NewsTrust - John McCain - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

The Hard and Bitter Truth

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Bob Herbert - Sep. 22 (Opinion) - President Obama will face hard realities if he continues the war in Afghanistan.

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Sweet, Tweet Revenge

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Maureen Dowd - Jul. 11 (Opinion) - It was only a matter of time, once John McCain joined the 21st century and got himself a Ford Fusion Hybrid, a Facebook page and a Twitter account, that he would reconnect with people out of his past he would rather forget.

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The First 100 Days of John McCain

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Politics Daily - By Walter Shapiro - Apr. 30 (Opinion) - Even if McCain had won the White House with a clear majority --– instead of becoming the second successive Republican president to take office after losing the popular vote --– he probably would have been hard-pressed to find common ground with congressional Democrats on the economy. The ideological fault lines have been deep, from the size of the economic stimulus package (McCain's original $420 billion proposal prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to brand him "President McCheap") to the administration's laissez-faire attitude toward a looming General Motors bankruptcy and the almost certain dismemberment of Chrysler (the Detroit Free Press headlined, "McCain to City: Drop Dead").

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Tax Tea Party Time, Part Two

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Forbes - By Bruce Bartlett - Apr. 16 (Opinion) - many protesters implicitly assume that that the deficit has increased solely as a result of Barack Obama's policies. But in fact, the Congressional Budget Office was projecting a deficit of more than $1 trillion this year back in January, before any of Obama's policies had been enacted, and a cumulative deficit of $4.3 trillion through 2019. (CBO made no assumptions about what his policies might be in making its projection.)

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A Chance for Consensus on Iraq

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Lindsey Graham - Dec. 21 (Opinion) - After our visit to Iraq this month, it is clear that what was once unthinkable there is now taking place: A stable, safe and free Iraq is emerging. Violence has fallen to the lowest level since the first months of the war. The Sunni Arabs who once formed the core of the insurgency are today among our most steadfast allies in the fight against al-Qaeda. A status-of-forces agreement between Iraq and America will take effect next month, providing for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and a commensurate increase in Iraqi self-defense. And Iraqi politics is increasingly taking on the messy but exhilarating quality of a functioning democracy. While uncertainty and risk remain high, and the gains made are not irreversible, the situation in Iraq has improved dramatically since the dark days before the surge.

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Requiem for a Maverick

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Rolling Stone - By Matt Taibbi - Nov. 21 (Opinion) - They compounded a millionfold Bush's legacy of incompetence by soiling both possible Republican ideological strategies going forward: They killed off Bush-style neoconservatism as well as the more traditional fiscal conservatism McCain himself was once known for by trying to fuse both approaches into one gorgeously incoherent ticket.

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The Fall

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

New Yorker - By David Grann - Nov. 10 (Editorial) - In 2000, some prominent Republicans came to McCain’s defense, among them Frank Schaeffer, the son of Francis Schaeffer, an evangelist and anti-abortion crusader who is credited with helping to create the religious right. Schaeffer worked closely with his father, who died in 1984, but he felt that the movement had become extreme. In 2000, Schaeffer gave McCain his family’s imprimatur, vouching for him on Christian radio shows. Six years later, Schaeffer, who had a son in the Marines, co-wrote a book, “AWOL,” which spoke of the need for Americans to serve their country. McCain provided a blurb saying that the book illuminated “a more genuine and wiser patriotism.” But, in October, Schaeffer, a lifelong Republican, wrote an open letter to McCain that said, “If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as ‘not one of us,’ I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.” He went on, “You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.”

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McCain's Downfall: Republican Foreign Policy

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Fareed Zakaria - Nov. 10 (Opinion) - Ideas matter, Richard Weaver once wrote, and the Republican Party has become a party bereft of ideas or trapped by the wrong ones. The Reagan-Thatcher revolution of low taxes, deregulation and tight money seems irrelevant to the problems of underregulated financial products, huge deficits and a deepening recession. The Republican Party's social program is out of tune with an increasingly young, diverse and tolerant electorate. As the conservative writer David Frum points out, "College-educated Americans have come to believe that their money is safe with the Democrats -- but that their values are under threat from Republicans."

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Newt in 2012?

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Robert Novak - Nov. 08 (Opinion) - In serious conversations among Republicans since their election debacle Tuesday, what name is mentioned most often as the Moses, or Reagan, who could lead them out of the wilderness before 40 years? To the consternation of many Republicans, it is none other than Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House. Gingrich is far from a unanimous or even a consensus choice to run for president in 2012, but there is a strong feeling in Republican ranks that he is the only leader of their party who has shown the skill and energy to attempt a comeback quickly. Even one of his strongest supporters for president in 2012 admits it is a "very risky choice." But Republicans are in a desperate mood after the fiasco of John McCain's seemingly safe candidacy. Republicans seem chastened by the failure of seeking moderate, independent and even Democratic votes. They are ready to try going back to the "old-time religion."

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The Perils of 'Populist Chic'

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street Journal - By Mark Lilla - Nov. 08 (Opinion) - Finita la commedia. Many things ended on Tuesday evening when Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, and depending on how you voted you are either celebrating or mourning this weekend. But no matter what our political affiliations, we should all -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- be toasting the return of Governor Sarah Palin to Juneau, Alaska. The Palin farce is already the stuff of legend. For a generation at least it is sure to keep presidential historians and late-night comedians in gainful employment, which is no small thing. But it would be a pity if laughter drowned out serious reflection about this bizarre episode. As Jane Mayer reported recently in the New Yorker ("The Insiders," Oct. 27, 2008), John McCain's choice was not a fluke, or a senior moment, or an act of desperation. It was the result of a long campaign by influential conservative intellectuals to find a young, populist leader to whom they might hitch their wagons in the future.

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Obama's Victory Speech

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Forbes - By Barack Obama - Nov. 05 (Speech) - Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama, on Election Night, November 4th, 2008: If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time ?

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A Way Out of the Wilderness

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Jeff Flake - Nov. 05 (Opinion) - Well, we Republicans have just made history. Not the type of history we wanted to make, mind you, but history nonetheless. Not only did we lose the White House but, after losing our House and Senate majorities in 2006, we followed it up last night with even steeper losses in Congress. The temptation for Republican members of Congress today will be to assume the role of the post-Watergate Republicans of 1974 and accept minority status as a permanent condition. Indeed, the terrain is more difficult for us now than it was in 1992. Then, Republicanism was still largely defined by the Reagan years. Today the party is defined in the public mind by the Bush presidency. We've got a steep hill to climb. Much of the backroom maneuvering and media speculation in the coming weeks will focus on identifying new standard-bearers for the party. This is important, and after a second straight drubbing, the House Republican leadership should be replaced. But the far more critical task is determining what standard these new leaders will bear.

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The Next President

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - Nov. 05 (Editorial) - This is one of those moments in history when it is worth pausing to reflect on the basic facts: An American with the name Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a white woman and a black man he barely knew, raised by his grandparents far outside the stream of American power and wealth, has been elected the 44th president of the United States. Showing extraordinary focus and quiet certainty, Mr. Obama swept away one political presumption after another to defeat first Hillary Clinton, who wanted to be president so badly that she lost her bearings, and then John McCain, who forsook his principles for a campaign built on anger and fear. His triumph was decisive and sweeping, because he saw what is wrong with this country: the utter failure of government to protect its citizens. He offered a government that does not try to solve every problem but will do those things beyond the power of individual citizens: to regulate the economy fairly, keep the air clean and the food safe, ensure that the sick have access to health care, and educate children to compete in a globalized world.

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McCain is on the verge of a defeat that marks the end of the Republican era