Sunday, September 7, 2008

"The fright begins"

Andrew Sullivan has been tracking John McCain's vice-presidential pick at The Daily Dish. From a post today:

Whatever is to come in the Palin story, the fundamental truth that will remain true is that John McCain made this vital decision in such a reckless, cursory, cynical way that his candidacy really should be over. If this is what he promises in executive decision-making, then no one can be comfortable voting for him this November.
And from a column in The Times:
If you thought a president who went to war on flawed intelligence with no plan for the aftermath was reckless, then I have news for you. You haven't seen anything yet. Imagine the kind of decision-making McCain has just demonstrated applied to life-and-death decisions with respect to Iran and Russia.

Yes, you have permission to be afraid.
I am.

Read it all:

Andrew Sullivan, The fright begins (The Times)

comments: 3

will said...

We live in a time of surging global religious fundamentalism... the Repugs have tapped into this w/in the country and it is now a situation of the fringe eating the core.

The trend towards this kind of election began after FDR's time and, as the country shifts from center to right, zealots and appeasers are the Repug driving force.

Logic and reason, tempered thought and discussion of issues are no longer part of the political scene.

Michael Leddy said...

I fear that if McCain and Palin are elected, we will be seeing the beginning of the end of secular democracy. One thing I'm hoping for (absurdly, perhaps) is a statement from some principled Congressional Republicans acknowledging the extremism of Palin's positions and the recklessness of McCain's choice.

I want to believe that logic and reason are still at work — I'm still hopeful about the future of our country and still believe that Yes, We Can. But the McC-P prospect scares the bejesus out of me.

I like the LBJ–Goldwater analogy you offer on your blog, Bill. I hadn't thought of it, and right now, it offers some reassurance that extremism might not win.

will said...

I very much wish reason and common sense can prevail. Yet it seems we spin ever closer to a Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove kind of politic.

If one looks at the array of issues JFK and Nixon debated, by comparison to today's rhetoric - it's staggeringly different.

Zealots don't require logic or fair-play just the art of the bully. Let's hope we can withstand all of that and get Obama and Biden elected.