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0 pointsWildUtah10y ago0 comments

McCain isn't a nice guy. He's always been opposed to every kind of civil rights and in favor of total central government power and total war.

He introduced the campaign finance bill that forced the government to argue before the Supreme Court that it had the power to ban books with political opinions it didn't agree with, the same argument that led to the Citizens United decision.

He made up a song about bombing Iran and sang it at campaign stops. (Tune of Beach Boys' Barbara Ann)

That's just the start. This encryption but is of a piece with his whole career. McCain is as bad as they come.

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6 comments · 3 top-level

jessaustin10y ago· 2 in thread

Did you oppose that bill at the time, on the grounds that it would lead to such ridiculous arguments? If you had, you would have been the only one. Most First-Amendment nose-thumbers loved that bill. I suspect their hearts were in the right place, just as I suspect McCain's was (then, on that topic; various statements made since have been disconcerting).

It would be nice if the rich bastards didn't play the body politic like a marionette, but this isn't the way to change that.

The fact that you didn't lead off with a reference to the Keating Five indicates to me that you don't actually know much about McCain or his career.

WildUtahOP10y ago

"Did you oppose that bill at the time, on the grounds that it would lead to such ridiculous arguments? If you had, you would have been the only one."

I was not the only one. [0][1] The AFL-CIO, the NRA, the ACLU, and Americans that care about the First Amendment were just the beginning. Right inside the Senate, current majority leader McConnell was warning the world about exactly what was wrong with the bill. McCain insisted on keeping all the worst and most totalitarian provisions; they were his favorites.

"Most First-Amendment nose-thumbers loved that bill. I suspect their hearts were in the right place, just as I suspect McCain's was"

That's the same kind of contempt for patriotic Americans McCain always exhibits. His heart is not in the right place.

"The fact that you didn't lead off with a reference to the Keating Five"

I could have worn my fingers down on that smartphone with the crimes of McCain before I got to his relatively tiny involvement in the Lincoln S&L bit. I think he was on the list mostly because they needed a Republican to round it out.

[0] https://www.aclu.org/letter/letter-senate-opposition-mccain-...

[1] https://www.nraila.org/articles/20010711/campaign-finance-re...

jessaustin10y ago

My apologies, I completely misunderstood you. You're right, McCain is indefensible.

mikestew10y ago· 1 in thread

To be pedantic, that Beach Boys parody dates back to the late 70s during the hostage taking of the U. S. Embassy. (Which causes me to wonder: did his campaign properly secure the rights from the song writer, or did they do like other candidates and "steal" it?)

dragonwriter10y ago

There were quite a few different parodies of that song with the "Bomb Iran" theme from different groups, and all McCain did was the "Bomb, bomb, bomb" part, which made the message clear, but didn't really specifically invoke any of the particular parodies.

Silhouette10y ago

Not being from the US, I probably don't know as much about McCain as many of you, but I do recall him making the news for suggesting a murder suspect should be treated as an enemy combatant, which in turn seemed to mean essentially that they were no longer entitled to things like due process. I remember feeling very cold when I read that.

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