“Dear Mr. President. Too Many Qualified People Want to Serve Our Country. Please Eliminate Some Based on my Bigotry. I am Not a Crackpot.”
By Predictably, but nonetheless amusingly, nominal supporter of gay and lesbian rights and very sincere utter Republican hack Glenn Reynolds asserts that the repeal of DADT — supported by every Demcorat who voted in the Senate and opposed by the vast majority of Republicans — was “bipartisan,” while the DADT policy was entirely the responsibility of Bill Clinton. Right. But, in fairness, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate supported progress, didn’t he? He certainly wouldn’t spend the historic the day in the Senate unleashing a bizarre, hateful series of angry non-sequiturs, would he?
Saturday’s debate on the repeal of the “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” policy was only half an hour old when the Arizona Republican burst onto the floor from the cloakroom, hiked up his pants and stalked over to his friend Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Ignoring Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who had the floor, McCain hectored the men noisily for a few moments, waving his arms for emphasis.
[…]He bemoaned “this bizarro world that the majority leader has been carrying us in,” and taunted: “Maybe it will require another election.” The Arizonan suggested those who vote to repeal would have blood on their hands. “Don’t think that it won’t be at great cost,” he said, punctuating his words by bouncing on his toes and chopping with his left hand. It will “probably,” he said, “harm the battle effectiveness which is so vital to the survival of our young men and women in the military.”
[…]
The loss of Republican votes, no doubt, made McCain even angrier. When it came time for his closing argument before the day’s key vote, McCain spoke for only a few seconds: “Today’s a very sad day. The commandant of the United States Marine Corps says when your life hangs on the line, you don’t want anything distracting. . . . I don’t want to permit that opportunity to happen and I’ll tell you why. You go up to Bethesda Naval Hospital, Marines are up there with no legs, none. You’ve got Marines at Walter Reed with no limbs.”
What a bullet this country dodged in 2008. Frankly, I’m not sure he was even the best candidate on his party’s ticket at this point…
…Rumors that McCain’s speeches were written by Eric Alec “sometimes talent sees the next generation and runs away screaming” Rawls are unconfirmed at this time.