McCain believes in the idea of pre-emptive and preventive wars. This is symptomatic of the Republican sound bite mentality. It ignores reality. Although there are exceptions and complexities (click here the three best examples of wars started on the assumption that we better "do it to them before they do it us," are the current War in Iraq, the German invasion of Russia, and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
In addition to being disasters, such wars were, and theoretically still are, crimes. Though we will never get near to a trial for Bush's War, the other two were called "wars of aggression," the people who perpetrated them were put in the dock, convicted, and some of them were hung.
McCain also would be willing to attack Iran without going to Congress first.
John MCCAIN is NOT READY TO BE COMMANDER IN CHIEF. Or president.
In his campaign for the Democratic nomination, Barack OBAMA has demonstrated that he is the kind of person who is actually READY ON DAY ONE. Because he got ready before day one.
Obama did his homework. He studied the issues. He came up with policy positions. They were based on reality. He assembled a good team. He developed a national organization, one of great depth. He disavowed lobbyists and raised an astonishing portion of his money from ordinary people.
They came up with a strategy and a plan to win the nomination. It was a better one than Hillary's.
Once he started running, his team worked smoothly. Which demonstrates that he has good judgment in picking people, and that he's good at running an organization. When a crises came up, the Reverend Wright eruption, he not only handled it without losing his balance, he took the occasion to elevate the entire campaign, with one of the greatest speeches I've ever heard.
The real split in this country is between fantasy and reality.
George Bush, the Republican Party, and now, John McCain, represent fantasy.
The reality is that we were attacked by Osama bin Laden, not by an Islamo Fascist Empire of Evil. The reality is that Iran sometimes supports our enemies and sometimes, as they did in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban, supports us against our enemies. The reality is that tax cuts for the rich don't pay for themselves. Nor do they improve the lives of everyone else. The reality is that we have government, government policies and regulations for a reason. The reality is that taking money from big corporate donors obligates politicians to them and the result has been that they and their lobbyists literally write our legislation and use the government as a tool to enrich themselves.
This is not to say that Democrats, with a few exceptions, have been able to stand up for reality. To articulate that that there are real problems that require real solutions, not boogie man enemies and sound bite slogans that promise to magically slay them.
Obama has stepped out of the fantasy box. He is willing to examine the realities. And, as he has demonstrated in his campaign so far, come up with a plan to effectively deal with them. Even in a situation as unbelievable as a black man becoming a major party candidate for president.
As the only one of the candidates who deals in Reality, OBAMA is the only candidate who will be READY ON DAY ONE, as "commander-in-chief," or as president.I didn't write this because I'm an Obama supporter. I wrote it because this "Ready on Day One!" sounded like George Bush nonsense to me. I became an Obama supporter by analyzing the claim and by watching the campaign.
Larry Beinhart is the author of Wag the Dog, The Librarian, and Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin. All available at nationbooks.org His new novel: SALVATION BOULEVARD will be published in September, 2008, by Nation BooksResponses can be sent to beinhart@earthlink.net
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