OpEdNews - Article: A Lost and Found for Credibility

Sooner or later, John McCain, the Republican Party's designated candidate, may well have to pay a visit to the lost and found of credibility. And, if there is no such lost and found, one may need to be created for that express purpose.

Funny, isn't it, for a Party so concerned with creed how little interest there is for credibility.

That said, it would be unfair to move from deriding the current commander-in-chief to knocking John McCain without even making a stop to refuel. After all, aside from the fact that he was against Bush before he was for him, the Arizona senator has tried very hard to distinguish himself from the perennial incumbent, if only by what he laughably calls "Straightalk Express."

Last night, I got to thinking about how much everyone is saying about how little everyone knows about John Mc Cain. It's kind of like the weather---everyone talks about it, but nobody is doing anything about it.

The Republican candidate's sudden, meteoric rise in the polls makes me wonder at how adept Mr. McCain already is at information control, and he hasn't even been sworn in yet. How many would gamble on a dog and pony show where the winning mutt is in dire need of a distemper shot, but most voters visualize war hero, and not a poster boy for anger management.

After all, not everybody reads The New York Times, The Washington Post, or HuffPost. There is more pulp patriotism in America than pulp fiction. And, so-called "alternative media," in the end, only amounts to preaching to the choir.

So, last night, while thumbing through the bookcase looking for Crime and Punishment, I came upon an old how-to book, "Excel for Dummies," which made me think -- why not "McCain for Dummies," a laundry list of reasons why not to vote for John McCain:

1) In this age of record foreclosures, you've got to love a guy who has so many homes he can't remember how many.

2) Only Christopher Columbus would need to be coached more on geography.

3) Talk about credibility issues---McCain was against lobbies before he was for lobbies.
The highest ranking members of his campaign committee include Charlie Black and Wayne Berman (AT & T, and Verizon, respectively.) Black is now McCain's chief political advisor, and Berman is his national finance co-chair. (EFF) Both men are lobbyists for the telecommunications industry who will continue to work for immunity from prosecution for those who play ball with the National Security Agency.

You know you can count on Ma Bell, and not Big Brother, to monitor your phone calls with McCain in the White House.

4) How can anyone have as a signature greeting the words "my friends," and be so choleric, at times, he could be mistaken for a cougar.

5) Remember Jack Abramoff? That's good because, thanks to Abramoff, the Keating affair is history. Moreover, any claims that a McCain presidency will fight special interests end here.

6) As to campaign finance reform, take a good look at Vern Buchanan, the Republican South Florida congressman who took over Katherine Harris's seat in a landslide victory of under 400 votes!

Buchanan, former chair of the RNC Finance Committee was also a top fundraiser for Jeb Bush, hearty endorser of George W. Bush, and is a donor to McCain's campaign. This ought to give you conspiracy theory folks out there a giant rush!

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http://ladyjaynestahl.blogspot.com

Widely published, poet, playwright, essayist, and screenwriter; member of PEN American Center, and PEN USA. Jayne Lyn Stahl is a Huffington Post blogger.

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