If It’s Friday, It Must Mean Leftovers Again!
About Your Hero Teddy Roosevelt, Senator McCain
Never let it be said that I like to go taking away people’s lollipops or anything like that, but I feel that it is my civic duty to point something out to the esteemed senator from Arizona since he has developed this affinity for the S word, you know, SOCIALIST. Senator McCain has said on numerous occasions that his hero is Teddy Roosevelt, even though he mangled TR’s most famous quote, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
Teddy Roosevelt was a progressive who was known as a trust buster and believed in regulation. H
e was also the youngest president to take office at that time—only 42 years old. He was the first U.S. president to call for universal health care and national health insurance, and he was a strong conservationist. Roosevelt himself admits that he was often called a socialist:
Because of things I have done on behalf of justice to the workingman, I have often been called a Socialist. Usually I have not taken the trouble even to notice the epithet. … Moreover, I know that many American Socialists are high-minded and honorable citizens, who in reality are merely radical social reformers. They are opposed to the brutalities and industrial injustices which we see everywhere about us.
Roosevelt went on to make the distinction that many people who were called socialists were actually just people who were social reformers.
I find it interesting that this young man with such far-reaching ideas went on to become what many agree one of our better presidents, first as a Republican and then as a progressive who believed in graduated income tax. If you are interested in a really good read on what Teddy Roosevelt in a speech on New Nationalism in 1910 that is eerily reminiscent of what is going on today, go to this link: http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=501
It’s deja vu all over again.
“The Amendment Before the Senate is a Very Simple One”
This was John McCain speaking to the Senate in 1993 on the use of campaign funding for purchases of things such as clothing: “It restricts the use of campaign funds for inherently personal purposes. The amendment would restrict individuals from using campaign funds for such things as home mortgage payments, clothing purchases . . . and vacations or other trips that are non campaign in nature.”
Um, Senator, that was actually a pretty good proposal. What happened? Did the barracuda hypnotize you into believing that Needless Markup was a campaign stop?
So Senator McCain, any comment on $49,425.74 from Saks Fifth Avenue? Or how about that $75,062.63 shopping spree in early September? (wow, that’s a lot of black boots and a great leather coat) . . . Would you care to comment on $4,716.49 on hair and makeup expenditures in September? Or those September payments to Barney’s New York ($789.72) and Bloomingdale’s New York ($5,102.71). Actually, there is one line item to which I cannot take exception since I have been calling for the sprucing up of the Todder since day one, and that is the $4,902.45 that was spent in early September at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men. (I have noticed that Todders is wearing more suits and ties; good on you, Todders old boy).
But all of this shopping leaves me vicariously tired and more than a little envious, and, I have to say, quite puzzled. After all, if the campaign paid for this, does this mean that all of those wonderful people who sent in contributions to support the McCain campaign actually footed the bill for the outfitting of the Palin family? Hmmmm.
Do you think that those folks at home might be a little miffed by this news? After all, I know that if my little contributions to the Obama campaign had gone to buy the Senator a new pair of Ferragamo shoes instead of more yard signs, I might be just a wee bit put out, but then, I’m a Democrat and not a Republican, so maybe I really do think differently. Maybe Republican campaign contributors don’t mind that their money went towards buying one of the Palin daughters a Louis Vuitton purse, because, after all, isn’t that what all daughters on the campaign trail traveling illegally on the State of Alaska’s money are carrying? What do I know?
But, as a campaign spokeswoman said, all of the clothing will be donated to charity after the campaign. Um, okay. I cannot wait to see what happens when some underling comes to take away the clothes from the governator. That, my friends, will be worth the price of admission.
Sneaky, Sneaky, Sarah P.
I almost missed this on the interview that the governor and Senator McCain had on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. When pressed on the topic of terrorism, Governor Palin would not commit on whether or not bombing abortion clinics was domestic terrorism. She just kept repeating that what Bill Ayers did was domestic terrorism. She couched her answer very well by saying that anyone who threatens “innocent lives” is a terrorist, which is standard rhetoric for a pro-lifer. The threat to innocent lives in this case would be the actual abortion clinic. However, much to Palin’s chagrin, McCain did clarify quickly in a pass by saying that he did not condone bombing of anything, including abortion clinics.
Oooh, and don’t ask her if she’s a feminist either. I swear she twitched at that question. Why yes, she’s for equal rights, and all of that, dontcha know, but a feminist? She’s not a lesbian, gosh darn it, and she shaves her legs. What are you thinking, Mr. Brian Williams? Ahem.
What Qualifies as Experience?
In that same interview, John McCain brought up the Cuban Missile Crisis as proof that he has “been tested” on the world stage when it comes to dealing with international crises. During the CMC, McCain was a fighter pilot; his role? He was sitting in the cockpit of his jet on board the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise. He was awaiting orders. Now, I do not mean in any way to diminish his role as a fighter pilot; however, awaiting orders during the missile crisis while President Kennedy and his advisors were going toe-to-toe with Nikita Kruschev is hardly being directly involved in the negotiations to avert the crisis.
Maybe what McCain did learn from this crisis is that by being cool-headed and listening to your advisors, you can avert a national disaster and prevent a nuclear war. Maybe what Sarah Palin learned, in all of her vast reading is that it takes more than a nice suit and good shoes to have grace under fire. Kennedy, after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, had to have the courage of his convictions in the CMC. He had to make decisions with little time, and he had to second guess his opponent. He also had to go against the advice of many of his senior advisors based on what amounted to a pretty good hunch.
I’m sorry, but I just simply do not feel good about trusting my future to a woman who truly believes in an America full of us and thems. Her hunches would be more frightening than a tempest in a teapot. And John McCain has been standing on his record as a POW for so long that he no longer sees reality clearly. The man is a demagogue. Together, Palin and McCain scare the bejeezus out of me. Truly. Talk about being tested within a year to see how well they hold up in a crisis . . . now that’s a mortifying proposition.
More later. Peace.
Lola's Curmudgeonly Musings 