It's time to put partisanship aside. Politics have gotten too mean, too personal, too divisive. That was John McCain's message to America last night -- one night after a night of mean, personal, divisive partisanship. Nice to know that's all over and the McCain campaign, having run almost nothing but largely untrue attack ads, is now planning to get down to substance.I wouldn't hold my breath.
McCain's acceptance speech last night requires that you ignore a lot of things. In running against the Washington establishment, you're supposed to forget that McCain has been part of that establishment for the past quarter century. In his call for an end to partisanship, you're supposed to forget the previous night of unrelenting attack speeches. In his call for peace, you're supposed to forget that he's never voted against military action in his life. We're supposed to believe he's a "maverick," despite this:
We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.
We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don't legislate from the bench. We believe in the values of families, neighborhoods and communities.
We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans. Government that doesn't make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.
I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.
Any Republican could've listed those beliefs. It's hard to be a maverick when your beliefs line up with every other Republican in America. So he has to keep saying it. He used the word "maverick" eleven times last night. And, just as on the previous night, there was no such place as Afghanistan. Elvis was mentioned, a tyrannosaurus was mentioned, but no Afghanistan. Will someone please inform the Republicans that we're fighting a goddam war there? They really don't seem to know. It hasn't been mentioned once during the entire convention, as far as I know. It sure hasn't during prime time...
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