Some in the media just can’t let go of John McCain. David Broder’s column today is really headlined, “John McCain, Your Country Is Calling.”
He explains that he wasn’t “bothered by the doctrinal compromises the senator made to convince Arizona voters that he was, in fact, a conservative. McCain has always been a realist, doing what was necessary to survive a North Vietnamese prison camp or a tough political trap.”
So a senator willing to do whatever it takes to get elected is apparently a badly needed voice of conscience in Washington. OK.
McCain’s role, according to Broder, should be something like this:
One obvious area where he will be needed is his favorite field, national security. Iraq, where he was prescient and persistent, still poses challenges, and Afghanistan, where Obama badly needs a Republican partner, is likely to be in crisis before it can be called a success. Behind them looms Iran, which could be this nation’s next big test.
Wait—John McCain opposed the Iraq War? No, he supported every effort to escalate the war. Apparently that counts as being “prescient.”
Obama “badly needs a Republican partner” on Afghanistan? Last time I checked, there weren’t many Republicans opposing his policies; in fact, many have argued that Obama needs to drop any mention of a withdrawal timeline (which is McCain’s view). So presumably what Obama—and, also, the country—needs is another voice calling for a longer war.
As for Iran, I’m not sure what McCain’s expertise is supposed to be. That “Bomb Iran” song from the 2008 campaign?
The most depressing aspect of this is that anyone would read, much less take seriously, David Broder, who while posing as an independent, marched along behind George W. Bush banging a drum for eight years, accepted speaking fees from those who stood to gain from his opinions such as major health care groups, and occasionally based his musings on a flat out lie, such as this Wapo whopper in his column of January 19, 2006: “But there is no clear evidence as yet that Bush willfully concocted or knowingly distorted the intelligence he received about Saddam Hussein’s military programs.”
Poor old David Broder. Still dispensing the same old pabulum as if were dictated by God. I wonder where he gets his shirts stuffed. Oh wait, I’m thinking of George Will. As for two-faced McCain, he has flipped more than an IHOP pancake.