Polianiac

I realize Meet the Press is a huge Political tradition in this country. My personal loyalty to the show is contingent on my own political mood, what is happening in the world, and the cosmic question: does today’s guest on Meet the Press offer clarity toward my personal concerns.  This morning clarity became an existentiale.

I am certain the blogosphere is currently at DefCon 2 regarding Senator McCain’s appearance. I can not compete with that; and honestly do not want to. My interest this morning can be likened to a wide-angled zoom lens: I started the show with the intent to analyze McCain’s comments based on political points in a microscopic fashion; and within three minutes, my view zoomed to the other end of the spectrum, struggling to make sense of Senator John McCain.

I can now say I understand the term maverick. Maverick means you have your own agenda and to hell with any one else’s. Maverick means you possess a separate set of facts and to hell with other facts, known as provable, quantifiable, or generally known. Maverick means you believe and participate in the political necessity of The Big Lie. The Big Lie may soon face a reckoning. One can always dream.

In the case of politicians within a duly elected representative republic—where is the place for Maverick-ness ? I know other bloggers will tackle McCain point for point. I know they will speak to the fact that at times, Brokaw sat there as if in disbelief; but did nothing to challenge McCain’s alternate reality.  I think today’s appearance on Meet the Press will rest the case on free passes for certain candidates by an elite media.  

The case that got rested for me is one of clarity. I now understand that McCain believes, “the cause of the financial crisis was the housing crisis.” Wrong John, the housing crisis is merely a symptom of a bankrupted economic philosophy. I now have clarity that McCain actually believes government buy-up of troubled mortgages, “So Americans can realize the American Dream,” is an antithetical philosophy to my own concerning the role of government.  I now have clarity on how our two views differ: McCain stated clearly this morning that the role of government is different at different times.  Again, McCain stated his view reflecting America-as-victim.  This construct of McCain and Co. represents a laissez faire approach, not only in economics, but also in political philosophy. His statements are alarming and resonate clearly within historic memory. 

There have been other times, in other countries, where the role of government was allowed by its people  to flex and conform to the whim of the moment, mood of the masses, or vision of one maverick politician. I always believed in the Constitution of the United States to protect me from such nightmares. This morning, I achieved clarity on the state of that belief. It is fragile, completely dependent on an informed, engaged, and ever vigilant electorate, and ours only if we remain dedicated to perpetuating the core values it was created within.

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