McCain/Cheney/Bush; The Desire, Determination and Drive for Power

Here's a video of McCain's view of what America should be doing for a long time; as in a million years.

For several years I thought John McCain was a decent guy with some good ideas and willing to act as a leader to bring differing views to compromise, even across the aisle.

During this past year I've seen him sacrifice his principles and thus his personal integrity by appealing to those people whom he had previously repudiated and by backing policies and programs he had previously opposed(Falwell,Hagee/Bush tax cuts are specific examples).

A shocker recently was his vote against a bill prohibiting torture, then advising the president to veto it, and he the one in public life who has most benefited politically as a patriot and hero for having personally endured torture in captivity.

A few weeks ago he said it would be OK by him if we're in Iraq for a hundred years. This video has him going over the top on that. He actually is seen and heard to say that 1000 years or one million years are OK.

McCain is a soldier, a fighter, the tough guy who gives it to you straight. Perhaps it's more accurate to say he's a militant and his view of America is to be the most militant of all countries. He equates being in Iraq for a very long time with being in South Korea, Japan, Germany, and other places where we have hardened military bases. We now have fourteen hardened military bases in Iraq, and the world's largest so-called embassy, a euphemism for the Middle East White House.

The hardened bases in the other countries he cites might have made some sense during the Cold War, by providing security to our allies against USSR Imperialism.

The hardened bases in Iraq are to protect against disruption of oil shipments to those who import or want to import Iraq's oil. Frankly that makes some sense because a disruption of oil shipments would likely precipitate a world wide depression. Some experienced, knowledgeable and reputable people have observed that such a situation would trigger not just a crisis but a catastrophe.

The Bush administration continues to do their fear mongering thing; 9/11, Iran threatening our ships in the Gulf, Iran providing arms to Iraqis in the Basra area, reports that Al Qaeda is reviving and showing signs of renewed leadership.

We, the people, who proclaimed that we seek a more perfect union, must be constantly and continuously on guard against those who seek to define that more perfect union to suit their own purposes and agendas.

President Eisenhower, fifty years ago, warned us about the danger of the power of the military/industrial complex. He, like George Washington, was a professional soldier by training and trade, yet still feared the power of the military partnering with war machine manufacturers to buy the imprimatur of powerful politicians.

Those who have manipulated our "We the People" government for their own purposes, the egregious and greedy accumulation of power, via money, are behind today's occupying force in Iraq. The King George of 1776 was loath to relinquish control of the vast resources known to exist in America.

The King George of our time is loath to relinquish control of the vast resources of the Middle East, specifically oil which made his family wealthy and which he reprehensibly, is doing his best to exploit.

Since those who are wealthy by virtue of the value oil and oil related elements of the economy have no wish to kill their black golden goose, we will continue to be dependent on oil for years to come, and thus in the ongoing need to secure its sources and methods of distribution.

It's not lost on many of us that McCain is willing and able to say and do whatever he thinks it takes to become President of the United States.

I think the same thing of Hillary.

In November I will cast my vote for the Dem nominee, as an endorsement of Barack's values, should he become the nominee, not as an endorsement of Hillary's values, should she become the nominee. I will be voting for the values of those who identify with and openly state their support for policies which address the needs of all citizens, not just the fortunate ones.

The most galling aspect of the Bush administration to me has been its arrogance, hubris and condescension toward the less fortunate of our citizens. Virtually everything they've done they set out to do once in power. That was and is the rewarding of lucrative contracts, many without competition, to their benefactors, the reduction in taxes benefiting mostly the already wealthy, passing legislation which benefits their contributors, and the like.

John McCain, the former straight talking, honest, pillar of integrity and virtue has been unmasked. The guy I used to admire as a legislator, leader, admired soldier, one who actually acted, not just said, what he believed, has succumbed to his enormous need for power, and has subjugated his principles and values to that narcissistic need for which he, like Bush, must be repudiated.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper