Ever the All-American Superman war hero, John McCain has blasted Mitt Romney for suggesting that it's time to bring US troops home from Afghanistan. On ABC's Sunday morning This Week show, McCain raised heavenward the Republican blessed image of St. Ronald Reagan, and, invoking Reagan's holy name, chastised Romney:
This was, of course, the same Ronald Reagan whom - Dick Cheney said - proved that "deficits don't matter." Well, Ron - and John - guess what? Deficits and debt are killing the US. And even if a majority of Americans still believed that "liberating" the Afghans was something the US ought to be doing, the fact of the matter is that the US can no longer afford to be making the attempt.
How McCain can't know that mystifies me.
Or could it be that he's become comfortable with taking what amount to cheap shots in order to burnish his (increasingly dubious) legacy as an American patriot? I am grateful for his service, and admire his sacrifice, during the Vietnam War. But that doesn't give him the prerogative to make stupidly lofty pronouncements about "standing up for freedom . . . all over the world" and not be called out for them when a simple look at the balance sheets make it plain that they can't be fulfilled.
UPDATE: See Peter Beinart's latest at The Daily Beast, where he makes the point that (pace John McCain) a truly Reaganesque approach would mean getting US troops out of Afghanistan.
UPDATE 2: Add to McCain's silliness his recent rant that the Arizona wildfires were the doings of illegal immigrants, despite the fact (as this WaPo essay notes) that there's not a shred of evidence to support that allegation.
"[Reagan] would be saying: That's not the Republican Party of the 20th century, and now the 21st century. . . . That is not the Republican Party that has been willing to stand up for freedom for people...all over the world."
This was, of course, the same Ronald Reagan whom - Dick Cheney said - proved that "deficits don't matter." Well, Ron - and John - guess what? Deficits and debt are killing the US. And even if a majority of Americans still believed that "liberating" the Afghans was something the US ought to be doing, the fact of the matter is that the US can no longer afford to be making the attempt.
How McCain can't know that mystifies me.
Or could it be that he's become comfortable with taking what amount to cheap shots in order to burnish his (increasingly dubious) legacy as an American patriot? I am grateful for his service, and admire his sacrifice, during the Vietnam War. But that doesn't give him the prerogative to make stupidly lofty pronouncements about "standing up for freedom . . . all over the world" and not be called out for them when a simple look at the balance sheets make it plain that they can't be fulfilled.
UPDATE: See Peter Beinart's latest at The Daily Beast, where he makes the point that (pace John McCain) a truly Reaganesque approach would mean getting US troops out of Afghanistan.
UPDATE 2: Add to McCain's silliness his recent rant that the Arizona wildfires were the doings of illegal immigrants, despite the fact (as this WaPo essay notes) that there's not a shred of evidence to support that allegation.
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