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‘In politics, lying is cheating’

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I’ve been trying to get a better sense of why John McCain’s relentless attacks irk me so much. It’s not that I expected McCain to run a substantive campaign, and it’s not that I expected McCain to be an honorable candidate.

Mark Kleiman wrote something the other day that rings true for me, and touches on why I find the McCain campaign so offensive: “In politics, lying is cheating.”

I think that’s exactly right. There are degrees of cheating, of course. When the Bush administration uses the Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Democratic candidates (or go easy on Republican candidates) shortly before an election, that’s obviously and literally cheating. When the Nixon White House orchestrates the Watergate scandal, that’s obviously and literally cheating.

But in a more principled/philosophical sense, lying is cheating, too. Voters look to the candidates for information. The media passes along this information, but has largely abdicated its role as a “referee.” If a candidate deliberately deceives as many voters as possible, it is, in effect, playing fast and loose with the rules.

McCain’s brief interview with ABC helps highlight all of his least honest tendencies.

“Those ads really were focused on two things. They were focused on the fact that Sen. Obama wants to raise taxes, and I’m opposed of it. And he opposes an energy policy which would work, including offshore drilling. So the message there is there’re stark differences between myself and Sen. Obama.” […]

“We’re not gonna allow racism to come into this campaign in any form,” McCain said. “And so I’m gonna respond if it comes up again.” […]

“Well, the fact is he still opposes offshore drilling,” McCain said. “He opposes nuclear power. He opposes most every measure, incentives to build a battery-driven car. So, I’m not surprised that he’s hedging on this issue. But the fact is he still opposes offshore drilling…. Sen. Obama is still opposed to a comprehensive energy plan,” McCain claimed. “It seems to me the only thing he wants us to do is inflate tires” to improve gas mileage.

As Digby put it, “I am really starting to hate this unctuous, double-talking creep.”

I mean, really. It’s tough to keep up, but just try to count the lies:

“Sen. Obama wants to raise taxes.” Ideally, this would be the point at which the ABC interviewer would step in and say something like, “Well, Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthy, and has actually proposed bigger middle-class tax cuts than you have, Sen. McCain.” But because reality has a well-known liberal bias, the truth is left out of the broadcast.

“[H]e opposes an energy policy which would work, including offshore drilling.” And this would be a good point for the interviewer to note that no one, not even the Bush administration, believes additional coastal drilling would “work” at reducing energy costs.

“We’re not gonna allow racism to come into this campaign in any form.” That would be less ridiculous, if McCain weren’t so deeply engaged in racial politics.

“He opposes most every [energy policy] measure.” Well, actually, Obama only opposes the dumb measures.

“I’m not surprised that he’s hedging on [coastal drilling].” Actually, Obama’s not “hedging” at all — he knew increased coastal drilling was wrong before, and he knows the same thing now. He’s willing to compromise, though, in order to get a comprehensive package through Congress.

“Sen. Obama is still opposed to a comprehensive energy plan.” In our reality, the opposite is true.

It’s mildly interesting that McCain gave his word to the nation that he would run a substantive, honest campaign, and then completely abandoned his promise when he saw some poll results he didn’t like. But it’s far more interesting that McCain’s campaign strategy is based on little more than a massive con job. I care that McCain is relentlessly negative, but I really care that he’s relentlessly dishonest.

Digby concluded, “At this point I don’t care if Obama flips on every single issue, I will do everything I can to see this jackass defeated.”

I think that’s precisely the right attitude.

Comments

  • Davis X. Machina

    says:

    Throw away your Federalist Papers and get a big foam ‘We’re #1’ finger instead.

    Cheating is cheating, but winning is winning. This is the country of Al “Just Win, Baby!” Davis and Vince “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing’ Lombardi. It’s the country of Nixon, up by twenty-five, still rat-fucking McGovern.

    Given the testosterone-worshiping proclivities of the Villagers, I expect this to be first excused, and then adduced as an additional reason to vote for McCain.

    I had Republicans tell me back during the long count in November and December of 2000 that the best warrant for giving the Presidency to Bush was that he and his people cared enough to steal it. Cheating was how you showed the the ‘toughness’ and ‘determination’ that great presidents have. The nickle summary: “The safety of the state demands that we give the job to the bigger thug — ‘rule of law’ is for pussies.”

    This is a very sick polity we live in.

  • Tom Cleaver

    says:

    Digby concluded, “At this point I don’t care if Obama flips on every single issue, I will do everything I can to see this jackass defeated.”

    Which is the right decision. There is no issue in this election where Obama at his worst is not 500 light years better than McCain at his best. All the lefty perfectionists who are doomed to spend their lives in the same funk of failure as those who didn’t find El Dorado, the Seven Cities of Cibola or The Amber Room need to realize that and grow up.

