McCain Refuses To Keep His Word - Again

There used to be a time when many people thought Senator John McCain was a politician worthy of respect.   He was not only considered a war hero, but had a reputation as a "maverick" -- somebody who thought for himself regardless of what the party's talking points were.   But that is all in the past.   He has recently shown himself to be a political coward, a liar and unworthy of any respect.

McCain was badly beaten for the presidency in 2008, but I doubt any Republican could have done any better.   America was just sick of the Republicans after 8 years of George Bush.   But McCain has gone downhill since that election.   He has abandoned any pretense of thinking for himself and lurched far to the right to keep his senate seat in this last election (saying he never claimed to be a "maverick").

He also seems to have a real problem in keeping his word these days.   Take for instance his stance on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) -- which is the military policy that says gays/lesbians can serve only if they keep their sexual orientation a secret.   A year or so ago, McCain said he wouldn't support DADT until military officials thought it should be overturned.

Well, last February Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, told McCain they were in favor of discontinuing use of DADT and letting gays/lesbians serve openly.   Instead of keeping his word, McCain just said he would not approve discontinuing DADT until a study was completed by the military on whether and how to discontinue DADT.

That study has now been completed.   It shows that over 70% of all servicemen/women either want DADT to be repealed or don't care whether it's repealed.   In addition, most military leaders still support doing away with DADT.   Once again the requirements McCain had laid down had been met, but once again he also refused to keep his word.   Instead he just set a new requirement.

He now says he wanted a different kind of study than the kind that was done.   He said this study was on how to implement the repeal of DADT, while he had wanted a study of whether it should be repealed.   That's more than a bit disingenuous.   He knew months ago what the military study was about and didn't complain.

The fact is that McCain new position as a teabagger requires him to oppose DADT, and he will never support it regardless of what he has said in the past.   If another study was done, he would not like it either (since most of the military, both officers and enlisted, don't think DADT should be enforced anymore).   McCain is not going to change his mind (or keep his word) about DADT no matter what happens.

It has been uncomfortable watching McCain's downhill journey of the past two years.   He has succeeded in transforming himself from a fairly well-respected independent-thinking senator to a lying and word-breaking right-wing teabagger demagogue.   Maybe he's just getting senile, but he's definitely not the man he once was.