McCain The Traitor

I've listened for nearly two days now to pundits singing the praises of John McCain's concession speech, and to President Bush's remarks on Senator Obama's victory, and I can't take it any more.

Anyone who paid any attention at all to John McCain's campaign for President of the United States, and then heard his concession speech, would have no choice to conclude that McCain is a traitor.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

Wait a minute, now. Didn't you and your campaign just get done saying that Senator Obama was a socialist, a "pal" to terrorists, an agent for the immediate death of Israel, an accessory to voter fraud, and a peddler of sexually explicit material to kindergartners? How can you, a self-professed America-loving patriot, agree to not only capitulate to this fiend, but actually pledge to abet him?

The answer to that is simple. Senator McCain is not a traitor, at least to nothing other than his own honor. He knew all along that this was all just bullshit, things he had to say to try to get elected.

I know, you're thinking, "Hey, that's politics." To a certain degree, that is true. However, I would submit that there is a key difference here. Usually, the mud that gets slung in political campaigns doesn't rise to the level of painting your rival as an enemy of the state. You can work with a guy who lied about getting a beej, and still claim to love your country.

Senator McCain took a baby step towards unringing the bell he rang during the campaign. He fell far short of what was necessary to restore his honor. Certainly, it would have been much worse if his speech had consisted of, "This sucks! There is no way I'm working with that socialist, terrorist-loving EmEffer!" But that is not the bar against which he should be judged.

Senator McCain needs to denounce and reject his hateful rhetoric. Sure, you could argue that McCain doesn't speak for the McCain campaign, but he sat in that campaign for 20 months and listened to it.

There's a need to heal, and I commend McCain for recognizing that, but his effort was wholly inadequate. He should have a press conference, and specifically address all of the lies and nonsense he told about now-President-Elect Obama.

I also call on Senator Obama to denounce any suggestion by his own campaign that McCain is an enemy of the state. That would be a damned short news conference.

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal" , on BlogTalkRadio Tues - Thur at 9pm, and Fri, & Sat at 11pm. Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.