Oh, sure, just not American.
Posted on 08/07/2014 8:46:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In the August issue of Townhall Magazine, where this column originally appeared, RedState director Bryan Pruitt makes the case for why it's far past time for Arizona Republicans to find a real conservative to represent their state.
It seems that you can’t go a day lately without Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appearing on television advocating the United States invade another country. On a recent particularly snarky appearance, when asked to name one country we absolutely shouldn’t invade no matter what the circumstance, an answer eluded him. Not even Canada, really?
Now of course, the context for the conversation was the Middle East, but it is illustrative of his worldview that he was left speechless when introduced to the idea of not using our military might. He would never think of such a thing.
The good senator may be a war hero, but even heroes sometimes lose their way when they have spent decades basking in the glow of their own heroism. It seems the senator didn’t learn the many lessons of that war, or the two in our most recent past. If left to his own devises, the sun would never set on John McCain’s American Empire. That was once said about Great Britain, and we see how well that turned out. But I guess those royals sure are fun to keep track of in the tabloids.
Conservatives encounter the world as it is, and take as fact that we cannot create mini-Americas around the globe with brute force. Our military strength is valuable, and as such, should be reserved and only deployed strategically when absolutely necessary. It is called the Department of Defense for a reason, not the Department of Attempt to Create a Perfect World.
Has McCain even spoken to many troops lately? These courageous men and women are ready to come home, recuperate, and prepare for the next battle that will face us someday down the road. There will be another challenge, most likely bigger than we now imagine. We need a military ready to do its job, not weighed down by never-ending peacekeeping and democracy-building missions in countries whose people never wanted us there in the first place.
There is also the issue of the financial impact this has on our country. More than a decade of war and trillions more in debt lands us in a precarious economic position no matter what the Democrats and liberal economists might say to the contrary. The United States government must, hopefully sometime very soon, start paying back the trillions we have borrowed against the country’s future. The only way to do this is to stop spending more than it receives in revenue. Perhaps not in our lifetime, but as conservatives, our calling is to leave the world better than we found it. Entitlements are obviously the largest part of the equation, but that is a subject for another column.
Defense spending is not far behind, and this is where many Republicans, led by the Pied Piper senior senator from Arizona and his friends, tend to lose their way. The simple fact is that our fighting force can be the strongest, most agile in the world without bankrupting our children’s children. Too many Republican lawmakers, wooed by maintaining outdated military bases that guarantee government jobs and reliable voters, try to equate rightsizing defense spending with a weaker military. The two are not one and the same.
And finally, there are the obvious geopolitical implications, as China and to a lesser extent Russia stand on the sidelines with Cheshire cat grins on their face, hoarding resources for the future, loaning us money to fight the permanent war, waiting for the right time to turn off the faucet of easy money, and watch the illusion come to an end.
McCain has an admirable record of service and a great life story. But every great life story includes a chapter where the torch is passed. McCain is up for reelection in 2016. It is never too early to begin identifying a real conservative in Arizona who recognizes both the value of our men and women in uniform and that a conservative defense policy doesn’t include American boots on every inch of land across the planet. It is about time McCain take a bow and exit stage left, I hear Arizona is nice this time of year.
My late father was on Okinawa as well.
“My late father was on Okinawa as well.”
And so was my late father, who was seriously injured after 45 days combat on the island.
He recovered and was waiting for assignment to the units preparing for amphibious landing on the Jap mainland, but saved by the nukes.
Same here. We’ll never know how many people (USA, allied and Japanese/Korean) that Harry Truman saved with that decision.
Gee, it took till 2014 for them to ask this question?
McCain has never been known for his intellectual prowess, but he loves the sound of his own voice, and he loves the limelight. Being a war hawk is the only tune he knows, and it is what keeps him near and dear to the neocons that keep reelecting him. Give America a war, and give America a tax break scheme, and he passes for conservative with the GOP, free to grow government, open our borders, make sure every leftest kook there is gets appointed to cabinet positions or to the courts..., whatever he can do to help Democrats, and keep the status quo of power elites.
The senile old fool shouldn’t be allowed to run for office again.
Nuke Eyeran.
Yes he has but he has hired three illegal Mexican day laborers to look for it for him.
I was thinking the same thing.
You ain't lien.
McCain, ROVE, McAmnesty, and a few others being on what seems like every news network every day is one of the main reasons I no longer watch network news.
McStain has been showing signs of senile dementia for several years now. He has no business sitting in the Senate.
I agree
“Same here. We’ll never know how many people (USA, allied and Japanese/Korean) that Harry Truman saved with that decision.”
Considerations like what Truman faced, and how he handled it are important in the long run. (More important than rehashing McCain continually)
We face an equivalent threat from worldwide Islamic expansion.
What will it take for us to recognize this? And what will we be prepared to do?
Oh, sure, just not American.
When Arab women are ugly, they’re UGLY and when they’re not, they’re HOT!
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