Rossputin.com: Rational Thinking About Our World

In what I expect will be a regular topic of discussion on these pages and on many (or most) other non-Democrat web pages, I continue to struggle with the idea of John McCain as the GOP nominee. Along those lines, here is an e-mail exchange I had yesterday with a well-known syndicated columnist:

First, me:

I read your piece on McCain being a fiscal conservative, and at least on the spending side he is clearly that.

But I'm really struggling to forgive him (something I'd never do completely, but might be able to do to the point of not considering him irredeemable) about McCain-Feingold, the most destructive attack on the First Amendment since the Alien and Sedition Acts.

To me, being mad about (or even scared about) Obama or Clinton is like being mad at a (particularly unruly breed of) dog for shitting on the rug or tearing up a chair. They're just being dogs, and you know what dogs are capable of before you get one.

McCain, on the other hand, claims to be a conservative Republican, yet has led the charge on so many unconstitutional and non-conservative policies, that I think he's far closer to evil than the other two. He's not a dumb dog. He's a conservative who intentionally ignores the constitution because it makes him feel better to think he's "getting money out of politics" or "treating immigrants humanely" or "dealing with our global warming crisis".

At this point, I'm 75% to vote Libertarian, 25% to vote for McCain. I'll let him try to convince me, but I'm skeptical that he can.

If he picks Huckabee as running mate, I'll probably vote Democrat for the first time in my life.

Anyway, I think it's highly unlikely that a Republican will be our next president. I don't think McCain can motivate the GOP electorate enough to compensate for the substantial enthusiasm on the socialist side. It's going to be a very bad two years or four years (depending on whether the GOP takes back the Senate in 2010), and it will be particularly bad if one or more Supreme Court justices resign during that time. I would expect two of them will, simply to ensure that a Democrat gets to choose their replacements. That is the only good reason I can think of, other than the war (which is not a small reason), to vote for McCain.

Still, if the election were today, I would not vote for him.

I'm interested in your reaction to my thoughts.

Best,
Ross

And now, him:

it will be particularly bad if one or more Supreme Court justices resign during that time.

Remember: All the justices could stay there, because they feel hale and hearty, or al-Qaeda could blow up the Supreme Court Building, in which case all nine of them will be replaced b the next Prez.

I just love when pundits say, "The next prez will name three people to the Court." How do they know?

You raise fine objections to Mac. All I can say is that either dog will shit ALL OVER the place. One because he doesn't know better and at least is honest about it. The other because she is vicious, malicious, and has criminal intent.

I simply would advise you to keep your mind open, listen to the arguments, and weight the choices and trade-offs. That's not brilliant insight, but pretty practical, under the circumstances.

Best wishes,

********