  • stormskies

    says:

    McBush is really now a Frankenstein. He has in fact sold his soul to Evil in the form of Rove and his goons. As a Frankenstein he is now nothing more than a embalmed corpse that ‘they’ take out of it’s crypt and provide electro shocks too to make it walk and talk in the ways that ‘they’ program. This spluttering evil piece of shit should be submitted to involuntary euthenasia for the good of himself, the country, and the world.

  • Stevio

    says:

    One has to wonder if the polls are a good sampling of the population. If they are then McAce’s strategy, using Karl Rove’s lemmings, is working. If this is the case then America deserves it’s precipitous decline. Why Americans are so hell bent on voting against their own best self interests is mind boggling. Sitting here in a decidedly Blue State one has to wonder how far afield the education of the population has had to have fallen to have this race even be close. I think American’s must like to be lied to, loves negative ads, and keeps thinking the downward trend to the economy can be changed by a guy who supported, at each step, it’s downfall. Nauseating…

  • kevo

    says:

    If John McCain was a relative in my family he’d be the unlikeable great grandfather who’d want us young’ns to pull his finger. -Kevo

  • Davis X. Machina

    says:

    It’s a referendum on whether the national id, or national superego, should run the show.

    Because the only part of traditional (pre-movement) conservatism that passes muster is the inherent depravity of mankind, the smart Vegas money bets on the id, and gives the points.

  • joey

    says:

    McCain is following the Bush/Rove tactic of lie as often a possible. Confuse the voter as to what the truth actually is because you unload so many lies the opposition can’t keep up with debunking them. The press is not intelligent or informed enough to know the difference most of the time or too afraid to challenge you and when they do “always” act indignant.

    The public will never see the “corrections” or at least not as many as will see the lie without knowing it’s a lie.

    There is one major problem this time…the liar is a shit. A fowl mouthed nasty irritating personality that gets on your nerve. The more he speaks, the more you dislike him. Mad Dog McCain is the proper name based on his senate reputation. It’s really getting to the point that McCain’s divisive lying tactics and his irritating personality is making him intolerable. If the race were a bar the bouncers would have thrown McCain out on his ass already just for being obnoxious and bothering the customers.

  • bedgars

    says:

    Next time someone gets a chance to ask a question of McCain, ask this. “Sen. McCain, would you support a bill that would forbid lies in a campaign ad, require the sponsor of the ad to immediately replace the ad with one that apologizes for the untrue ad, and results in a fine of $250,000?”

  • Hannah

    says:

    At what point does any reporter, ANY REPORTER, confront him face to face with his lies? Sure, we’ve seen a little pushback with the pundits, but this is ridiculous. I hope we don’t have to wait for the debates (because I know Obama will do it) since they are a couple of months from now. We need to stop this bullsh*t NOW.

  • Danp

    says:

    “I’m not surprised that he’s hedging on [coastal drilling].”

    Obama’s compromise is actually quite brilliant. Consider the details:
    1) Republicans would have to concede on alternative energy.
    2) The areas Obama is willing to compromise on are the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Coast of CA. Not the Atlantic coast of FL or the coasts of OR and WA.
    3) Not only would congress have to remove the moritorium, but the individual states involved would also have to vote, “Yes in my back yard.”
    4) Not only would states have to approve the drilling, but a new refinery in their own states – more NIMBY fodder.
    5) All states involved have Republican governors. CA, FL, and MI, AL, and LA depending on how you define Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
    6) All these coasts are lined wil millionaire Republicans.

    Result – CA will say no thanks. The other states will have to decide whether this argument really makes any sense. I suspect they won’t, but what about immediate gas cost relief? How will they explain their flip-flopping? In the end, Obama is saying “I’ll see your bluff and raise you another.”

  • Shalimar

    says:

    The kicker was yesterday when McCain insisted that he has been running a respectful campaign. WTF? That takes enormous chutzpah and a complete lack of honor and character.

    Despite knowing plenty of stories about his temper, belligerence, adultery, flip-flopping and general lack of values, I didn’t have anything really against the man a month ago. He’s a Republican, you expect that kind of thing from the whole crooked lot. I agree with Digby now, I despise this sleazebag and will stay involved this season more to see him defeated than to see Obama elected. People shouldn’t be rewarded for this kind of behavior, they should be shunned forever after from civilized society.

  • tomj

    says:

    So why doesn’t Obama just call a spade a spade and create a series of ads against McCain calling him, flat out, a liar?

    Gore was branded an exaggerator, but the meaning is so plastic, and exaggeration is so common among politicians that it is easy to get away with the charge. But if Obama went all-in on calling McCain out on this it could become something he could use over and over. It also has the correct flavor to rile up the right wing side enough to attempt to disprove the charges.

