John McCain; Why He’s Not A Celebrity

McCain is not a celebrity because he should have been president at least 30 years ago, if he was meant to be. He grew up in his time and absorbed the sensibilities of his generation and witnessed its problems; he was not elected president 30 years ago because the nation did not feel that he had solutions to offer as president.

[Black Star News Editorial: Election 2008]

There are many good reasons why John McCain is NOT a celebrity and why Barack Obama is one.

Obama is a celebrity in the same manner that Abraham Lincoln was; calm, intellectual, intelligent, and reflective.

He is a celebrity in the same vein as was John F. Kennedy; youthful, intelligent, intellectual, visionary, exuberant, articulate and inspiring.

McCain is not a celebrity because he should have been president at least 30 years ago, if he was meant to be.  He grew up in his time and absorbed the sensibilities of his generation and witnessed its problems; he was not elected president 30 years ago because the nation did not feel  that he had solutions to offer as president.

How is it then, that a whole generation or two later, that McCain thinks he has solutions to today’s modern woes?

If he was deemed as not qualified to offer solutions for his generation and rejected, he certainly is not qualified today.

And the evidence is everywhere.

For the costly and erroneous Iraq war, he had advocated an occupation of 100 years, even as young American servicemen and servicewomen continue to die in a war whose purpose kept shifting until it was lost. Did the U.S. go into Iraq to search for Osama bin Laden? Well, bin Laden is somewhere in Afghanistan; which is precisely where Obama has for months advocated that U.S. resources be concentrated.

Did the U.S. invade Iraq to take out Saddam Hussein? Hussein is long dead and buried as are his sons.

Did the U.S. overrun Hussein’s regime to destroy his Weapons of Mass Destruction arsenal? There were no such weapons.

Even though George Bush has now followed Obama’s advice and concluded a deal with Iraq prime minister Nuri al-Maliki to withdraw U.S. troops within 24 months, McCain still talks about 100 years.

It was Obama who first advocated diverting resources to Afghanistan, where bin Laden has rebuilt al-Qaeda and Taliban. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan could eventually be overrun by bin Laden’s adherents.

Senator Obama, with no formal military training, has demonstrated superior tactical and strategic judgment; wisdom sometimes trumps too much experience.

When it comes to the challenges of globalization, which demands real time information, McCain has already confessed that he does not use e-mail; no wonder 90% of the youth are voting for Obama and everywhere he travels around the world tens of thousands show up to greet him.

Young people are afraid of anyone who is not connected with the rest of the world. McCain grew up in the era of newspapers and telegrams, so he can’t be blamed; yet, he should not think he’s entitled to the presidency.

As millions of Americans started losing their homes, McCain’s initial solution was for the government to “stay out of” the business of bailing out people who made bad business decisions.

If he was going online on a regular basis, he would have been able to gauge the magnitude of the problem in real time, and he would not have made such a statement.

Then again, McCain cannot be blamed; he has famously boasted that he knows nothing about the economy.

Nearly 50 million Americans have no health insurance coverage and both Senator Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton have presented proposals for healthcare coverage.

Even Mitt Romney, a Republican, introduced healthcare coverage in Massachusetts. McCain, who does not use e-mail, has famously said “the market” should take care of the problem. If “the market” could take care of the problem, there would be no healthcare crisis.

So, a young politician who dares to be bold, and is articulate, and is an intelligent visionary, and is confident, and eminently educated, comes along; he is welcomed and he is on the verge of becoming officially the nominee of the Democratic Party for the presidency.

He offers youthful solutions for our modern time.

Who can blame him for being celebrated?

There are many good reasons why Barack Obama is a celebrity and why John McCain is not.

 

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