In watching last week’s Republican convention and being a former Republican myself, I did not recognize those gathered. I do not mean the people because I certainly know who they are and have even commented on their belligerent behavior in previous commentaries. It was the psyche of those gathered. What I saw was a mob mentality and it is precisely this behavior that had me flee that party back in 1998.
Joe Biden was correct when he made this observation, “This is not your father's Republican party, it's a different Republican party!" I can highly relate to that comment coming from Biden. I truly remember when the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln instead of the party of Karl Rove. It was civilized instead of being bellicose.
There have been a few Republicans that I have admired over the years especially when they show courage under fire and truly proving they are worthy of being called a maverick. One of them is the Nebraska Senator, Chuck Hagel who has often spoken out against this war. If you are a Republican, you should have done everything humanly possible to draft him as your candidate and not John McCain who has only shown complicity.
One feed I found amazing is where Hagel was discussing the military action that took place in Somalia under President Bill Clinton in 1993 and it was none other than Republicans like McCain who supported the troops, but not the president. In fact he put forth a resolution to cut the funding to that military operation. Those that call for any cut in funds in relation to the Iraq War are told they do not support the troops. So, Senator McCain: You call for cuts to fund one military action, but not this one?
While you may not sit and watch the entire feed which is approximately 8 minutes long, here is what John McCain said of Somalia and our military intervention.
“Somalia is a prime example of a lofty ambitions gone awry...Our service men and women have become part of a mission to build Somalia into a stable democracy, something incidentally it has never been and shows no sign of ever becoming at least in this decade...The manner in which military force is to be used to further this grandiose objective has been left unclear, without a clear military objective our forces in Somalia have found themselves involved in a situation where they cannot distinguish between friend and foe they have often been presented situations where they cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants.”
Does that sound oddly familiar to what some are saying of this war in Iraq today? The difference in my opinion is who the presidents were/are in both cases. It was okay to angrily speak out against President Clinton, but heaven forbid anyone go up against this president meaning Bush, they are branded unpatriotic.
Where exactly is this logic and courage coming from McCain today? It must be hiding under those tables as Bush looked for Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction in the Oval Office in that feed he made for the White House Correspondents dinner.
Another prime example of Senator Chuck Hagel acting as the true maverick is contained within this amazing feed. Have you ever heard Senator McCain stand up like that to disagree with President Bush? In this feed you will hear him bring up the Hamilton/Baker report which is a report often brought up by Senator Barack Obama. Hagel also mentions the use of diplomacy and how we did not have a strategy when it came to Iraq. He also said that this is a “ping pong game with American lives.” He even brings up that things in the Middle East are more dangerous today.
Notice who is sitting at the dais as Chuck Hagel speaks and it is Senator Joe Biden and his experience should account for something as we head into the future. Can we really risk four more years being led by someone who is not a maverick along with a relative new comer in Sarah Palin?
Here is Chuck Hagel being interviewed on the Bill Maher show where he says that the Republican Party has been “hijacked by incompetency” and where the party ran up the “biggest budget deficit” He also calls this war the biggest foreign policy blunder. Exactly where is such talk coming from folks like McCain? It is no where to be seen. It must be under that table in the Oval Office.
In reading a Gallup poll taken tonight it shows where McCain has overcome Obama’s lead and the only reason I can think of for this is Sarah Palin who McCain called the “game changer”. He realized he needed a relative new comer, someone not yet tested at the national level and who voters could be attracted to in order to win this election. A woman at church yesterday told me that some were being swayed over to vote for McCain because of Palin. I told her to have them come speak with me. By the way, the woman I spoke with is an ardent Obama supporter. I knew I liked her.
I am going to reach out to the more moderate Republicans who may come to read this: McCain is not the maverick and if you are hurting as we all are; then why give him your vote? Back in 2004, you could have joined hands with others saying, “Enough!” Thereby ending this misery we are all feeling to this day. This misery must end now for all of our sakes. Look at a neighbor who is hurting through a foreclosure, no job to speak of and no medical coverage. These are but a few issues that are hurting people out across America. There is an old saying, “Fool me once shame on you…Fool me twice, shame on me” Do not let McCain fool you.
Do not sentence America to four more years of the same when McCain hasn’t shown any leadership, nor proven himself to be a maverick. I would suggest to all of you to start a draft Hagel campaign in the future. He is about the only Republican I trust.
You may reach the author at this email address, xmjmac@optonline.net
