do anything to win. He has no honor nor dignity.

[DevonRex]

18. I thought he was a coward by not mentioning all the bullshit

"character" issues that Palin has been harping on.

I dislike him more than ever. He sends Palin out to do his dirty work and then he hides behind her skirts.

[Symarip]

19. That seems to be the sentiment upthread

And I can't argue with it. But, remember, it wasn't too long ago we were applauding the idea of Joe ATTACK DOG GO FOR THE JUGULAR PALIN/MCCAIN ARE FUCKED Biden. Just turns out, we don't need to turn up the juice like they do. Anyhow, it's still fine with me to hate him and there's plenty of reasons to do so. I just think it's a tiny bit credible that the debate was more about issues than 'can you trust ol' blacky over there with his cronies in Chicago?'.

[Peace Patriot]

20. I'll feel sorry for McCain when he stops lying, and starts telling the truth about

who he really is, what he has done, what he has supported, and who he has associated himself with.

And not before.

I felt a bit sorry for Bush in the 2004 debates with John Kerry, because Bush was so outclassed, and such an obvious puppet of the heinous global corporate predators who run him. I felt sorry for him the way I felt sorry for the "Manchurian candidate" in the movie. I sensed that he was being drugged and manipulated.

Then his pals at Diebold & co. stole the 2004 election, and kept this manipulated, drugged, pathetic idiot and juvenile sadist in MY White House.

No more pity.

100,000 people slaughtered, in one night of "shock and awe" bombing, to steal their oil.

No more pity.

Thousands imprisoned without trial and tortured, shredding our Constitution, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Geneva Conventions, and numerous national and international laws.

Tax cut after tax cut for the super-rich.

His name is on all of it. So is McCain's. No pity until we see confession and recompense.

John McCain belongs in jail, along with a lot of other members of Congress, who have sold our country down the river, in every imaginable way, from "trade secret" vote counting and no-bid, profit-guaranteed military contracts, to their failure to investigate the grossest malfeasance and incompetence in our history--and possible treason: the misdirection of NORAD jets on 9/11.

No pity until we have full disclosure, justice and recompense.

----------

Equip yourself, mentally and emotionally, to resist the images you see on TV. This bumbling, incoherent, mean-spirited toady to the rich and the fascist--John McCain--is an INSULT to the American people, as a candidate for president, just as Bush was!

An INSULT! The Corpo/fascists running him are rubbing your nose in their power. They CAN install him as president, and Ms. To Nowhere as vice president. They now have that direct capability, to easily--EASILY--override the will of the American people, any time they want, with their "TRADE SECRET" voting machines. They may not do it. Or they may. They want you to feel that you powerless to prevent it. And you are--until we get rid of 'TRADE SECRET' vote counting.

This man--McCain--should NOT be running for president. And his To Nowhere companion even more so. They are mere images, cartoons, toadies. There is no there there. They are creations of the Corpo/fascist 'news' monopolies. They can't even articulate a Corpo/fascist program. They are without the skill, intelligence, quickness of mind and basic competence to BE candidates for president of the U.S. Just like Bush. And you can have pity for such tools, when they babble and drool, if you want to. That is your right. But I don't agree that they merit pity, without a truthful accounting of who they really are, and who their puppetmasters are.

As I said, beware of such emotions, as elicited by what you see on TV. And I'd say beware of it as well, when it comes to Democratic candidates. It's not as if our Democratic leaders have a good record of representing our interests. As well as Obama looks and sounds--and as obviously intelligent and personally self-confident as he is--some of his policies (for instance, the Forever War--which he is merely going to move to Afghanistan--and his support for the Final Looting) are VERY questionable. We may like his image, and respond to his ability to project it on TV, but what is he actually going to do? I listened to the debate on the radio, and I did not like a lot of what Obama said, as policy. McCain just seemed...nuts. His statements were incoherent. Obama sounded intelligent and reasonable--as usual--but his actual policy statements were not that encouraging. I was not swayed by visual image. The ability to project on TV is a talent; it is not a policy. It is certainly an important talent, in this era, and it can be used to promote good policy, but it can also be used to support bad policy (Reagan comes to mind). It is important to LISTEN (and to read), and it is important to watch out for the emotional impacts of mere talent, apart from content.

In the Age of the Bomb, we cannot avoid the president being a "king"--the sum total of our image as a people. And I would say that "heroes" are not a particularly bad thing. It is certainly an age-old phenomenon--people being inspired by "heroes" and good leaders. It is a deep component of the human psyche. I would just say, never forget, in this electronic age, that 5 fatcat, rightwing, billionaire CEOs are controlling everything you see on TV, and political consultants are making multi-millions of dollars to create and manipulate images in this billionaires' venue, on both sides of 'the aisle.'

We may boo and hiss at their INSULTING Republican candidates, and cheer at someone with the intelligence and talent to bring them up short, and also with the smarts to get his campaign jump-started in the caucus states ( not counted by Diebold & brethren)--but we should also be outraged at the naked reality that the Corpo/fascists now have the easy capability to crown the asshole as king. Until we change that--until we restore transparent vote counting--nothing we see and hear on TV is going to make much sense, as to the interests of the majority, even from an intelligent candidate.

What would make sense is this:

"Organized money hates me--and I welcome their hatred." --Franklin Delano Roosevelt.