    When you charge someone with lying, you eliminate shades of gray, and everyone will demand proof. Also, Obama doesn’t even need to pick complicated lies, or lies about important things, just something easy to prove is a lie. Then he can even build on that by saying that if McCain will lie about the small stuff, what about the big stuff?

    It is a big charge, and it will offend many people, but it will turn the focus on McCain, and also allow Obama to tie lies to Bush and the Republicans. He could even ask “Why do they need to lie?”

  • Shalimar

    says:

    8.On August 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 am, joey said:
    McCain is following the Bush/Rove tactic of lie as often a possible.

    The difference being that while Bush could lie with the best of them, he did it from being in his little bubble and actually believing what he was saying. The real nasty stuff was spread by independent groups and whisper campaigns. McCain seems to be in direct control of the message. I don’t ever recall a presidential candidate doing so much of the shit-spreading personally before.

  • ROTFLMLiberalAO

    says:

    If Mr. Barack Obama is not man enough to stand up and call lies about him lies…
    Then he deserves to lose.

    Until he does stand up and defend his honor and his name…
    He won’t see another penny from me.

    That is all.

  • Rabi

    says:

    I’m pissed off at McCain, but I’m more pissed off at our buddies in the Fourth Estate. I expect McCain to lie and cheat, just like any other candidate. It’s the media that I feel has fundamentally let us down. As you say, reality has a liberal bias. In its attempt to be “balanced,” the media doesn’t call him on his lies.
    That’s where my real anger lies.

  • Megalomania

    says:

    “I’ve been trying to get a better sense of why John McCain’s relentless attacks irk me so much. It’s not that I expected McCain to run a substantive campaign, and it’s not that I expected McCain to be an honorable candidate.”

    McCain irks me too. But Mainstream Media is covering for a horrible Republican candidate. All likely complicit in depth to trillions of tax dollars in profiteering.

    Steven, for me, flate out McCain is as bad or worse than Bush and Company. McCains whole connection to Phil Gramm and that banking concern UBS has to be the biggest slice of Republican corruption delivered not just to America but to the world.

    All under reported for good reason, that coupled with the Senate report on “Tax Havens” by Senator Mark Levin of Michigan is telling a very connected empire of the rich and well connected politicians that have been profiteering American tax money for decades to the tune of trillions.

    Lying is the game we see everyday on cable television and hear it on hate radio, for me I am at the point that I don’t care what is said any more my vote will be for Obama in hope that he will choose a Black Attorney Gerneral start convicting some of this “White” corruption and put thousands upon thousands of Bush supporters in jail that have abused the basics in the Constitution.

  • lenko

    says:

    McCain likes to use the word “honor” a lot, almost as if he had this quality. America used to be an honorable nation, but will never regain that honor under a leader who acts dishonorably.

    Is Obama an honorable man? Dunno… but McCain sure as hell ain’t.

  • jm

    says:

    There is no issue in this election where Obama at his worst is not 500 light years better than McCain at his best. All the lefty perfectionists who are doomed to spend their lives in the same funk of failure as those who didn’t find El Dorado, the Seven Cities of Cibola or The Amber Room need to realize that and grow up.

    Nearly 588,000,000,000,000 miles better? Really? Dumbass exagerations like this one serve only to guarantee that real substantive systemic reform of our political system will never take place.

    On a good day Obama is 500 rods better than McCain, maybe. On a bad day he’s barely 500 hands better. So sure, vote for Obama this time–I will, but it’ll be hard not to bruise my nose while holding it this November. In the meantime, I’m going to criticize his every flip, every flop, every equivocation and every broken promise.

    As for growing up…. How about opening your eyes. If you profess progressive ideals, the Democratic Party leadership, including Barack Obama, are not your friends.

  • lenko

    says:

    And another thing….

    If nothing else, can’t somebody please get McCain to stop switching on that stoooopid smile? It’s driving me crazy.

  • petorado

    says:

    Here go the Republicans again, ripping the populace of the country apart in order try keep a grip on power. McCain has firmly planted himself in the Republican axis of evil, and it’s getting really hard to say who is more worthy of hatred: Bush, Cheney or McCain.

    With all the problems besieging the nation, I get the sense people are sick of absolutely despising the government. It’s one thing to be generally annoyed with a particular administration, as with Bush Sr., it’s another to have a deep-seated fear for the nation’s future and extreme distrust of government as with Bush Jr. McCain is doing his damnedest to ensure Bush’s nasty legacy lives on.

    Digby and other commenters have hit on a turning point in this race. Obama’s not only made himself a candidate worthy of steadfast support, McCain has made himself into a villain that I’d love to see go down in the biggest flames possible. McCain thinks he’s going to turn the undecideds and independents away from Obama. What he’s actually doing is becoming a first class a**hole that is worth working hard to defeat.

  • Opinionated

    says:

    Great job to the person who started this column. We, the dignified americans need to stand up for the truth. Stand up for what is right. Stand for what we believe in.

