This is a crucial post from Crooks and Liars for disillusioned Dems (like me) and for anyone, anywhere who has considered voting for McCain (unlike me). It’s extracted from a June 19 post by Steve Benen at The Carpetbagger Report, the The Carpetbagger Report.
I’ve been disappointed by Obama’s recent stance on several issues, aptly summarized here, and have acknowledged the accuracy of the following:
As a result of Obama’s reversal on FISA, his very noticeable change in approach regarding Israel, his conspicuous embrace of the Scalia/Thomas view in recent Supreme Court cases, and a general shift in tone, a very strong media narrative is arising that Obama is abandoning his core beliefs for political gain (Salon).
But though I am all for casting a cold eye on Obama’s policy shifts and inconsistencies, I don’t wish to imply that he is less consistent than McCain. Let’s just review the list which Crooks and Liars has helpfully compiled:
[B]ack in 1999, McCain was walking a tightrope by calling himself pro-life on a personal level while at the same time assuring pro-choice voters for pragmatic reasons that “in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade.” Yet, today, McCain says bluntly right on his website that “John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned.”
- McCain was against the repeal of Roe v. Wade before he was for it.
- McCain was against torture before he was for it. Really for it.
- McCain was against crazy right-wing preachers like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson before he was for them.
- McCain was against Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy before he was for them.
- McCain was against shady Bush “Pioneer” Texas billionaire swift-boat financiers before he was for them.
- McCain was for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law before he was against it and began breaking it.
- McCain was against Grover Norquist, whom he called “corrupt, a shill for dictators“ before he was for him.
- McCain was against BJU because of its “hateful,” “racist and cruel” policies before he was for it.
- McCain was against ethanol before he was for ethanol and then he was against it again.
- McCain was against a Martin Luther King holiday before he was for it. …
And that’s not all. There’s many many more. In fact, here’s an even longer list. McCain has reversed his former positions to fall more in line with the Bush administration so many times now it’s really hard to tell Bush and McCain apart (Crooks and Liars)
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