My mother always taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. This has not worked out too well for me as far as politics go. The nicest thing I can say about George W Bush is that I'd accept a lifetime house arrest to his Crawford ranch in lieu of an International Criminal Court if it got him out of office today.
But George W Bush has earned that hatred. I don't even think I need to say much more than that. But John McCain hasn't, really. Most of his votes piss me off, but for a Republican he's alright. Up until he started selling his soul for the Republican nomination, I kind of thought of him as "one of the good ones".
With that spirit in mind, and to do honor to the things my mother taught me...I will say nothing but good things about John McCain after the fold (heh, please do read the whole thing before someone bans me as a troll, ha)
For starters, obviously, thank you John McCain for your military service to this country. You endured nearly six years as a prisoner of war. I'm not sure if I could last six days.
Thank you, Mr. McCain, for your Vietnam relations work in the early 90's. I'm fairly certain without it we might still not be speaking to Vietnam.
Thank you for showing actual non-partisanship in fighting for the Line Item Veto. We can debate all day if the actual bill would have been good had the Supreme Court not struck it down. However, McCain was obviously willing to give a powerful tool to a Democratic President he knew would have it for four more years. Kudos.
Thank you for trying to do something about the out of control campaign finance problem. Sure, you guys really messed that one up. The more I see you take the low road the harder it is not to question your motivations. I worry that the 527 loophole wasn't as innocent of a mistake as it seemed at the time. But at least you tried something, which is more substantial than throwing your hands up in the air. Thank you.
And I could go on but I think that's plenty. Feel free to add your own!
Now to the point. I really used to respect you, Mr. McCain. To a certain degree I still do. I imagine that what they did to you in the 2000 primary would change a person. Ultimate power ultimately corrupts. You are getting up there in years so part of me wants to blame your recent conversion to a far right wing politician on that.
And with that in mind, I truly hope that I do not have to join in on helping destroy you. God knows I've got the ammo. You've "flip flopped" more in one month than John Kerry could be blamed for over his whole lifetime.
I hope it doesn't come to that. I would love a clean campaign purely based on the issues. I would savor a victory where I'm not wishing my opponent harm.
Mark my words though, John. If you take the low road it appears you are heading towards I will help tear you down. I will help unearth every wrong thing you've ever said and make sure every single person I can knows about it.
Why? Because the cause of electing Barack Obama as the President of the United States of America trumps all. It trumps my now half hearted respect for you. It trumps any revulsion at dirty politics. It really trumps everything.
I want to believe you are a good man. I want to believe that a lot of what you've said was just to appease the fringe so you could get the nomination. I want to not throw up if I see your face post election day.
So it's all in your court John. I fear you will not be able to help yourself from going low. If this election is totally decided on issues and debates then you will lose. But at least you'd keep what remains of your dignity.
I hope for good, but it wouldn't shock me to have to take the gloves off tomorrow. Prove me wrong, please. I will be the first person to post a thank you diary after the election while counting down the days to President Obama's inauguration.