Decision ‘08

Irony, Thy Name Is McCain

McCain agrees with the Religious Right on most things, but they hate him. Giuliani disagrees with the Religious Right on most things, but they (at least for now) love him.

Michael Kinsley on McCain:

McCain is like another larger-than-life character in American politics: Colin Powell. Both men are so admirable and so likable that people convince themselves against all evidence that Powell or McCain must agree with them on the big issues. In Powell’s case, the theory always was that he was speaking truth to power from within, while telling the necessary public fibs to hold onto the privileged position this service required. With McCain, something more magical is going on. He says plainly that he is for the war, or against abortion choice, and people hear the opposite. It’s a gift, I guess.

Ugh…that phrase again!

But tell me, isn’t ’speaking truth to power from within’ an oxymoron?…

4 Responses to “Irony, Thy Name Is McCain”

1 Sean P Says:
May 20th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Yeah, I can just see Colin Powell in a closed-door cabinet meeting, greeting everyone with a powerfist, shouting all his policy views through a bullhorn, wearing a “Free Mumia!” headband and a “Bush Knew” T-Shirt…. can’t you?
2 Fargus Says:
May 20th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Do you by definition have to lack power to speak truth to other power?
3 Mark Says:
May 20th, 2006 at 6:08 pm
Well, Fargus, I don’t know the answer, as a devoted enemy of the phrase, but it seems a contradiction in terms to me…
4 Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » George Will Looks To Me For Inspiration Says:
May 28th, 2006 at 10:37 am
[…] On May 20th of this year, I composed a groundbreaking post entitled Irony, Thy Name Is McCain that has proven so influential that George Will has expanded on the concepts therein for his latest piece, For McCain, A Surplus Of Irony. […]