Progressive World Review

Hillary Clinton is expected, any day now, to concede the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama.  Clinton was never my particular choice for president but then neither was Obama.  And while there were moments in both campaigns that were disappointing, all in all I have a great deal of respect for Clinton.  She’s an intelligent and strong person with far more character than the misogynists that criticized her, calling her names and leveling charges that could only be applied to a woman.

Now that the long and hard fought battle for the Democratic nomination is over what can we expect?  McCain, for all the talk of being an independent “maverick” as well as being a moderate that can “reach across the aisle,” McCain has shown that that he’s every bit the radical Bush is when it comes to foreign policy and regardless of whatever his position is on social issues, he’s more than willing to pander to the most extreme right wing elements in our society.  He may have rejected Hagee’s endorsement but only after he was forced to by the revelations of Hagee’s extreme and hateful bigotry.  For all the talk about Jeremiah Wright, Obama never sought his endorsement and the fact that Wright was Obama’s minister for so many years really means very little.  Most of us, those with open minds anyway, associate with people with varying viewpoints.  My best friend happens to be very conservative and as anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m about as liberal as you can get.  Anyone who’s paying attention, and has any integrity at all, can tell that Obama’s views are very different from Wright’s and that Wright’s inflammatory remarks have absolutely no bearing on the type of president Obama would be.

McCain on the other hand actively sought Hagee’s endorsement and though, for the most part, I don’t think that McCain really shares Hagee’s bigotry, he clearly plans to pander to the same religious zealots that actually listen to man such as Hagee.  And while their motivations are most likely different, McCain and Hagee are both warmongers and their foreign policy positions are both similar and frightening.

Another aspect of the Hagee endorsement that I plan to expand on more in the coming days is, how it demonstrates just how bogus McCain’s reputation as an independent maverick really is.  McCain once warned of the dangers of pandering to the religious right and now he’s doing the exact same thing.  Furthermore, this is hardly the first flip-flop McCain is guilty of.

So what then can we expect?  McCain is cut from the same cloth as Bush and Cheney which means we can expect the same kind of low class, personality based campaign we’ve come to expect from Bush ala Karl Rove.  Expect to hear plenty about pastors and flag pins and very little about the issues that are on the minds of most Americans.

–Paul Wilden

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