Ryan ChartrandMeghan Moore, you could have done a better job on your “slam” article of Jacki DeMarchi’s guest column from last week. But I won’t be as rude and insulting as you are and call you ignorant. Let me break it down:
Jacki was not insinuating that the sole fact that John McCain is a veteran means he is the only one who is capable of managing the war. But you know what does make him the only candidate capable of managing the war? Unlike Barack Obama, he does not sit in Washington making up his foreign policies without looking to see what is actually happening on the ground. Does it really make sense to you that a freshman senator with little to no experience should suggest he knows better than Gen. David Petraeus, a four-star general who has his Ph.D. in international relations and who has bravely served as central commander in Iraq since February of last year? This May, the U.S. casualty number in Iraq was the lowest since the initial invasion. And even though any number of casualties beyond zero should not be considered good, the fact that we are currently winning and succeeding in Iraq cannot be overlooked by anyone. However, Obama tries really hard to do so by not visiting the country for two years and completely ignoring the advice from the generals on the ground.
In reference to the GI bill, you have the gall to accuse McCain about not caring about our soldiers? His son Jimmy recently returned from Iraq as a member of the Marine Corps. The night McCain won the New Hampshire primary, his son Jimmy was helping dig out a truck that had gotten stuck in a ditch in Iraq. But McCain never talks about it on the campaign trail because he does not want to exploit his son’s service for political gain. And the only reason I am writing about it now is to silence people like you who cry, “He hates the soldiers!” McCain opposes Sen. Jim Webb’s GI bill, as he stated, because it offers no incentive for soldiers to stay in the military, and it could lead to active servicemen and servicewomen to return to civilian life. At a time when the Pentagon is struggling to recruit soldiers, do you believe that’s what we need? Senator McCain has offered his own version of a GI bill, which offers more benefits in proportion to the length of service. Not only does that still help soldiers and veterans’ benefits, but it also encourages people to STAY in the military and will not have such a negative impact on retention rates.
And the Vicki Iseman story? You’re kidding, right? You said it yourself: “suspected sex scandal.” That was such a terrible, unsupported article published by the New York Times. It caused such an outrage because everyone knew the story had no more solid evidence than articles written in US Weekly or any tabloid magazine. And the fact that any candidate for president can be completely free of lobbyists is absurd.
For example, here are a few of Obama’s lobbying rules. He says it is all right to take money from state lobbyists since he doesn’t have influence on the state level. Obama has even taken $15 million from law firms that employ lobbyists. (McCain has taken $4.2 million.) And to Obama, if they’re former lobbyists, it’s all good: Steve Hildebrand who was a deputy campaign manager, Teal Baker and Emmett Beliveau. To me, once a lobbyist, always a lobbyist. And now I wonder: what has the Big O promised the lobbyists they employ?
McCain has compromised. The environment. Campaign finance reform. Immigration. And although all those things might be somewhat unfortunate to conservatives, it says a lot more about McCain’s character than Obama’s, who is the most liberal senator in the Senate. I’m sorry, but your and others’ arguments about McCain being a third-term Bush is so misguided and, frankly, rubbish. He truly is the only candidate we can count on to put partisanship behind him for the good of our country.
And tell me, why are you suggesting that Ms. DeMarchi READ a transcript of a speech to HEAR what a great speaker he is? Did you mean she should LISTEN to one of his speeches? Because, you know, eyes are for seeing and ears are for hearing. And what’s wrong with saying McCain is a good speaker anyway? She never said Obama lacks oral skills or that he can’t give a good speech. But I like that a lot of people use his speeches as a reason to vote for him. And let me use your twisted logic used to argue against Ms. DeMarchi: if we should elect a great speaker as president, we should have elected Hitler back in the ’40s. Yeah, your logic doesn’t work too well, does it?
So tell me what we have to look forward to with Obama. Opposition to seasoned military leaders who are trying to ensure success in Iraq? Unwillingness to compromise? Hypocrisy with regards to lobbyists? A good speech or two? You have me the least bit convinced.
“We’re Americans, and we will never surrender. They WILL.” – John McCain
Matthew Peralta is a political science freshman, treasurer of the Cal Poly College Republicans and a guest columnist for the Mustang Daily.