So. For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk.
It seems like most of the early chatter about this takes on the question of whether Sen. McCain was screwing the lobbyist. Nobody cares. Well, check that, I'm sure lots of people care, although a lot fewer than the media seem to think. Really, the number of people who do not want to think about John McCain having sexual relations with that woman has got to be very high. Right?
On the other hand, the idea that Sen. McCain thinks it's insulting to question his relationships with lobbyist and businesses gets to the heart of his character, I think. Here's a guy who took bribes, was caught, and then went on half-a-dozen little ethics crusades to make up for it, and now thinks he shouldn't have to answer questions about who has done him favors, and who he's done favors for. Well, Senator, who should have to answer such questions? And how would we know which Senators should have to answer such questions? Who makes those decisions?
Don’t get me wrong: I have no idea what the answers to those questions would be. Personally, I've thought John McCain stank of corruption since he married the Beer Queen and carpetbagged a House seat. It wasn't a surprise that he was Charles Keating's buddy; that's what I expected him to be, although letting the man pay for Bahamian vacations was tacky. Nor did I even personally believe in the New McCain, the reformer, largely because I thought the whole campaign finance thing was at best a distraction. Still. My Arizona-bred Democrat antipathy isn't the point.
The point is, when it comes to ethics, nobody gets a free pass because they've been a hero. If anybody has to answer questions, then everybody has to answer them, otherwise it's not an ethics system, it's just a different way of deciding who gets away with it.
It's called the Rule of Law. We used to feel pretty strongly about it in these parts.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.
Yeah, and another thing: Apparently, the NYT has been sitting on this for a while, and McCain’s campaign lawyered up and forced them to change the article around some. I wonder if the spring-autumn… well, spring-winter, really – anyway, I wonder if the romance aspect wasn’t manufactured by the lawyers specifically so that it could be denied truthfully, thus avoiding the whole sticky ethics of the situation.
peace
Matt
I think this story will wind up being good for McCain if people assume he slept with the lobbyist, because it makes him seem younger.
I don’t write for the late-night monologues, but I would guess that the joke will be that when a guy his age says he doesn’t remember, you have to believe him…
Meanwhile, it seems that he outright lied about the real content of the article, that is, the favors that he did for the people who the lobbyist worked for. Or maybe he just doesn’t remember.
Thanks,
-V.