Yesterday on Meet The Press, John McCain said:
“Do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course,” Mr. McCain told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” which was taped in Waterloo, Iowa. “But I’ve stood up against my party — not just President Bush, but others — and I’ve got the scars to prove it.”
Ok, thank you Senator McCain for linking yourself to Bush. Thank you. Case Closed.
Now, this is not the first time he used that line about standing up to his party and having the scars to prove it. I think he has used it in all three debates, and no doubt he has used it on the campaign trail. Thus, I have to ask…. What scars?
What scars has John McCain received from being an asshole to his colleagues on Capitol Hill? McCain likes to talk about how he is not liked by his Republican colleagues, but that is not because he voted against a Bush tax cut or because he pushed campaign finance reform. His colleagues don’t like him because John McCain is an asshole. Literally. His personality stinks. He is a pompous elite entitled hothead who has almost come to blows with any number of his colleagues over his 26 years in Washington. The key word there is “almost.”
To date, John McCain has not suffered or provoked any physical altercation on Capitol Hill. Thus, it stands to reason he has not suffered any scars.
Indeed, the only visible scars John McCain has are a result of his skin cancer surgery back in 2001. And his only visible scar from his Vietnam POW days is his physical inability to lift his arms above his shoulders. I am sure he has more scars from his other cancer operations, and as a result of his service in Vietnam. But what I am less sure about is the existence of scars from standing up to his Party.
Maybe John McCain does have scars. Maybe mental ones. Many narcissists do not understand why people do not like them, and they are hurt by it. Maybe John’s years of acting like a hotheaded asshole in Washington have left him without any real friends in his later years. Maybe that is a scar.
I don’t know, I just find this repetitive slogan that McCain has the scars to prove it distasteful, for in my mind, he is devaluing the very real scars he has while at the same time inappropriately referencing his very real scars, if you can understand the paradox.