2008 The Fundementals of McCain
posted by on October 2 at 12:22 PM
Rolling Stone magazine tells it like it is:
This is the story of the real John McCain, the one who has been hiding in plain sight. It is the story of a man who has consistently put his own advancement above all else, a man willing to say and do anything to achieve his ultimate ambition: to become commander in chief, ascending to the one position that would finally enable him to outrank his four-star father and grandfather.In its broad strokes, McCain’s life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At each step, with the aid of their fathers’ powerful friends, both failed upward. And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives’ evangelical churches.
In one vital respect, however, the comparison is deeply unfair to the current president: George W. Bush was a much better pilot.
This is garbage. Why choose to denigrate McCain's naval service when there's so many other things to go after him for? This has the unfortunate consequence of making the entire Navy look like a floating joke and is smack in the face to Vietnam veterans. If liberals like Tim Dickinson want to be so adamantly anti-military they can drop this "support the troops" farce.
I gotta side with LT Nixon on this one. There are a heck of a lot of parallels between Bush and McCain, but their military service is most definitely not one of them. I don't care if John McCain was the lousiest pilot in the U.S. Navy, he actually volunteered to risk his life in the U.S. Navy.
Classic case of damaging your sound arguments by overreaching with your lame-ass arguments.
I see chest fuzz; nom nom
He, like GWB, were kinda studly in their day
yeah, that last line ruined the whole thing for me. its petty and totally irrelevant to the presidential race going on right now.
"I don't care if John McCain was the lousiest pilot in the U.S. Navy,..."
The problem of being allowed to be lousy is that it endangers the lives of the other pilots flying with you, the folks who are supporting you, and ultimely the folks dependent upon you to successfully complete any mission.
Perhaps everyone should stop and give some thought about why McCain was not promoted to flag rank.
I'm with Cranky Old Man - McCain was a shitty pilot, a terrible officer, and wasn't even close to being a "hero."
Note also that McCain finished 800 out of 800 in his Naval Academy class, and certainly wouldn't have graduated at all if his daddy and granddaddy weren't admirals. I hope the article also shows how his marriage was a mutually-beneficial business deal between McCain and Cindy's daddy, who wanted to sell her to the bidder most likely to advance his own position in Phoenix society. McCain had barely set foot in Arizona when he first ran for office there.
Oh, snap. That last line was hilarious.
Cranky old man is right; McCain's ineptitude put others at risk. Seems to be a pattern here. Anybody else with a record like McCain's but without his family connections wouldn't have been allowed to graduate from the Naval Academy.
McCain and Bush are practically allegories for America as a whole. Since the New Deal and the Great Depression, this country has pretty much been slouching into mediocrity, and our latest successes have only been gotten through bubbles, cooking the books, lying, and outright stealing. The success of the past several decades has also fooled Americans into thinking that government doesn't matter, that any fool (i.e. Bush) can run the government, and that the best idea ever is to cut taxes to solve every conceivable problem.
Fantastic article. I'd suggest reading the whole thing before taking so much offense at the one-liner. =) It's not like they don't back it up.
Seriously, if McCain HADN'T been the third-generation product of two highly successful career naval officers, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
And I'm there with @5 & @7: McCain's obvious ineptitude in both academics and practical skills would have made him a shoo-in for an early wash-out (assuming he managed to complete his Academy training - where, according to online sources, he actually graduated 894th out of a class of 899) were it not for the fact he had powerful family members watching his six. Given this poor academic record, one could easily argue he should never have been assigned a slot in pilot training in the first place, and thus wouldn't have been in a position to have been shot down by the Viet Cong in 1967, if not for his influential patrimony.
McCain owes his entire career, both military and political, solely to the influence brought to bear on his superiors (including, apparently, if we are to believe the historical record, even his North Vietnamese captors) by his family connections. Anyone who claims differently is simply ignoring the obvious.
The parting shot at his skills as a pilot is asinine. McCain may or may not have been the best fighter pilot in the Navy, but Bush ducked out and never actually flew a single combat mission. At best, Bush arguably completed pilot training in the air National Guard. He never saw any live action. Ever.
As a veteran, I have some respect for McCain's service (even though I despise his politics). Bush, on the other hand, was a disgrace to the uniform.
(Is the mispelling of "Fundamentals" deliberate...from one so literate?)
I think that these shine-a-light stories about McCain and Bush seem to energize myths that have powered their political rise and fixed their place in our culture. Unmindful ordinariness, followed by youthful rebellion against the father easily fit an old and compelling mythological framework. (McCain probably saw a lot of films when he was a kid in the 50's. He probably saw projections of Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift) The fact that both men took flight, and then supposedly had cathartic personal transformations, makes them attractive to folks that have faith that a strong selfless plain-speaking white man will save us.
Exploring the McCain mythology, even criticising it, seems to work to his advantage by cleansing the political palate. Time spent dwelling on his (mis)adventures is time not spent talking about his atrocious record.
I also think that his campaign is all about preserving the existing order by confessing a little evil (earmarks, lobbyists), rather than acknowledging that the existing order is entirely evil. At this point, the current order is indefensible. McCain can offer let a little steam out of the pot, and save a whole lot of disillusioned white people from suffering from the crowning of the AntiBush.
The point being @13, that McCain, based on his academic record and proficiency skills (or lack thereof) should NEVER have been given access to fighter training in the first place. It wasn't just that he "may or may not have been the best fighter pilot in the Navy", but that, in point of fact, he was one of the WORST.
FWIW, Bush, despite all of his other shortcomings in that arena, never actually crashed a single plane, let alone THREE.
@7 ... "McCain had barely set foot in Arizona when he first ran for office there."
Kinda like Hillary Clinton in New York, in other words, right?
@16 Yup, carpetbaggers, all of them. Kinda like RFK, no? Wait? ain't that Hil's seat?
Hate his politics, if you will, but don't hate him. That's wrong.
I wonder what Tim Dickenson has done in his life, 'cept become a mediocre writer.
And I'm pro-Obama.
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