tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1039691356741479566.post-88007079889821760592008-08-01T12:04:00.004+01:002008-08-01T12:40:37.700+01:002008-08-01T12:40:37.700+01:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I stumbled upon a defining distinction between Obama and McCain whilst reading David Ignatius' piece in the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Washington Post</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (via </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/the_humble_and_healed_mccain.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RCP</span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">) about "McCain's True Voice".  The article was about how McCain should try to recapture his true personality, something which has lost its focus in recent weeks.  I'm not so sure I agree that it's lost focus--I think it might be more a case of the media and pundits being a little bleary eyed after staring at Obama's awesome glow for so long without those special solar eclipse glasses.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Anyway, the point Ignatius drives at is that McCain is a hero who cares more about his country than he does himself, which I don't think Obama does:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><blockquote>Certainly all those heroic details are present in McCain's memoir, and in his political appeal this year. The Vietnam legacy of steadfastness motivated him to resist American failure in Iraq and to agitate, sometimes almost alone, for what came to be called the "surge" of U.S. troops. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">When he says he preferred political defeat for himself to military defeat for his country, he is telling the truth</span>. With an ex-POW's stubbornness, he could not abide the notion of failure and dishonor for U.S. forces.</blockquote></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The sentence in bold really speaks volumes about McCain. He knows this because he experienced it. He has lived it. Can you imagine Obama having such a steadfast commitment to, well, anything? No, me neither.  This is what really gets my goat when people say that Obama's patriotism shouldn't be questioned. Sure, he a patriot, but let's not pretend that it's some sort of a blanket term...it is possible to be more (or indeed less) patriotic than someone else. In the same way that I wouldn't call Obama unintelligent, but if he was running against Einstein then, yeah, maybe there's a point to be made that he's not the smartest guy in the race. Is that really so offensive? </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div>Gary Bowmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07654707005519818804noreply@blogger.com1