In 2000, Falwell was the problem; now it’s us

May 15, 2006

In case you missed it, [tag]John McCain[/tag] appeared alongside Jerry “agent of intolerance” Falwell over the weekend, delivering the commencement address at the televangelist’s Virginia college. Would the bold, straight-talking senator stay true to his alleged principles and “sister souljah” the man who said America “deserved” the attacks of 9/11? Not so much.

With the Rev. [tag]Jerry Falwell[/tag] at his side, Senator John [tag]McCain[/tag] offered a spirited defense of the Iraq war on Saturday, telling graduating students at [tag]Liberty University[/tag] that victory there was crucial to world security. But Mr. McCain urged opponents of the war to vigorously “state their opposition” in the interest of critical debate on this increasingly unpopular conflict. […]

Though the two men shared a stage here on Saturday, greeting each other warmly and drawing applause from the festive audience, Mr. McCain made only a brief mention of Mr. Falwell in his 28-minute speech. And Mr. McCain, who is normally eager to talk to reporters, left immediately after finishing his speech and before Mr. Falwell offered his greeting to graduates.

This is not to say McCain was entirely positive and constructive. Six years ago in Virginia, the senator said the religious right had a “corrupting influence” on politics in America. This year, McCain is lashing out at a new target: us.

“When I was a young man, I was quite infatuated with self-expression, and rightly so because, if memory conveniently serves, I was so much more eloquent, well-informed, and wiser than anyone else I knew. It seemed I understood the world and the purpose of life so much more profoundly than most people. I believed that to be especially true with many of my elders, people whose only accomplishment, as far as I could tell, was that they had been born before me, and, consequently, had suffered some number of years deprived of my insights… It’s a pity that there wasn’t a [tag]blogosphere[/tag] then. I would have felt very much at home in the medium.”

I have no idea which blogs McCain has been reading to give him this impression — my hunch is he hasn’t read any — but it’s encouraging to hear that McCain is no longer “infatuated with self-expression.”

A younger McCain wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of writing a blog and instead would have gone straight to podcasting — the man clearly loves the sound of his own voice too much to bother with the printed word.

the man clearly loves the sound of his own voice too much to bother with the printed word.

Oooh, SNAP!

But, ‘s’truth enough. He clearly wasn’t happy about being there, but to win in the Republican world, you have to shake the Devil’s hand…

  • Being the “cranky old man” (besides Ross Perot) in the presidential race certainly didn’t help Bob Dole. But maybe John McCain can make it work. “Damn punk kids with their Internets and self-expression” doesn’t inspire a lot of hope and confidence, but then I’m not his target audience.

  • “you have to shake the Devil’s hand…” I bet he’s glad that all Fallwell asked him to shake.

    Seriously, I can’t imagine any Republican candidate — much less this tired old potato(e) — facing the voters in 2008, no matter who we put up. Their record is just so damned abysmal, and their criminal charges are mounting almost daily (perhaps a major one this week).

    Actually, as proof of his smarminess, Liberty University was just place for McCain to make his sorry attempt at being the wastrel youth who became a wise old man. Wait’ll events prove that he’s moved in the reverse direction – the brave youth who morphed in to a squishy marshmallow of an old man.

  • Reading what McCain said, I though it was “nice” that he had grown up but couldn’t he tell the president that it was time to grow up. That whole bit applies to Dubya – now!

  • Attacking the blogosphere is a way to pander to the MSM, which already dotes on this piece of shit but needs an occasional bone so they will continue to do so.

  • After all that ass kissing, you’d think his lips would have been too tuckered to talk. But alas, no. What he said is true, however. He certainly is not the man he was in his youth. That’s a fact his supporters need to come to grips with, not to mention, the ridiculously doting MSM. And when they do, he won’t have any.

  • Wait’ll events prove that he’s moved in the reverse direction – the brave youth who morphed in to a squishy marshmallow of an old man.

    I’m in agreement with Ed.

  • What this says to me is that McCain blames the blogs for the hit he’s taking for selling his sould to Falwell to become President.

  • “… McCain blames the blogs for the hit he’s taking….”

    Not so long ago blogs of all stripes were pretty supportive of the “straight talking” McCain. It’s he who chose to become an old, squishy marshmallow.

  • Not being as young as McCain was when he claims to have had these age and wisdom disparaging thoughts, I find his comments on blogs and bloggers (and I suppose, humble posters such as myself) to be a bit rich.

    Hopefully, more of America will begin to see McCain not only as a conservative but as a sycophant one too.

  • “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” — attributed to Mark Twain.

    I thought I heard that sentiment before. Maybe McCain’s setting the record straight on casting-off his youthful, wishful-thinking maverick behavior in favor of being the older, wiser political sell-out he now is.

    His remarks do ring true after reading Malkin, Reynolds, Goldberg and 101st keyboard commandos, among others.

  • In McCain’s book, early on he brags that his family have always been fighters going right back to his ancestor Charlemagne…..there is a very old lady in Philadelphia who runs a scam not unlike the Who’s Who one verifying anyone who pays a fee as a descendent of Charlemagne. I have always thought that McCain’s having bought into that one was a bad sign.

  • McCain is spot on the mark with his comment, except for the last part and I am reminded of Spiro Agnew’s searing response to critics on college campuses during the Vietnam War, suggesting that they were pampered scions of an affluent society who had not yet learned how to meet a payroll, hold a job, raise or family or accomplish much of anything else besides posturing and naive indignation. No doubt he doesn’t want to be as harsh as Agnew and perhaps threw in the “blog” dig as a wink and nod to the smarter set who despise all those “guys in pajamas.” Back in Agnew’s time his critics didn’t need blogs, nor did those who criticized the “old guard” back in the time of Socrates. maybe it helps McCain seem more “with it” but the blog dig was unnecessary and irrelevant.

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