The Media’s Manchurian Candidate

With most of the primary elections still to come, the media has annointed John McCain the inevitable Republican candidate. That’s understandable — McCain has been in the pocket of the mainstream media for years. Especially since 2000, he’s been the Republican they could always count on — along with Senators Chuck Hagel (NE) and Dick Lugar (IN) – to say something negative about President Bush’s policies. But McCain has done more than simply bash President Bush. He’s spent years stabbing Conservatives in the back, working against Conservative principles in exchange for fawning press from the New York Times — which has now endorsed him along with Hillary Clinton. I guess the editors couldn’t make up their minds. It’s alright — I can’t tell the difference between McCain and most Democrats, either. And if he becomes President, he will do so without my vote. I won’t vote for McCain, even if the race is between him and Hillary Clinton. To paraphrase an old joke: one of them is an amnesty-granting, rights-limiting, global warming-believing, terrorist-coddling, industry-destroying Democrat. The other is Hillary Clinton.

McCain was part of the Keating Five scandal, which no one now seems to remember. Five Senators — four Democrats and McCain — tried to use their influence to make FHLBB chief Edwin Gray cease his investigation of Charles Keating, who was responsible for the 1989 collapse of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. Keating, it turned out, was a huge campaign contributor to all five. It’s no coincidence that McCain spent the next ten years conducting a vindictive crusade to “reform” campaign financing by contributors, which resulted in the largest assault on the First Amendment in nearly a hundred years: the McCain-Feingold Act.

The First Amendment’s not the only one McCain has tried to hamper. He sponsored yet another bill with Senator Joe Liberman that would have required all attendees at gun shows to be registered, and all show sales (including books and clothing) be filed with the BATF.  He also said he was “open” to voting in favor of the assault weapons ban, though he did, in the end, vote against it.

McCain led the Gang of 14, a prime example of how he often “reaches across the aisle” in a spirit of “bipartisan cooperation” to stick it to the Republican party and especially Conservatives. When Democrats threatened to filibuster President Bush’s judicial nominations, using a Senate rule (never meant to be used in that way) to prevent a vote being taken, Republicans were poised to amend the rule so it could not be so abused. McCain and his little group derailed the process, thus preserving the ability of Democrats to filibuster the President’s judicial nominees — a process most Conservatives believe to be a violation of the Constitution, which mandates that the Senate vote on judicial appointments. As in the case of the McCain-Feingold Act, McCain seems to care less about the Constitution than about his “maverick” status. If he were a Democrat, he’d just be one of the pack. But as a Republican who sides with Democrats, he’s lauded by the New York Times.

McCain has also been responsible for the McCain-Lieberman bill, which attempted to levy Kyoto Treaty-like penalties on American industry. If it had passed, it would have crippled the US economy. McCain has also attacked the tobacco industry and the pharmaceutical industry, all for applause from the media and his fellow Democrats. Although he now claims he voted against the Bush tax cuts twice because they did not include spending cuts, that’s not the truth. In 2000, McCain said of Bush’s proposed tax cuts, “Sixty percent of the benefits from his tax cuts go to the wealthiest 10% of Americans — and that’s not the kind of tax relief that Americans need. … I’m not giving tax cuts for the rich.” In McCain’s recent capaign speeches, he refers to “greedy people on Wall Street who need to go to jail.” Is this the right man to lead the US economy? I can’t tell the difference between John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Mccain touts himself as the best person to lead us in the War on Terror, but that’s not true, either. McCain has been trying to force us to close Guantanamo Bay, which would mean letting captured terrorists go or housing them on American soil, granting them Constitutional rights they do not and should not have. He has tried to hamper our interrogation efforts by redefining anything that causes the subject minor discomfort as “torture.” Our success in the War on Terror hinges on information, and McCain would severely limit our information-gathering capabilities.

McCain has fought building a fence on our southern border, though it is now mandated by law. Her preferred to leave us open to infiltration by terrorists who can cross from Mexico at will, bringing who-knows-what with them. He claims he will build the fence now, of course, after the Capitol Hill phone lines were shut down by an influx of angry calls over his McCain-Kennedy amnesty-that’s-not-amnesty bill. McCain’s bill — the “comprehensive immigration reform” –  did not provide for building the fence before offering what amounts to amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. If McCain’s bill had passed, those who have violated our borders and multiple laws against fraud would have been eligible for “Z-Visas” with almost no delay for background checks. Somewhere between 12 and 20 million of them would have been eligible for permanent residence and eventual citizenship. According to studies by the Heritage Foundation among others, those “sudden citizens” would have been able to bring in between 60 and 100 million others over the next couple of decades, forever altering our entire culture and placing a humongous burden on government and social services at all levels. Most of those new residents — uneducated, illiterate, unskilled — would become loyal Democrats. If McCain gets into office, McCain’s amnesty will become reality.

A lot of Republicans argue that we must all stand behind the Republican nominee no matter who he is. Some say we must get a Republican — any Republican — into office to ensure that only Originalist or Constructivist judges are appointed. But McCain has stated that Justice Alito — one of President Bush’s two Supreme Court nominees — was “too Conservative” for him. When picking judges, McCain will vet them through his partners on the Democratic side of the aisle, to make sure they will go through without a fight, and the media will applaud his bipartisanship. In fact, President Hillary or President Obama wouldn’t pick any worse judges than President McCain. Some say that we need a Republican — any Republican — in the White House to veto Liberal bills that make it through Congress. I sincerely doubt that McCain would veto any bills that propose the very policies for which he has fought against the Republicans to enact all these years. Some say that we need a Republican — any Republican — in the White House to ensure the Democrats don’t control that as well as both Houses of Congress. However, I think even most of the Liberal Republicans in Congress will band together with the Conservatives to fight against a Democratic President, out of party loyalty if nothing else (as they stood together against Bill Clinton). Against a Liberal Republican President, the Conservatives in Congress will stand alone. How can that be better?

Many Republicans are ready to abandon their Conservative principles and vote for whomever the Republican party nominates. But I can not vote for McCain with a clean conscience. I do not support him for his amnesty, his Kyoto-lite plans, his attacks on the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, his opposition to “tax cuts for the rich,” his restrictions on the First Amendment, his eagerness to backstab Conservatives and fight against Conservative ideals for media acclaim at every opportunity, or his enabling the Democratic party to filibuster judicial nominations, which I believe is a violation of the Constitution. A McCain Presidency would drag the Republican party even further to the Left than it has already gone. I will not enable that. Hillary or Obama may damage the country, but so would McCain — and he would destroy the GOP, the only party that even halfway espouses Conservative principles, in the process.

I will not sell my soul or my vote to keep the GOP in the White House if that party is going to abandon me in exchange. Besides being a bad bargain, my vote means something; it’s the only voice I really have. I will only cast it for someone, the candidate who best represents me; I will not vote against someone or out of fear. I have said from the beginning of this campaign season (about five minutes after the last election, it seems), that my first choice was Congressman Duncan Hunter, but that I could also support Senator Fred Thompson, or even Governor Mitt Romney. Now, only one of those men is left in the race. Mitt Romney is the last Conservative standing, or the nearest thing to it, and he will have my vote in the primary election.

Joe Mariani is a computer consultant born and raised in New Jersey. He now lives in Pennsylvania, where the gun laws are less restrictive and taxes are lower. Joe always thought of himself as politically neutral until he saw how far left the left had really gone after 9/11. His essays and links to articles are available at http://www.guardianwatchblog.com/