Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill’d with the wild and wasteful ocean. — HENRY V

John McCain in Washington state’s closed primary. Interestingly, by the time Washington rolled around, McCain’s fate had long been decided; however, I still voted for him. I respected him as an honorable man and an American hero with a  principled, bi-partisan and practical approach to things. I have some minor tweaks and twinges from my service – I have  no idea how someone as wracked with pain and trauma and injury as McCain is can be as active and aggressive as he is. Of course, he’s a bit sociopathic – but then, he was a fighter pilot and they all have their issues. McCain is a throwback to guys like my Dad and his generation. I’d love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with him and just bullshit. It would be wonderful – he’s a man’s man.

But, I have spent a lot of the last five and a half years being pissed off at John McCain. He did something totally frivolous by selecting Sarah Palin; he compounded it by running to the right of his absurd opponent in the Republican primary for re-election to the Senate; his desire to be president had trumped country first when he rejected John Terry’s overtures to join the campaign on a national unity ticket in 2004 only to lust, LUST, after Liebermann and on and on and on. He endorsed Mitt Romney whom he is known to hate, which is just sad; he continues to oppose most forms of gay rights despite the best efforts of his wife and daughter to get him to think; he hasn’t raised unholy hell about Arizona’s drift to insanity whether with the Papers Please thing, the birtherism thing, and so on so much as drifted along on that current. He’s been a spoiled brat whining at Obama. What the hell happened?

A lot of times, when someone has a sea change in their personality, particularly an older and physically challenged man – and McCain has lots of those considering the torture in Vietnam, the cancers, and general stress – one might suspect a series of small strokes re-wiring the brain. Well, from the Maverick who went his own way representing the potential for limiting corruption in government through campaign finance reform and transparency, John McCain morphed into some sort of John Kyl ignoramus and Mitch McConnell corporatist clone. He didn’t embrace Ayn Rand, because frankly, the role of the patriot and soldier in her universe is to be a moronic tool of the wealthy. McCain isn’t a rocket scientist or a constitutional expert or a Stoic philosopher. HE’S  A GOODAMNED WARRIOR WITH THE FAULTS AND VIRTUES but HE’s NO ONE’S FOOL!

Now, a lot of the McCain stuff that’s emerged has been silly in some ways. McCain is not a reflective scholar personifying cool and irony. The guy boxed at the academy, he was a freaking Navy Fighter pilot. These guys, with a few exceptions, are impulsive, hot-tempered, kind of vulgar types, in the sense of being down to earth and gritty. They curse, tell dirty jokes, make fun of their friends and embarrass themselves, their wives and their kids in public. Politically correct, they aren’t.

McCain might have been Naval royalty, and he was – but, the services tend to knock the roy- out of you and turn it into LOYALTY. Loyalty to friends, to comrades, to country, to belief. They sit around and drink and bullshit and tell silly jokes. They are impulsive, they speak and act before thinking. A lot of fighter pilots are assholes. A couple of Navy fliers told me how much they hated TOP GUN, largely because the portrayals were so true. McCain was probably a lot like Maverick; Stockdale like Ice.

Admiral Stockdale may have become a modern American Montaigne or Marcus Aurelius, but his very exposure to philosophy came by impulse while doing a graduate program at Stanford. He wandered into the philosophy department and got his mind bitchslapped by a different way of thinking. Stockdale personified detachment and coolness in a way that Aurelius did for Rome. There doesn’t appear to have been a lot of love lost between McCain and Stockdale; so what? Different generations, different backgrounds. And, by becoming a Stoic philosopher who actually practiced that philosophy, Stockdale transcends things. Stockdale walked away from the Citadel because he decided that they were crazy and he wasn’t going to hang on to that at the price of his soul. I suspect McCain would have gotten to the same place, but it would have been messier.

I suspect that McCain has been fuming over the Supreme Court and Citizens United for as long as it has been on his radar. It declared his signature legislative accomplishment unconstitutional and basically turned politics back to the 1850s. If McCain is reminiscent of any historical political figure, I suspect he reminds us of Teddy Roosevelt. TR wasn’t exactly smooth, but he was passionate, honest an didn’t shy away from fights. McCain, I suspect, has been somewhat muted, licking his wounds from 2008 and wondering why the hell he’s bothered. Not being a deep thinker, that was probably uncomfortable. Loyalty binds him, and he couldn’t really say what he thought about that ruling without slamming the entire system and the Republican ascendency. If John McCain gives you his word, he will deliver – couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t. So, he undoubtedly despises people like Boehner and Cantor and McConnell; we know he regards Willard as something he’d scrape off his shoe.

