He is a “Maverick” Allright

There is a man who on several occasions has admitted that he “doesn’t really understand economics.”

There is a man (he happens to be a U.S. Senator) who for the past five months has not attended a single meeting of his legislative body, nor has participated in a single debate, nor has cast a single vote on our nation’s critical issues—including the recent economy stimulus package.

There is a man who only a couple of weeks ago said “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

There is a man who only three days ago had not even bothered to read a two-and-a-half-page summary of his president’s plan to prevent our economy from plunging into a depression that could rival the one in the 1930s.

There is a cynical old man (they call him a “maverick”) who was behind in the polls and decided to “put country first“ by using a national crisis to try to salvage his candidacy.

There is a maverick who, when Democrats and Republicans were nearing an agreement on a bailout plan, asked his Republican cronies: “Hold on now, I am coming to Washington to be the hero…just cool it, and together we will save the nation, and I will get the credit, and the boost I desperately need in my flailing campaign.“

There is a maverick who dramatically parachuted into Washington and—without having anything substantial or constructive to add to the national debate (How could he, see all of the above)—jeopardizes the entire bailout deal and, consequently, the economic security of this nation.

The name of this man is John McCain, and he wants to be your President.

Perhaps the maverick will pull this stunt—this irresponsible gambit—off. Perhaps his Republican cronies will come up with an alternate plan, one that may have some merit, one that may be voted on, and one that may yet pass. But the question remains, why couldn’t McCain have read the two-and-a-half-page summary beforehand and why couldn’t he have been in consultation with Republicans in Washington all along. Why all the theatrics, why all the “mavericking?”

Why take our nation to the brink of disaster?

By the way, one of the definitions of “maverick” is “an unbranded calf or yearling.”