“In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that’s—that’s a person’s position… This is a free country…” – Senator John McCain
The more this campaign cycle goes on, the more Americans seem to be getting to know what can aptly be called the real John McCain. It is heartening to see a gradual deconstruction of a carefully crafted myth that took decades to create. The latest cause of senator McCain’s ire is the comment purported to have been made by Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin when she agreed that the U.S. could engage in cross-border action against terrorist elements in Pakistan. The question now is, what is senator McCain’s definition of freedom of speech? Are we to assume that we can bend the exercise of that freedom according to the comfort level of politicians? Is it our fault that his campaign does not seem to be in sync within itself and the American people? Are we to blame for Sarah Palin not sharing the same ideas as John McCain on how to handle rogue elements in this so-called war on terror?
Whether you like her or not, Governor Palin is beginning to appear as a victim of a vicious campaign that was willing to put the security of the country on the line by stupid political pandering. Just as the political criminals who managed George Bush’s campaign and have taken over McCain’s have led this country down a dangerous road, these same actors who are running the McCain campaign are doing the exact same thing. Only this time, a good candidate has been stripped of her individual strength and converted into a political robot. The rush to brain-wash her and convert her into a lying, manipulating politician does not suit her personality. What exactly does John McCain expect of his running-mate? Sit there, look pretty and smile? Is treating Sarah Palin “like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment,” the best way to empower women? Why was she not allowed to make the TV rounds after the debate on Friday? Could it be that the McCain campaign did not trust her to handle her own with reporters? What message were they trying to send by shielding her from reporter? Obviously, she watched the debate because she said it was “awesome”. Rather than engage in escapist politics and this “Us vs. them” mentality, the senator should perhaps, review his own motives for getting her involved in the first place and retool his strategy, if for nothing else, to at least, repair his thoroughly damaged integrity.
The curious nature of all this is that senator McCain seems to be suggesting that we should be selective in exercising or freedom of speech. But isn’t the one the reason we have attacked other countries because we wanted to spread those same freedoms we enjoy? We cannot be selective about how we exercise our freedom of speech, whether it favors us or not.
