Straight Talk, Crooked Walk

As conservatives come to terms with Bush and crew not being real conservatives and liberals come to terms with Hillary and Murdoch being BFF, it is time once more to remember that there are people who have principles and live them and people who pretend principles so they can achieve power backed by people who have principles and live them. The consultant world encourages the latter because winning by selling out is considered more important than holding firm to solid beliefs and letting history and reality come back to confirm their utility, working to pull the center back toward you rather than chasing it as your opponents pull it toward them. The idiot quote from John "Straight Talk, Crooked Walk" McCain that The Boy cites below is a great example of someone proud how he has given up on ideas and commitment and sold out whatever principle he may have had.

The saddest thing about what passes for leadership these days is how McCain's cynical BS is the CW among our "leaders" in government and media, showing as well as anything the depth and extent of muck and crap that will have to be cleaned out if/when someone of real principle and commitment ever manages to get control of the wheel. If it's true that, in a democracy, we get the government we deserve, the McCains and Hillarys and Begalas and Roves reflect an image that points to an end that proves Ben Franklin's skepticism about our ability to keep our Republic completely right. One of the biggest mistakes Jimmy Carter ever made was seeking a government as good as our people. What if we've gotten it?