Saturday, November 25th, 2006...12:05 pm
More “Straight Talk” From John McCain
Writing this blog, it’s like being in the mob. I keep wanting to leave but they keep pulling me back in…
I am still able to read the on-line edition of the Star, of course. Here was a bit from Daniel Scarpinato in today’s Political Notebook column:
On ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked [Sen. John] McCain why he supported the measure [Arizona’s Proposition 107], saying it “actually denied any government benefits to civil unions or domestic partnerships. Are you against civil unions for gay couples?” First McCain said: “No, I’m not.”
“I think that initiative did allow for people to join in legal agreements such as power of attorney and others,” he said. “I think that there was a difference of opinion on the interpretation of that constitutional amendment in Arizona.”
“So you’re for civil unions?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“No,” he said. “I do not believe gay marriage should be legal. I do not believe gay marriage should be legal,” he repeated. “But I do believe that people ought to be able to enter into contracts, exchange powers of attorney, other ways that people have relationships can enter into.”
First of all, McCain is mischaracterizing the proposition. Prop. 107 would have made any government recognition of unmarried (same sex or no) couples illegal. This wasn’t a matter of difference of interpretation, it was what the backers intended and a big part of why the proposition failed.
So, why would McCain claim to be for giving marriage like rights (his words: “contracts, exchange powers of attorney, other ways that people have relationships can enter into”) but embrace the backers of a proposal which would prevent government from recognizing those rights? That would render any of those “contracts” or whatever he’s talking about as useful as that bachelor’s degree certificate I have from Miskatonic University.
What we have here is a game that he’s got to play over the next year and a half: yes you moderates, I’m still the McCain you loved from 2000, but hey, conservatives, I’m one of you too. I just hope he can do it without giving himself an aneurysm.
I’m waiting to see Rudy Giuliani pull this one too.
5 Comments
November 25th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
McCain’s new nickname is Seesaw.
November 25th, 2006 at 8:59 pm
Good one, e.r.
My best line on McCain is this:
If John McCain thought he could get votes by claiming he was a squid, he’d claim he was a squid.
November 26th, 2006 at 12:07 am
If you want to see some really good GOP anger check out esspressopundit.com seems as if Mr. McCain is attempting to take out a Dist Chair who is not happy with him
AZ Blue Dog
November 26th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
az blue dog,
Here is the hyperlink for Espresso Pundit.
Sonoran Alliance is also getting in on the fun.
November 27th, 2006 at 12:23 am
You know that old Joni Mitchell song, ‘Both sides now?’
Here is the ‘John McCain version’, “Both sides howdy”
‘Once Iraq was popular, I banged the war drums, loud all day!
Approval was in the stratosphere, I’ve looked at Iraq that way,
But now guerillas block the sun, the bad news gets to everyone,
So many things I would have done, but polls got in the way!
I’ve looked at Iraq from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow,
it’s those illusions I still spin, I really don’t know Iraq at all.
I used to know to avoid, ‘gay’, And what to do and what to say,
But the 107 ‘fairy tale’ went down,
I’ll look at ‘gay’ ‘nother way,
Civil unions I’ll say I did support,
as a last resort,
to change that report,
Don’t give myself away,
I’ve been on ‘civil uions’ on both sides now,
For and against, with both sides,
I’ts a fine illusion I put forth,
I really don’t know gay issues, at all.
I used to talk just like a moderate, But I couldn’t win a primary,
So I changed my tune, I changed my song,
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds.
That’s what I’m about today,
But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well somethings lost, but somethings gained
loony right wing votes,
I’ve looked at running from both sides now, from win and lose, and still somehow,
It’s political illusions I cling to,
I really don’t know voters, at all.
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