Sen. John McCain’s devolution on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is “genuinely pathetic,” writes Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly. The Arizona Republican has gone from supporting a repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay troops to waiting for the Pentagon study on it next month to, now, saying the study was the wrong kind…. The senator’s flip-flops are showing, Benen argues. “The senator would be better off dropping the incoherent pretense and simply acknowledge what’s plainly true: he doesn’t want gay servicemembers, and no amount of evidence will change his mind”….
In 2006, John McCain stated in no uncertain terms in a town hall meeting that if the military leadership advised that elimininating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was a wise idea, he would defer to their judgment. Less than four years later, when that precondition was met, McCain moved the goalposts, a phenomenon that has become as frequent as it is tiresome. Though he won’t come out and it explicitly, it’s become clear that Sen. McCain will do everything within his power to ensure that Gays are not allowed to serve openly as long as he’s drawing breath.
I could accept McCain’s opposition to repealing DADT (though I would still vociferously disagree) if his position possessed anything resembling even the barest shred of honesty. The problem, though, is that Sen. McCain has evolved from a reasonable moderate Republican into a hateful demagogue concerned only with his own political prospects. To call McCain inconsistent would be an understatement. To call him a rank hypocrite and a bigot would only begin to scratch the surface. Why can’t Sen. McCain be honest with himself and the American Sheeple and just admit that he hates homosexuals? There’s simply no other credible explanation for McCain frequently and disingenuously moving the goalposts on this issue. McCain thinks he can finesse DADT enough to have it both ways- to appear moderate while simultaneously feeding his all-consuming hatred of homosexuals. All he’s really doing is to demonstrate what a truly hateful, miserable bigot he is. Not that he cares, of course….
Time was when Sen. John McCain was worthy of admiration. He’s a man who, after all, spent several years in a North Vietnamese prison camp. He’s sacrificed more in the service of his country than most. Over the past few years, though, it’s as if Sen. McCain has progressively lost his mind (the only way one could ever use “progressive” and “John McCain” in the same sentence). He’s become ever-more hateful, dogmatic, cravenly self-interested, and mean-spirited as his primary and only concern has become the advancement of his political career. It’s not often that I’ll completely disrespect someone for being an abject waste of humanity…but I’m going to make an exception for Sen. McCain, who no intelligent person could describe as “reasonable” and/or “humane”. If you believe in Hell, it wouldn’t be a stretch to argue that Sen. McCain has a personalized parking space waiting for him there…and deservedly so.
Why can’t Sen. McCain just be honest? Why can’t he admit that he hates homosexuals so much that he’ll do everything in his power to ensure that they’ll never be able to serve in our armed forces? Why can’t he admit that what’s driving his flip-flopping and goalpost moving is hatred and his willingness to pander to those on the Right who hate homosexuals as much as he does? Rather than pretending that there’s some actual principle involved here, why not just admit to the reality that anyone with half a brain can see? Could it be the Sen. McCain really is just a miserable, pathetic excuse for a human being?
Like I need to answer that question….
