Take Back the Flag

McCain’s campaign style seems to follow a simple pattern:  pander in the morning and then talk himself into an illogical black hole after lunch.  Evenings are reserved for no-press private fundraisers to instill some terrorist fear into rich Americans.  And McCain and the Republicans are trying to stick the flip-flip label on Obama?  Some polls show clearly that Americans prefer leaders who adjust their positions and strategies based on actual situations.  (McCain believes in this principle as well, but only if it’s his position and it’s about staying in Iraq with a slightly different strategy that also happens to wear down our Armed Services while ignoring the terrorists in Afghanistan, which, by the way, he can’t find on a map.  I’d cover McCain’s most recent geography debacle, but I think we’ve been there, done that…at least for this week.)

McCain is worse than a flip-flop; he simply does not make sense.  His ideas are not only conservative, they are downright illogical.  His latest vague position on gay adoption is the perfect example.  If he, or another conservative, was opposed to gay adoption because they believe God intended for a child to have a mother and a father and marriage is only between a man and a woman, I would vehemently disagree and find their position discriminating and unjust.  Yet I would respect their convictions and trust they were only believing what they thought was best, and not acting out of hate, spite, or fear (read:  Republicans).  But that’s not John McCain:

“Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said in an interview with The New York Times that was published Sunday that he opposed allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. “I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption,” he said.

When asked in the interview if he opposed gay adoptions even if the alternative was that the child remain in an orphanage, Mr. McCain — who, with his wife, Cindy, has an adopted daughter — said that he wanted to encourage adoption and make the process easier, but that adoptive parents should be mixed-sex, traditional couples.” (NYT)

We’ve already reached a contradiction at this point; McCain seems to believe adoption is important in our society, but not quite important enough for just anyone.  No, McCain believes we should encourage adoption, unless the couple is a loving partnership of two individuals of the same sex.  How could a kid survive with two loving parents?

McCain was smart enough not to offer adoption as an “alternative” solution to abortion.  If he goes there, then confusing maze of McCain logic will reach a whole new level of insanity.  More likely, he just forget to connect the two.

Then, of course, the McCain campaign to the rescue!  McCain spokeman, the noble Tucker Bounds admitted his boss could “have been clearer in the interview.”  No surprise there.

“John McCain could have been clearer in the interview in stating that his position on gay adoption is that it is a state issue, just as he made it clear in the interview that marriage is a state issue,” Tucker Bounds, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement. “He was not endorsing any federal legislation.” (NYT)

And, let the vague concepts roll:

“He recognizes that there are many abandoned children who have yet to find homes. John McCain believes that in those situations that caring parental figures are better for the child than the alternative.” (NYT)

Thought we had it figured out above, where it was simply a case of John McCain supporting adoption, but not for gay couples, many of which are open, willing, and interested in taking in and caring for a child.  After the “clarification,” McCain supports adoptions, but not for gay couples.  McCain has a strong opinion on adoption and who should be eligible (not to mention a similar restrictive opinion on marriage), but it is state issue, and McCain isn’t supporting any federal legislation.  But, after all that, there are some instances where McCain indicates that even a gay couple adoption would be better than the alternative.

I hope this nonsense doesn’t fly.

McCain flopped both ways on this one.  He pandered to the right and tried to stay “strong” on restricting gays in America while supporting an important issue in adoption.  He pandered to the left by conceding that he is human, and realizes that even though he may not prefer it, gay adoption might be the best situation.  (I read it as more the lesser of two evils, but he tried to convey it as the optimal action in some circumstances.)  Anyone else want to schedule a pander or two with McCain?

This situation is ridiculous, and sadly quite representative of McCain on the issues.  Imagine McCain as the referee in a North Carolina versus Duke NCAA college basketball game.  He’d be the ref causing frustration and headaches with fans from both schools.  You know, the kind that really ruins the game.  He wouldn’t be able to quite keep up with the pace, and then he’d make some bad calls.  Not just mistakes, but grave errors.  Then, after botching a call and irking Duke, he’d pander right back to them by calling a preposterous foul on North Carolina.  Nothing good comes of a game like this, and nothing good will come from McCain’s wafting “position” on adoption.