Devilry

John McCain scares me more than Cheney does.

Cheney is what he is: a mean-spirited hatchet man. You know it. I know it. The American people know it.

But McCain scares the bejeezus out of me. Everyone I know seems to think he's a cuddly moderate. Compared to Karl Rove, maybe, but I'm not grading this on an a curve.

McCain is pretty damned far to the right. Ok, I give the guy props for the anti-torture thing. But these new "compromises" look suspiciously like ways to make the Geneva Conventions unenforceable.

Which is better than outright defying them. Um, how?

But McCain, like Giuliani, has turned into a Stepford Republican. Every time he's asked a question he parrots the party line and sucking up to Bush like Libretti to Malandrino. He loves the war. He hates the homos. He thinks that the Constitution needs to be amended to prevent flag burning.

But this latest "devil" controversy just puts it all into to stark - and pretty fucking hilarious - relief.

Hugo Chavez says that Bush is "the Devil." That's despicable, says McCain.

Jerry Falwell says that Clinton would rouse Christian voters more than Lucifer. That's funny, says McCain.

Okay, it is a little funny. But that's not the point. Not too long ago McCain called Falwell an "agent of intolerance," and now he's rushing to his defense.

This Stepford Republicanism is a big part of the right's strength. Rather than squabbling amonst themselves, they stay focused and stay on message. But this show of solidarity won't end after the election. Debts have to be paid.

Moderate or not, John McCain isn't acting like one. Beware.

ok--this is slightly off topic, but the flag burning shit that gets trotted out everytime an election looks like it might get close--what a crock of shit. Now, the civil liberties thing bugs me, of course, but what really bugs me is the scale: how do you compare, say, extending suffrage to blacks and women, or the right to free speech (oh, the ironicalness), with protecting some fabric from being used by some jackass to make a point. Sheesh. I'm gonna go burn one on principle.