So, it’s time for one more fight. By joining Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island in filing a friend of the court brief supporting Montana’s claim to be able to control the flow of money into state politics, McCain is throwing down a gauntlet. We’ll see who picks it up; I suspect that a revisit to the case might easily result in a complete reversal; Roberts is concerned about the Court’s Reputation and both he and Kennedy could swing based on the experience. They underestimated the cupidity of the rich and powerful by several orders of magnitude – however, John McCain called it when the decision was rendered and he’s been relatively quiet about it. I wish he’d stood and applauded when Obama called the Court on that nonsense, but I can understand why not. But now, he’s being John McCain. For the first time since 2000, McCain is letting himself be McCain – Country First, Straight Thinking and Straight Talk.

If this is a reasonable response, why do we need the nation-state? Or, multi-national states?

I just saw this particular piece about insurance companies providing armed escorts and establishing convoys for the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Seems that NATO, the UN, the EU and the various entities in that area have been unable to secure the seas and so private business has turned to the old profit motive. I immediately thought of letters of marque and the use of privateers…in other words, in a world in which austerity by government has passed economy and spiraled down to suicide, DYSTOPIA rules the waves. Now, I claim no expertise concerning the Law of the Sea, but I thought privateers and letters of marque went out with wigs, wooden ships, and the rise of the modern state.

After all, the events that established the United States as a world player if not power were those against pirates in the Mediterranean. Great Britain became great behind the wooden walls of the Royal Navy. Hell,  Julius Caesar first gained notice for action against pirates who had captured and ransomed him; Pompey became a hero of Rome (again) for eradicating the eastern Mediterranean of pirates.  And on, and on  and on…if government can not protect its commerce, care and educate its people, provide for the common defense, provide for the common defense thus securing the blessings of liberty for itself and its people then it has no purpose. Why do we need it? It’s ironic that the the fast patrol boats the article alludes to are surplus Swedish Navy ships…the relevance of the Swedish Monarchy will soon be exceeded by the irrelevance of the nation state.

Ayn Rand is chuckling in hell; Jefferson is shaking his head in heaven with Aristotle and Burke while sipping some suddenly bitter claret; Hobbs and Locke just spit coffee all over each other in shock in response to Drake’s news as he walked in the Spectator Coffee House in Piccadilly ; and, Decatur, Jones and Hull are staring at each other utterly dumbfounded. As they should…

A few things reassure me. Mercenaries have worked so well in the Horn of Africa and middle east in the past. I’m sure this future is as bright as any other flock of tame wild geese in history. Another is that bureaucracies get somewhat irate at threats to their survival. With the EU in economic disarray and the Greeks threatening the Euro, a private navy for rent protecting critical sea lanes might encourage the EU to do something kind of meaningful. Like imitate Jefferson and bitch slap some bad guys.

In an interview with ABC News yesterday, the President finally came out of the closet — kind of. He stated for the first time on the record that he supports gay marriage. But he stopped short of promising any executive or legislative action toward this cause. How convenient. Just the night before, North Carolina voted by a wide margin for a constitutional ban on gay marriage, becoming the 30th state to pass such a ban.

I admit that Obama’s vocal support for gay marriage is monumental. I also recognize that the issue of gay marriage is the next social battlefield in America. However, I hope this election does not get bogged down with social issues. High unemployment, the poor housing market, and a disaster of impending debt are the urgent and important issues. No one is going to be able to afford gay wedding ceremonies, easily accessible birth control, or teenage abortions if we don’t fix the economy.

That’s what killed Rick Santorum. I think Republicans and even some Democrats respect a politician that opposes gay marriage. There is a plausible argument there. Gay marriage seems contrary to the original definition, intent, history, and overall institution of marriage. But when a politician goes out and asks for a (federal) Constitutional ban on gay marriage, it seems zealous. In today’s modern times with real economic and international problems, do we really need to amend the Constitution of the United States for the sake of marriage? As much as I like Rick, I think he let his social convictions get the best of him.

