Why McCain?

I received some very pointed criticism and was called a few names after posting my last article. It seemed to some that I was making excuses for John McCain and for some of the clearly un-Conservative political stances he has taken as a Senator. That, however, is far from the truth.

No one needs to apologize for doing what they believe is the right thing and while I personally disagree with many of his positions, I’m trying to look at the bigger picture. In John McCain I see an honest man who is not afraid of the criticism or labels that are bestowed on him by those (even those in his own party) who disagree with him. I admire that! Many (if not the majority) of politicians take stands on issues because it is the popular, expedient or profitable thing to do; other’s act based only on party politics. I can understand a politician doing what he needs to do to retain his seat (his power) but a politician who is a mindless follower of Conservative or Liberal dogma or who is afraid to stray from the “party line” receives nothing but my scorn. I admit I may be dead wrong but I don’t believe McCain is either a self-serving politician or a politician who acts like a Conservative or Republican zombie. Actually he has proven this many times over by his actions.

As I said previously, I personally disagree with McCain on many issues; two key ones are abortion and illegal aliens:

• Abortion: McCain voted to prohibit partial birth abortions and has voted to prohibit funding for groups that perform abortions. He has also stated that Roe v. Wade is a “flawed decision that must be overturned.” I TOTALLY disagree!

  Abortions may be morally wrong in many eyes and partial birth abortions even worse. Personally I hate abortions but I believe that the choice to abort or not does not belong to me, to the Supreme Court or to any government. People have the right to be as “moral” or “immoral” as they want (as defined by theologions and Christian Conservatives) as long as their actions do not interfere with the rights of others and NO I do not believe that an unborn child has Constitutional rights — the child’s “host” (the owner of the womb where it resides) has the rights. Roe v Wade may be flawed but without it the state, local or Federal government may legally take up residence in and ownership of every womb in the U.S. That is an abomonination but it is a near certainty.

• Illegal Aliens: John McCain has stated that illegal aliens who have committed crimes should be rounded-up and deported — that may be an impossible task but I certainly agree with the premise. McCain has also stated that the other illegal aliens should be granted a “path to citizenship”; on that we part ways. If you are here “Illegally” you have already broken the law — you have committed a crime — and lawbreakers should be punished, not rewarded. If you follow McCain’s logic, committing the crime of being here illegally is not not really a crime.

What worries me about Romney is his lack of experience in the foreign policy arena. He appears to be somewhat qualified in the area of economics — assuming that running a major corporation is really as difficult as running an entire country’s economy (an assumption that, in my view, doesn’t “hold much water”); but this country’s biggest current challenge, at least as I see it, is not domestic policy, it is foreign policy and developing a policy that will, for many years to come, keep the mindless Islamic extremists at bay. Where are Romney’s qualifications in this arena? He certainly talks tough on the stump but can he follow through when faced with the multiple critical issues he would be faced with as president? The last time we elected a governor as president we wound up with many foreign policy decisions that could have been a lot more intelligent.

To wrap up, I don’t believe that either Republican candidate is perfect or that either will destroy America or cause it to fall into ruin (I can’t say the same for Clinton or Obama).