    Obama clearly echoes the sentiments all that equal the sum of brilliance + intergrity + knowledge of fact…. Thats what we need. Im gonna copy and paste this link everywhere possible. Start an email chain if I have to. Its the only way…

    The media will not concede on allowing McSurge to continue lying. The’ve got too much at stake.

  • Bruno

    says:

    Tom Cleaver said: …All the lefty perfectionists who are doomed to spend their lives in the same funk of failure as those who didn’t find El Dorado, the Seven Cities of Cibola or The Amber Room need to realize that and grow up….

    Amen to that. there are too many liberals and progressives that won’t take anything less than perfection. Hence Democrats loosing more often than they should.

  • Angellight

    says:

    Lying to the public, especially by politicians, is a betrayal of the public trust. We expect nothing less than the truth coming from our politicians and for them to lie and decieve for personal gain is dishonest and as stated before a Betrayal of the Public Trust. A man’s word is his bond or should be. We cannot have any faith in politicians who deliberately lie and cheat and they should not be elected to any office let alone the highest office in the land.

    And, it is a derelict of duty by Media and Obama surrogates that they are not telling the Whole Story — that McCain initiated this race argument by posting a web video on his campaign site with Barack’s face on a $100.00 bill, Statute of Liberty and the four Mt. Rushmore Presidents, when Obama responds to this insult, McCain cries foul that Obama is calling him a racist. This is uttler nonsence and a set-up by Media and McCain Camp! Barack had every right to respond. But, as you can see, this story is not being told in its entirety. We need to keep MSM honest and call them on this one-sided story!

  • pol

    says:

    Hopefully, since Obama’s taking today off, he’s taking the time to strategyze on how to come back at this creep….

  • Shalimar

    says:

    >20.On August 3rd, 2008 at 1:07 pm, jm said:
    If you profess progressive ideals, the Democratic Party leadership, including Barack Obama, are not your friends.

    True, liberals don’t have many friends in government. OTOH, the dittoheads and FoxNews viewers who make up the Republican base declared war on us decades ago and remain our mortal enemies so there aren’t any other good options. Keeping power away from authoritarian thugs and bullies like McCain is the immediate priority.

  • Bruno

    says:

    Shalimar @ 27

    Spoken like a true pragmatist, instead of an ideologue. We already have enough of those on the Republican side, we don’t need that many on the Progressive side. unless they do the same as the ones on the Republican side.

    You know… the Religious Right, the one-issue voters: gay-bashers, pro-lifers,… They whine, they cry, they scream at the top of their lungs, they vow never to vote for McCain or any other candidate (Romney, Thomson, Giuliani, Huckabee, etc) until they are nominated, and they all fall back in line and vote the way they are told by their masters.

    On the progressive side we do not have masters, but it would be nice if liberals could vote for Obama, after they’re done throwing their tantrums and screaming at the top of their lungs about how Obama doesn’t support their entire agenda, or deviated from their cause. Falling in line for Obama is far better than snubbing and sitting the election out.

    By all means speak your mind, but don’t be ‘stupid’ and refuse to vote for Obama. Yes indeed, it would be ‘stupid’ even if you don’t like the label. Or would you rather have a heart attack having to live through 4 years of McCain?

  • lou

    says:

    McCain: The Most Reprehensible Of The Keating Five
    The story of “the Keating Five” has become a scandal rivaling Teapot Dome and Watergate
    By Tom Fitzpatrick
    Published on November 29, 1989

    ” The story of “the Keating Five” has become a scandal rivaling Teapot Dome and Watergate. The outcome will be decided, not in a courtroom, but probably on national television.

    Those who survive will be the sociopaths who can tell a lie with the most sincere, straight face. You (John McCain) are especially adept at this.”

    http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-11-29/news/mccain-the-most-reprehensible-of-the-keating-five/1

    Read it.

  • toowearyforoutrage

    says:

    “At this point I don’t care if Obama flips on every single issue, I will do everything I can to see this jackass defeated.”

    I think that’s precisely the right attitude.

    I hope you were speaking figuratively.

    The FISA crapola is one serious strike.
    If he pulls two more of those, he’s out and I’m voting third party.
    Time is short though and he DIDN’T change his mind on offshore drilling. He said he’d put up with it if forced. He wasn’t forced on FISA. That was just drop dead wrong.

    I will turn on Obama if he turns on me. I love what he has stood for, not who he is, nor his/our/my party.
    Otherwise, we ARE the idolators Rush O’Hannity accuses us of being.

  • Kathy

    says:

    You want lying? Buy Corsi’s book “Obama Nation” and actually read it before you give a kneejerk reaction.

  • Wayne

    says:

    Why is it that the democrats embraced bill clinton when the middleclass of which i belong rejected him along time ago