To some people (the economy be damned!) gay marriage is a human and civil right. But I disagree. A right is not something the government can give you; it is something they can’t take away from you. I believe this is the big misconception of liberal thinking and the entitlement culture. Freedom to choose your work, life, home, and leaders is a right. But jobs, education, and healthcare are not rights. You are not born with them. Marriage is the same. Who you choose to be with is a right, but government benefits and recognition related to this choice are a privilege. I think the only right that is compromised in prohibiting gay marriage is the right not to be discriminated against. Heterosexuals can marry who they are naturally attracted to, but homosexuals cannot.

Homosexuality is not an uncommon phenomenon. It has been around since the beginning of time, and is a small part of all of us. But as much as I respect the nature and history of homosexuality, I do not support nor encourage it. All other social factors being equal, homosexuality is atypical to, and less salutary than, normal romantic and sexual behavior. In the realm of evolution and biology it is deficient in that it does not perpetuate the species. Also, acts of sexual intimacy between gays require at least one form of sodomy, which is traditionally less sanitary than conventional intercourse. There are also inherent disadvantages in parenting. To me, these are signs of human dysfunction that I find hard to promote.

However, I don’t condemn homosexuality either. I believe almost all homosexuals have a neurologically wired mental and emotional disposition to it. They engage in relationships and sex with other consenting homosexuals, without hurting others. I like gays, but they usually don’t like me, because of their liberal politics and hyper-sensitivity. And despite my sharp comments on evolution and sodomy, I don’t believe they have anything to be ashamed of.

People might ask me, what if your son or daughter were gay? I would love and support them. I might even support gay marriage on the political front, but for very selfish reasons. I would do it to show my kids support, not because I felt it is was right in my heart. The same if I were gay. I would want my kids to be straight. Not because of the social challenges they might face, but because I would want my kids to have all the things heterosexuals take for granted and homosexuals have to compensate for in their relationships. More than anything, I would want them in the body they feel most comfortable in.

Many liberals try to frame gay marriage as a civil rights issue, which to me is an absolute joke. Homosexuals are fighting for nominal recognition with gay marriage, not human integrity. Not being married (single people for instance) is no less dignified in society today than being married. Black folks and other minorities on the other hand fought for voting rights, criminal justice, safety, and civility. Gays have these rights already. Any claim of equivalency between the two movements is ludicrous. A similar weak equivalency was made by teachers and union clowns in Wisconsin between their protest and the Arab Spring. One group was fighting for more leverage in contract negotiations, the other for the right to walk down the street without being shot at or imprisoned. Preposterous comparisons.

The shame is that these beliefs too often fall along religious lines. I am Christian, but I really don’t think my religion plays a role in my beliefs. You shouldn’t need to be Christian to think homosexuality is a bit unnatural. The same goes for abortion. I hate the way abortion falls along religious lines too. Do you really need to believe in God to think that terminating a living fetus with lungs and a heart and a little brain is not the right thing to do? How does that not transcend religion? I’ll never get it.

Despite all the strong opinions that gay marriage and abortion might invoke, they are not the pressing issues of this country in the 2012 election cycle. But if they were, I would propose a tradeoff. Get all the Republicans to support gay marriage, and all the Democrats to support a repeal on Roe v. Wade. Because in reality, Pro-Choice people don’t want to murder, and religious folks don’t’ want to discriminate, even if each ignores these acts as “murder” or “discrimination” in the first place.

As far as the President’s statements, the guy is playing politics. He knows his very liberal base is unenthusiastic. In fact, they have been downright disappointed with him on this issue. But he stayed away from supporting gay marriage to keep independents and moderate republicans within reach. Now he has a sense that they are no longer in play, so he’s coming out. The President never ceases to amaze me on how he will say just about anything the uninformed masses want to hear. But that’s for another blog.

The thing I really don’t understand about gay marriage is why do homosexuals want to fight for marriage so badly. If they have civil rights, and can attain the rights bestowed by civil unions, then why marriage? Don’t they know that 50% of marriages end in divorce? Don’t they know that marriage kills otherwise healthy relationships? Wait until they get a taste of divorce over the next couple of decades. Then you will see gays first in line to repeal gay marriage. What better excuse not to pop the questions than, “I’m sorry honey, it’s against the law”?

