For a long time, I've considered John McCain a decent man.
But his recent rant about the President and Iran is shameful.
McCain and the Repugs are using the people of Iran to further their own perverted ideology of power and domination, an ideology that has proved utterly bankrupt.
On the other hand, Obama's restrained and patient approach bodes well for the future. We can't and we don't control the world. We are but one nation among all the others. Though larger than most, and surely one of the most powerful, we're not the king of the hill, though such a thought utterly galls a poor man like McCain who is, and this I've contended for years, still fighting Vietnam, trying to reclaim a glory he perceives us to have lost in Vietnam.
That the Repugs have sunk this low is hard to imagine.
The party of Lincoln, not to mention Eisenhower, has sunk very low, indeed.
I was also concerned about the lack of action on behalf of Washington, but then I realized if Obama criticizes the opposition party of Iran ... it actually makes them more popular. If Obama were to come out and condemn Ahmadinejad ... then his ratings would actually increase.
ReplyDeleteGiven our history of supporting coups in Iran, maybe its best to keep our mouths shut and let the people figure this one out. Besides, we don't want to give them false hope like we did to the Hungarians in '58.
Your comment about Hungary is spot on. And wasn't there an attempted coup some years ago against Saddam Hussein - we said we'd help, and then didn't. After which Saddam savagely killed thousands? And he Bay of Pigs (not that it was ever a good idea), but talk is cheap, and we have a Prez who understands that.
ReplyDeleteThe power holders in Iran are hoping for stronger U.S. action - so they can denounce the validity of the protesters as a "U.S.-backed demonstration or revolt" and then to shift the conversation from a legitimate discussion about the advancement of democracy to the U.S.'s empirical tendencies, painting Obama as just another Bush. But the GOP is hoping the average American just hears the GOP's maverick talk.
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