As establishment Republicans rally to the defense of censured Senator John McCain, the stay at home moms, small business owners, laborers, and community organizers of the Arizona Republican Party wonder how the tables were turned by the mainstream media so quickly. Suddenly, the marginalized taxpayers are the bad guys, and the guy who has never heard of a war he didn’t want to fight, is the victim?
Sarah Palin, who McCain launched into the national spotlight and pots of money, is preaching to her loyal followers about the virtue of loyalty. She tells them, “We live in a time of diminishing virtues because of societal influence towards total self-centeredness. This is unfortunate and makes raising families, conducting business, and governing that much more challenging. I know how important the virtue of loyalty is because in politics, it’s pretty much nonexistent. I stand on that most important virtue and answer those asking today: ‘Yes, I am proud to have been asked to run with him in 2008, and he is my friend.’”
Right Sarah, he is your friend. He took you from obscurity to power. You should be loyal and grateful for the rest of your life. To do otherwise would be.. well.. anything but virtuous.
But to the grassroots, John McCain has not been so generous. In fact, his machine has squashed the hopes and dreams of individuals and communities across the state of Arizona. His machine determines who will and who will not get the chance to represent the people who live in this diverse and wondrous state.
He deserves no loyalty, and he has given none.
Instead, he has hurled epithets and dropped bombs on the people of this state, and more importantly, he has done so to the people who elected him.
He has turned his back on the people of Southern Arizona and the troops on the ground in his refusal to defend the A-10 against the big spending, fighter jet-loving leadership in the Air Force.
And Palin wants us to believe that we owe him loyalty? He sits on the Armed Services Committee with Senator Kelly Ayotte and yet, he refuses to sign on to save the plane and the base upon which nearly a million of his constituents in Arizona rely along with countless combat troops in war zones.
Sarah, go back to obscurity. Get out of the spotlight and make room for people who make decisions based on facts and not feelings. You may feel some loyalty, but we feel no shame in censuring a man who has doomed our community and the troops on the ground to a very dim future.
It looks as if even Palin’s biggest fans and loyal supporters are asking why she threw many of them under the bus with this latest move.
We understand loyalty; we value loyalty. But what about being loyal to the Constitution and public service? What about his loyalty to his constituents, who believed him when he said he was going to build that dang fence?
McCain has not been loyal to Palin other than the fact he did not publicly criticize her like he does Senators Cruz or Paul, or his own constituents. His handlers did the trashing for him after the 2008 elections. On that note, Palin may be a decent person, but she must acknowledge that McCain has let real people down severely in Arizona. As his ‘friend,’ perhaps Palin should consider taking him aside to convince him to not run again and to call off his media hounds demonizing the people of Arizona.
Sarah – Perhaps it is about time some loyalty was shown toward the hard-working men and women of this state with McCain doing the virtuous thing of standing by the principles he campaigns on.