10. His last name, which is so much fun to Google

9. His views on reproductive rights and pornography, making him unappealing to both women and men

8. The fact that he has evidently fantasized about man-on-dog action

7. Lines like “You are black by the color of your skin. You are not homosexual, necessarily, by the color of your skin”

6. The innocent deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes whenever he talks about Evolution or Global Warming

5. His being one of the greatest thinkers of the Eighteenth Century

4. His holier-than-thou smirky little fuckface

3. My having invested all my discretionary funds in a company that makes sweater vests

2. The fact that, while Romney may be batshit crazy, Santorum leaves him in the dust

1. How he’s just so gay!
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

One of the benefits of the profound ignorance of a large swathe of the American people lies in their inability to recognize irony. So, when a first term member of congress who is probably looking at being a one term member of Congress pulls something out not from the Karl Rove playbook but the Joe McCarthy playbook, people will miss it. Our political discourse has skipped self-satire and gone straight to slapstick. As Gibbs rule number 7 puts it, “when you lie, be specific.”

Allan West, Congressman from Mesron and Florida, is now trying to win a redistricted, largely Democratic district by railing against the Democratic Progressive Caucus as “Communists’ announcing that he’s “heard that 80 member of congress are communists.” You see, the American Communist party, the old Gus Hall

Powerhouse, has said that the Congressional Progressive Caucus is reasonably close to endorsing their goals. (In the spirit of full disclosure, another website  where I write endorsed Gus Hall for President in 2008. Mr Hall died in 2000. In 2004, we endorsed Cthulhu and Anarchist Pastry Chef Crispin Sartwell as the ticket. I’m not sure whom we will endorse this year, but right now, Allen West is shortlisted for something!) I’m not sure what those could be, since the Communist Party of the USA was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Soviet Union of Socialist Republics which…no longer exists. Well, the language is degraded by more than West’s blathering, but come on. Read something written by somebody not John Birch or J. Edgar Hoover that explains what Communism is as opposed to what you think it is…a vague threat to take your guns, your government health care, your government pension and your government roads, schools, infrastructure and pollute your precious body fluids while letting your children run wild having abortions and contraception and stuff, especially the gay sex folk. Dudes and Dudettes, Democrats are to Communists in much the way that the Republicans are to the Freemen of Montana.

West also babbled that Barrack Obama is afraid to debate him. Really?  Loudmouthed first termer thinks that the President of the United States should get on a stage in South Florida and debate him? Seriously, if the President has a few spare minutes to waste on West, he should devote it to shooting some hoops with his secret service detail or giving Bo a bath with the girls. Total lunacy… Seriously, the man is a deranged, megalomaniacal dweeb and needs to be kept in government custody to protect himself and his loved ones from his next over the top appearance or action.

Now, as I listened to the video (let’s hold the musing on that trope for another time), I got the sense that a good number of Mr. West’s constituents were laughing at him. It’s possible that this is gem came out not so much as a Michelle Bachmann unsolicited bit of insanity as a response to poking the bear. West is not exactly known for reasoned discourse, a sense of balance or proportion and measured response to provocation.

Now, the guy could have been court martialed for war crimes instead of being given a slap on the wrist and allowed to retire — should have been court martialed for war crimes, since he fired a pistol at a prisoner of war in order to make him provide information — and has disgraced the nation ever since. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in Army; he was in a command position in combat; and he ended up relieved of command and given the opportunity to retire — which he took. I think West is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder of an incredible magnitude and should be treated with respect for his service, compassion for his condition while being protected from himself and his demons. Well, Gulf I gave us Timothy McVeigh; Gulf 2 is giving us Allan West, Republican congressman from Florida.

This is where the Republican leadership needs to step up, get West under control or expect a far rougher response than the sort given so far. This is pretty funny, actually. “Chellie is a Democrat, a farmer and a Lutheran but no, she is not a Communist,” said Willy Ritch, spokesman for Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), also a vice chair of the caucus.”

While there is no Dean of the House Irony position, Barney Frank has had fun with West and ilk over the years. He’s gleefully chucking over this one, saying that West was dumber than Joe McCarthy. Well, duh, West was and is an officer, albeit a disgraced officer. No surprise that when he goes stupid, he goes very stupid.

(Note: In the spirit of full disclosure, and as a one-time student of Luther and the Protestant Reformation, I should point out that Luther had some commie-pinko-tendencies prior to the Peasants Revolt. The whole concept of grace in the Pauline-Augustinian-Luther tradition has a pretty strong egalitarian twist to it. But in general, in Wisconsin, yeah equating Lutheran Democrats to Communists is like equating Allen West to Allen A’ Dale, which I guess would make Boehner Robin Hood and Cantor Little John.)

As that great American political commentator Bugs Bunny would put it, “What a maroon!”