McCain said:
Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country
Predictably, McCain seizes another opportunity to play the 9/11 card. Specious as it may be, let's examine McCain's 9/11 analogy.
- Same victims: the American people
- Same Bush/McCain response: fear mongering
Couric: Earlier today, senator, I spoke with your running mate, Sarah Palin, and she told me that if action is not taken a Great Depression is, quote, "The road that America may find itself on." Do you agree with that assessment?
McCain: I don't know ... if it's exactly the Depression. But I know of no expert, including Mr. Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, and our secretary of treasury, and the outside observers ... every respected economist ... in this country is saying, "You better address this problem, and you better do it now, or the consequences, obviously, of inaction are of the utmost seriousness." So I agree ... with Gov. Palin. There's so much at stake here. That's why I am confident that we'll sit down and work together on this thing.
Couric: But isn't so much of this, Sen. McCain, about consumer confidence?
McCain: Sure.
Couric: And using rhetoric like the "Great Depression," is that the kind of language Americans need to hear right now?
- Different ideology: this time, it's not Islamic fundamentalists; it's free market zealots.
- Entirely different perpetrators: McCain and his spiritual leader, Phil Gramm, has been developing this plot against decent Americans taxpayers for decades.
On the economy, McCain's most daring manifesto is his healthcare plan. Not surprisingly, it bears the Gramm imprint. In fact, McCain has been heeding Gramm's "power-to-the-consumer" approach for more than a decade. The two senators bonded when they linked arms to fight Hillary Clinton's ill-fated healthcare program in 1993. "We couldn't get any press coverage in Washington, DC, so we traveled all over the country, to the regional media markets," says Gramm. In 150 meetings at hospitals and clinics, McCain and Gramm relentlessly pounded the Clinton plan, helping fire the voter outrage that killed the plan in 1994.
...
McCain is a hero to Gramm but not to free-marketers. Conservatives are hoping that by embracing their hero, McCain will become one himself.
I accept McCain's 9/11 analogy. Mirroring Bin Laden's reaction to footage of the towers collapsing, free-market conservatives must be overjoyed. McCain, with his fellow ideologues' assistance, flew a large plane into the building that was our economy. Like Bin Laden, Phil Gramm is sitting in a cave somewhere pleasantly surprised at his conspiracy's success.
This also calls for a Bullhorn moment:
I hear you, the American people hear you, and the people who did this (to our economy) will hear from all of us soon!
*Updated for the reading-comprehension impaired:
met·a·phor–noun
- a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in "A mighty fortress is our God." Compare mixed metaphor, simile (def. 1).
- something used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem; symbol.