Monday, February 4th, 2008...8:26 am
Nintzel Hits the Big Time?
I dialed my intertron to Salon, and up pops an article by the Old Pueblo’s own Jim Nintzel. Whatever ego boost this gives Nintzel, it likely pales in comparison to Rob Haney’s feeling of accomplishment getting his tiresome (even for me) John McCain hate into a national publication. Say, Haney, whatever happened to that Duncan Hunter that you were supporting?
My only gripe with the article was with the headline, which mentioned a McCain matchup with Hillary Clinton. There is only one mention of Clinton in the entire article, with Haney saying that the two of them were the same on immigration, not exactly the thesis that the headline proposed. Yes, I know that Nintzel was probably not responsible for the headline.
For me, the money quote:
Meanwhile, [U of A Professor William] Dixon says that angry conservatives actually have the real McCain backward: Rather than a closet liberal, he is substantially more conservative than typically portrayed in the press. “If anyone is misinterpreting McCain,” says Dixon, “it’s Democrat-leaning independents who think he’s a Republican maverick.”
What, Jim, Salon wasn’t interested in Project Whitehouse?
5 Comments
February 5th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Haney is a good man and deserves more respect than you give him. We all know that Duncan Hunter never got off the ground, same with Fred Thompson, and Ron Paul. Now we’re left with the RINO slimeballs McCain, Romney, and Huckabee. McCain deserves Haney’s dogged attacks because he is, despite what Dixon says, a liberal. His American Conservative Union ratings have done nothing but slide downwards over time. McCain aligns himself with liberals like Russ Fiengold, Tom Daschle, Ted Kennedy, Mo Udall, the Gang of 14, and the Gullets. He has flirted with the idea of leaving the Republican part and running as John Kerry’s running-mate. He’s betrayed conservatives on immigration, campaign-finance reform, the Second Amendment, and a host of other issues. John McCain has no buisness being the Republican nominee and deserves everyting that Rob Haney throws at him.
February 5th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Since when have people who support authoritarian conservatism been allowed to call themselves rebels?
February 5th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Uh…allied with Mo Udall? Mr. Udall passed away several years ago after having left Congress in 1991. The better part of McCain’s carrer has occurred since then.
Back during Udall’s heyday, he was recognized as the dean of the delegation, and rightfully so. In those days, Arizona’s congressmen of both parties would work together under his leadership to promote issues important to our state. I guess “Rebel” prefers the current state of affairs where non-statesmen like Shadegg and Franks grandstand and pander for partisan advantage rather than deal with matters of importance to their constituents.
By the way, I don’t think that any thinking person really thought that McCain ever seriously considered being Kerry’s running mate. It gave him a good chance to get his name in the paper, but that was all. McCain is a Republican partisan (and a conservative, despite reports to the contrary) first and foremost.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Joe,
You’ve made a bad assumption. I’m a libertarian-leaning Republican that hates authoritarianism. I hate the government more than any pro-Big Brother leftist ever will.
Tom,
McCain has espoused admiration for Udall many times, so I am correct in asserting that he associates himself with Udall. I’m well aware that Udall passed away years ago.
In the sense that one party may sink the other’s bills just because the other party proposed the bill, I agree with you, partisanship is bad. Good bills, no matter who proposed them, should get voted on. Yet, while I hate Tom DeLay for ramming the prescription drug benefit through the House, he was right in stating in his farewell address that partisanship energizes the masses. There’s also another benefit of partisanship: gridlock. Leftist, pro-government types love knee-jerk responsiveness in government, whereas conservatives who embrace small government and are mistrustful of government appreciate a slower, more deliberative pace of government.
Finally, McCain just cannot be described as a conservative. In addition to McCain’s liberal stances I’ve listed here’s a couple more to consider: he’s for wasting our tax dollars on embryonic stem-cell research, he buys into the global warming myths perpetuated by industry-hating leftists, he initially opposed the Bush tax cuts, and for the social conservatives out there, he opposes a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Tom, you just can’t argue that McCain is a conservative with a straight face or a leg to stand on.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
New American Rebel opposes science and scientific research, he believes the federal government should regulate interpersonal relations, he favors an institutionalized electoral system that privileges corporatism over individual voters, etc. New American Rebel doesn’t state a position on choice, domestic partnerships, the management of publicly owned land, etc. AND YET, s/he claims to a “libertarian-leaning that hates authoritatianism.”
Barry Goldwater was a libertarian-leaning Republican who hated authoritarianism, and New American Rebel is no Barry Goldwater.