I required an antiemetic to watch John McCain
speak from the balcony of the Memphis motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
was assassinated. McCain's pandering performance reminded me of George Bush's
theatrics on the USS Abraham Lincoln under a "Mission Accomplished"
banner less than two months after the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.
It's called staging.
For John Warlover
McCain to campaign for the highest office in the land while standing where Dr.
King, the preeminent messenger for peace, was shot is hypocrisy of the vilest
order and underlines the depths to which this psycho manipulator will travel
for opportunity and power. After all, in 1983, McCain voted against creating a
Martin Luther King federal holiday.
To put it
eloquently, John McChicanery sucks.
As the presidential
hopeful told the booing crowd at the Lorraine Motel on Friday, "We can all
be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing," I wondered how often
McCain has been anywhere near early or prompt in doing something other than the
wrong thing. I think of the children of Viet Nam who were melted beyond
recognition by the flip of a switch, controlled by the bomber-pilot McCain.
Many who consider him a hero will say that this status is forever carved in
history because when offered release from captivity, he allowed someone who'd
been there longer to leave.
I disagree
vehemently.
Certainly, it was
decent of McCain to wait his turn, however this act doesn't grant him a
lifetime "get outta jail free card" That was then and there have been
plenty of occasions between that time and now for him to step up. McCain says
he's evolved, but his evolution has an aroma of politics. McCain's voting record
and agenda since he was elected to public office have delayed progress for our
vulnerable here at home. His civil rights record is abysmal. With a foreign
policy that's explained by bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, babomb, McCain would
surely reinstate a draft. And he would bomb without remorse. Bomb because it
just damn well feels good to be in charge of the devastation. Bomb simply
because he can. Because he has created a legend in his mind called McCan.
As we reflect on the
wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., let us repudiate the violence of John
McCain whose presidency would take us deeper into the Bush/Cheney hole of
hopelessness for all but those who profit financially from war. We must
overcome. We must be sure that Sen. McCain becomes Sen. McCan't.
Missy Beattie lives
in New York City. She's written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life
Magazine. An outspoken critic of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq,
she's a member of Gold Star Families for Peace. She completed a novel last
year, but since the death of her nephew, Marine Lance Cpl. Chase J. Comley, in
Iraq on August 6,'05, she has been writing political articles. She can be
reached at: Missybeat@aol.com.