Voting Is Irrelevant

Over 20 minutes of the presidential debate has gone by with McCain and Obama arguing over 932 million dollars in earmarks that McCain claims Obama approved.

Meanwhile, based on the chatter on CNN I heard today, the 700 billon dollar bailout will be wrapped up and done by Sunday.

This confirms what I've tenatively concluded for some time. Our democratic system has become a hollowed-out facade for the corporate-military putocracy that owns and runs this country. Voting is irrelevant. It changes the names of the pawns, nothing more.

Why McCain Will Win

"Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self-delusion – in the long run, these are the only people who count."

-Robert A. Heinlein

In Peter Watkins' 1967 film Privilege,when Steven Shorter, the most popular performer in the world, confides to the chairman of Steven Shorter Enterprises that he wants to stop performing, his handler takes him to the roof of a building overlooking part of the city and lectures him.

“I believe you play a very important part in society, Steve. Come with me. There are millions of people down there. Millions of little people. First, we must be quite clear in our minds about one thing, that the liberal idea that given enough education, these millions will grow into self-aware, creative human beings, is nothing but an exploded myth. It can never happen. They’re stunted little creatures, with primitive emotions that are, in themselves, dangerous. They’ve got to be harnessed, guided. We’ve seen this happen over and over again for an evil purpose. Germany, Russia, China. But now we’ve got a chance to make it work for their own good. You. You’re our chance, Steven, they identify with you. They love you. Steven, you can lead them into a better way of life, a fruitful conformity.”

John McCain Is Not a Hero and Physical Suffering Is No Entitlement to the Presidency

I'm sick and tired of hearing every discussion of John McCain prefaced by an obligatory tribute to his heroism and the suffering he endured as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese.

John McCain chose to follow his grandfather and father into the family business and become a naval aviator. He was not some reluctant draftee who throws himself on to a grenade to save his comrades. His aircraft was shot down while he was attacking North Vietnam.

He was captured by the North Vietnamese, who tortured him. He broke under torture, denouncing his country.

McCain's shootdown and suffering in captivity were the products of malign fate, not the result of a choice he made. He had no say in the matter.

He is not a hero and physical suffering is not proof of heroism nor does it entitle you to be president.

I was afflicted with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at the age of eight, and it has robbed me of a productive adult life. I had a very close friend in junior high who was imprisoned in a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy. He caught a cold one day, was hospitalized and ended up being asphyxiated by his own phlegm.

He wasn't a hero, I'm not one and neither is McCain, and our individual suffering doesn't entitle us to anything, except, perhaps, the pity of others.

John McCain Only Opposes Torture When He's the Victim

Earlier today, ThinkProgress noted that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a former prisoner of war, has spoken strongly in favor of implementing the Army Field Manual standard. When confronted today with the decision of whether to stick with his conscience or cave to the right wing, McCain chose to ditch his principles and instead vote to preserve waterboarding.

I used to like John McCain and probably would have voted for him in 2000 if he'd been the Republican nominee. I would not vote for him now, even before this vote, but I've lost the last vestige of respect I once held for him. McCain is a tragic figure, a man so consumed with the desire to become president that he'll sacrifice anything to achieve his goal. When McCain started his second run for the White House, he subdivided his integrity and sold off lots, a piece or two at a time. He embraced Bush, Falwell and Robertson and has reversed just about every position he ever took that ran counter to the Republican playbook. And who can forget one of his greatest hits, his transparently stage-managed visit to a Baghdad market while under the umbrella of attack helicopters and a cordon of armed troops just out of camera range.

I think we should torture McCain by depriving him of the presidency.