Mr. Straight Talk blows with the wind. Senator McCain can’t clean-up Washington, because he is part of the Beltway’s political cesspool. The current foreclosure crisis is an extension of the Republican deregulation movement which gave us the corporate scandals of WorldCom and Enron.
[Speaking Truth To Power: Election 2008]
This Sept 11 John McCain and Barack Obama participated in the Service Nation Presidential Forum, at Columbia University. Yet, given the GOP’s contemptuous comments regarding Obama’s civic roots as a community organizer are we to believe they really care about serving the nation’s needs?
During the Columbia forum, McCain touted his Vietnam War “service” claiming during his military experiences he realized “that I belong to my country and that my country saved me. And I owed my country a great deal. And that change made me appreciate the fact that it’s not about the individual, it about the cause we serve.”
Great words; but what “cause” has Senator McCain “served” during all his years in office?
America is in a time of crisis. The Bush Administration, with the help of Republican cronies like Senator McCain, has wreaked havoc abroad and at home. Millions of Americans are being crippled economically by the skyrocketing cost of living driven by greed corporate vultures, like those oil companies listed on the White House Rolodex.
The gutting of America that we’ve endured, these last eight years, was approved by the likes of Senator McCain who has consistently backed the backward policies of “President” Bush. He, like Bush, and the rest of the GOP could care less about the struggles of average folks. This was evident at the GOP Convention in Minneapolis.
At the Convention, vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin stated “I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani denigrated Obama’s community service, in South Chicago, wondering why someone with an “Ivy League education” would be involved in something like helping poor people. Giuliani scoffed, with his classic maniacal laugh “I don’t even know what that is” a community organizer.
Former New York Governor, George Pataki snickered: “What in God’s name is a community organizer? I don’t even know if that’s a job.”
Apparently, Giuliani, Pataki, Palin, Senator McCain and the GOP see no value in serving the needy. Remember, these are the same people accusing Senator Obama of being “elitist.” McCain excused this deplorable episode claiming it was a response to supposed attacks by Senator Obama’s camp on Governor Palin’s tenure as a small town mayor.
What rubbish.
This display of utter contempt for Obama’s civic service should give the legions of working poor in this country, even if they are white, serious pause as they contemplate their vote this November. Why would anyone vote for a party so out-of-touch with the noble ideal of community service? Aren’t politicians supposed to serve communities? The flagrant disregard for the plight of struggling citizens should cause Americans to punish Republicans far worse than they did in the 2006 Elections.
Washington is now filled with avaricious, self-serving leeches sucking the resources produced by the people. Republicans incessantly talk about “fiscal responsibility” and the dangers of “big government.” But their real objection is to the concept that government should bring betterment to the lives of regular folks.
Ronald Reagan rode into the White House with racist rhetoric about “welfare queens.” He promoted the big Republican lie that the system was broken because of programs that sought to bring redress to institutional inequalities. In reality, what has broken the system is the cultivation of the climate of corporate welfare that people like Reagan aided with the disastrous deregulation let-the-market-decide-everything ideology. For them “big government” is to be used to enrich the wealthy, not to help those in working poverty.
When the housing fiasco started, Senator McCain squawked against giving any aid to regular Americans caught-up in the whirlwind created by real estate swindlers, blaming them for making “poor decisions.” Why should the thought of good people losing their homes trouble Senator McCain, when he isn’t sure how many he has? Throughout his career, Senator McCain has shown that he, like most Republicans, only care about serving corporations; not regular Americans. Lately, he is trying to claim that only he can “change” Washington, not Senator Obama.
Mr. Straight Talk blows with the wind.
Senator McCain can’t clean-up Washington, because he is part of the Beltway’s political cesspool. The current foreclosure crisis is an extension of the Republican deregulation movement which gave us the corporate scandals of WorldCom and Enron. Today, we hear news of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which has filed for Chapter 11 protection and, on September 14, Bank of America purchased Merrill Lynch for $38 billion in stock. AIG, also in trouble, has been bailed out by the government; in return, the government has nationalized 80% of the company.
Deregulation also gave us the Savings and Loan Scandals 20 years ago, of which Senator McCain was deeply involved. There is no shortage of articles one can Google about the case, which we have discussed for the past several weeks on this news site.
Senator McCain was one of the Keating Five senators who in exchange for political patronage served one of corporate America’s infamous crooks, a man who defrauded many, including the elderly of their life savings: Charles Keating. Question—why isn’t corporate media reminding the American people of Senator McCain’s shameful history regarding this sleazy story, which cost America nearly $200 billion?
Senator McCain has given lip-service to being a “maverick.” But, like his GOP cohorts, he is the face of a failed Washington; all talk, even when it does not match the inaction. He “served” as a soldier, but by his own admission did so because it was expected of him, being a family tradition. Senator Obama chose to serve the poor when it would’ve been expedient to take the Wall Street job.
Senator McCain talks about “serving a cause greater that himself.” Seems to me that’s a more apt de scri ption of Senator Obama.
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