Thursday, September 04, 2008
Character, Integrity, Judgment
Last February I wrote a post entitled "Is John McCain a Womanizer?" It was about an article in the New York Times describing a relation he had with a woman. I concluded that I couldn't tell if the relation was an intimate one. He had denied intimacy and I believed the denial. I went on to report that I had my own reasons for not voting for McCain and that I was not concerned about any alleged (or real) extramarital liaisons.
Finally, today, I received the following response from "Al" who posted the following comment:
Oh geez, not you too? When are we Americans going to understand that this whole issue goes to integrity and character? If you make a covenant with your wife and then regularly break for personal gain or pleasure, what's going to stop you from making a covenant with your country and then regularly breaking it for personal gain or pleasure? If a guy's own wife can't trust him to be honest and faithfu, why should the rest of us?
I disagree with "Al." I would never advocate voting for a candidate merely because he is honest, truthful, and faithful to his wife. I will support a candidate whose judgment I trust and who has opinions and intentions that I agree with. Let us take the example of John McCain. Many allege that he has good judgment. I can't endorse that allegation. I question his judgment. Many allege that he is truthful and has itegrity. I don't doubt that allegation. I believe that, except when he is making a campaign speech, he is truthful. He has some opinions about women's reproductive rights that I disagree with. He has promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade. I think that appointing any more ultra-conservative justices to the Supreme Court would be a bad mistake, one that future Presidents would take years to correct. I think I pointed out these reasons in my post. "Al" ignored my reasons and chided me for being tolerant of peccadillos committed by our Presidents.
Basically, I oppose Mr. McCain because I believe he is "honest and faithful." He has promised to appoint more justices like Alito, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas to the Supreme Court. I sincerely believe he will keep that promise if he is elected. The issue of Supreme Court packing is so strong with me that I will vote for any crooked rascal who will not make such appointments.
Finally, today, I received the following response from "Al" who posted the following comment:
Oh geez, not you too? When are we Americans going to understand that this whole issue goes to integrity and character? If you make a covenant with your wife and then regularly break for personal gain or pleasure, what's going to stop you from making a covenant with your country and then regularly breaking it for personal gain or pleasure? If a guy's own wife can't trust him to be honest and faithfu, why should the rest of us?
I disagree with "Al." I would never advocate voting for a candidate merely because he is honest, truthful, and faithful to his wife. I will support a candidate whose judgment I trust and who has opinions and intentions that I agree with. Let us take the example of John McCain. Many allege that he has good judgment. I can't endorse that allegation. I question his judgment. Many allege that he is truthful and has itegrity. I don't doubt that allegation. I believe that, except when he is making a campaign speech, he is truthful. He has some opinions about women's reproductive rights that I disagree with. He has promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade. I think that appointing any more ultra-conservative justices to the Supreme Court would be a bad mistake, one that future Presidents would take years to correct. I think I pointed out these reasons in my post. "Al" ignored my reasons and chided me for being tolerant of peccadillos committed by our Presidents.
Basically, I oppose Mr. McCain because I believe he is "honest and faithful." He has promised to appoint more justices like Alito, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas to the Supreme Court. I sincerely believe he will keep that promise if he is elected. The issue of Supreme Court packing is so strong with me that I will vote for any crooked rascal who will not make such appointments.
