Tuesday, February 12, 2008

What To Do, What To Do- Part II

Its been about a week now since the exhilirating news hit that we're stuck with McCain, that is, we're between Iraq and a hard place. It was so sweet to think that payback was coming for all the times he poked his conservative brethen in the eye. Well, you can't always get what you wa-ant, can you Mick? Not only is McCain escaping payback, he's the new Prom King.

I've settled down somewhat from the last post, and while I don't think it's going to be a good day for conservatism anytime soon, I also don't think I'll be casting any votes for a Democrat either. Ann Coulter's calculus leads to a Reductio Ad Absurdum, and so I think we can safely reject the premise as flawed, that is, that it would be a good idea to hasten Armageddon by voting for Clinton or Obama. The thought of one of them throwing away what we've accomplished so far in both Iraq and Afghanistan is absolutely unbearable. I don't think Hilliary would do it as quickly as Obama. Did you see the pics of the Che Guevara flags hanging in Obama's Houston campaign office?

You might as well know that about me since you'll likely be considering me for President in 2020. I may be ideologically conservative, in fact I am slightly to the right of Fred Thompson, but I'm not doctrinaire. I've absorbed the initial impact of what was unthinkable not more than just a few weeks ago, that the Non-straight-talking, Non-conservative, backstabbing, Non-teamplayer McCain will be the nominee. We've taken the rotten apples life sometimes hands you and figured out how to make apple butter. We can do it again. It's still early in the fight, we've taken some body shots, but our knees are holding up and we still might win this on points.

I'm rambling, aren't I?

I had a point to make and its probably this. There will come a point when we can make some sense of all this and gain sufficient perspective to plot a new course. That time is probably months away. There will likely be a lot more that disorients us, but in the long run we'll emerge from the fog and figure out the way to go. We've got to keep trying to keep the forces of disintegration at bay. We've got to fight the good fight on the homefront so the men and women in uniform on the battlefront have someone back here they can be proud of.

Maybe that's not much of a point but its all I've got today. There's hardly any political figures opinion I value more than John Bolton's (he would be my Sec of State if I were the Pres today). Here's the surprising thing he had to say about McCain. Of all the endorsements I've heard so far, this is the one I'm the least cynical about:

"A McCain endorsement worth paying attention to -
Not all political endorsements are created equal. Over the weekend, John McCain received an endorsement that is more equal than most others. It came from John Bolton, former ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Bolton stated:

John McCain was very active and supportive during my confirmation hearings to be the U.S. Ambassador to the UN. His belief in me at that time was a testament to his courage to fight the liberals in the Senate and vigorously advance American interests at the UN.

I whole-heartedly endorse John McCain for President because when he takes office in January 2009 he will be prepared immediately to lead us. John will not need on the job training. American conservatives will have a President they can be proud of in John McCain.

Although Bolton's final statement can be debated, there's no doubt that McCain is vastly preferable to Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton on issues of national security, a subject that should be foremost in our thinking. McCain's strong support for Bolton during the latter's extremely contentious confirmation battle should remind conservatives that McCain is a conviction politician, with mostly sound convictions about how to defend this country, not someone out to score points with the liberal MSM. "

[The words between the quote marks are Paul Mirengoff's from Powerline. Bolton's are in italics.]

I regard that as high praise for McCain, indeed. Now I just need to make sense of it all.

2 comments:

Amy said...

What I've been saying all along! ;-)

McCain's not the ideal candidate, but given our options...

If McCain wins the presidency, it'll be over national security and the war in Iraq. The question will be, do Americans want to win the war in Iraq? Do they care? We'll find out in November.

Anonymous said...

Steve,if you do run for President in 2020,you have my vote no matter what,but remember you might be running against Chelsey Clinton (^_^)

Keep the faith,
Don (^_^)