The Real Problem with McCain (And Romney, Hillary, etc.)

Watching last night’s GOP debate for as long as I could stomach it, McCain stood out for his speech, demeanor, and body language. Words that came to mind describing him were: smug, sneering, arrogant know-it-all, boorish, discourteous, laugh-in-the-face-of-those-who-disagree, the world owe’s him everything, the world had better comply OR ELSE, dishonest, slippery. Those were my more moderate thoughts.

It strikes me that McCain fits in perfectly with what Clyde Wilson calls “the Yankee Problem.” “By Yankee I do not mean everybody from north of the Potomac and Ohio. Lots of them have always been good folks. The firemen who died . . . on September 11 were Americans. The politicians and TV personalities who stood around telling us what to think about it are Yankees.”

“I am using the term historically to designate that particular ethnc group descended from New Englanders, who can be easily recognized by their arrogance, hypocricy, greed, lack of congeniality, and penchant for ordering other people around . . . . [They] have never given up the notion that they are the chosen saints whose mission is to make America, and the world, into the perfection of their own image.”

“Hillary Rodham Clinton . . . is a museum-quality specimen of the Yankee — self righteous, ruthless, and self-aggrandizing.”

The same goes for McCain and the rest, except for the prototypicl anti-Yankee, Ron Paul, whose character is exactly the opposite in every way.

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8:52 am on January 31, 2008