John McCain and the New York Times: Making the Right Enemies

One headline today is:  "John McCain at War with the New York Times

 

This is progress.  Oh, it is not much of a war.  The New York Times has become a newspaper of leftist, political hacks with no reputation left.  It has no influence left.  It is a paper on the decline, in profits and every other way. 

 

However, McCain has had a previous talent of making the WRONG enemies, and/or considering the wrong people as his enemies and the wrong people as his friends.  I am convinced that President Bush remained as popular as he did among conservatives, despite sabotaging conservatives in any number of ways on domestic policy, because he has a talent for making the RIGHT enemies. 

 

As I have said repeatedly in this blog, McCain has consistently been more ENTHUSIASTIC in attacking conservatives than he has been in attacking leftists--either politicians or in the media.  That has been one major problem I have had with McCain (although hardly the only one). McCan has always seemed to be more interested in sucking up to the mainstream media than standing up for Republicans and conservatives, or in taking on leftists.

 

Is that changing?  Maybe.  Maybe McCain has finally realized, after getting whacked with a 2 by 4 a number of times, that the media are NO LONGER HIS FRIENDS.  If conservatives don't regard him as such, and he continues to make it obvious that he regards conservatives as his enemies, then he has NO real friends to stand up for him--outside of those unreliable "moderate" independents who can't be counted on to stand up for much of anything. 

 

McCain has actually refused to be intimidated by Obama in the last week or two.  The media has become so obvious, that even McCain knows he is fighting the media as an arm of the Obama campaign.  McCain has further realized you don't win that kind of fight, where your opponent is going to get good press whether he deserves it or not, unless you take the OFFENSIVE.

 

This means that McCain has not publicly criticized any conservatives, as far as I know, for WEEKS.  I know that, deep down, this is d distressing to McCain, and that he longs for the good old days of media worship (now transferred to Obama, but which was ALWAYS going to be transferred to the Democratic nominee).

 

However, I have hopes that McCain may finally have realized that the "good old days" are gone forever  And there is even some hope that Republicans in general have realized that they can't just sit on their hands.  See yesterday's entry about the Republican revolt against Pelosi.

 

Can it continue? Will McCain KEEP making the right enemies.  Will he CONTINUE to stand up to the assertion that you can't criticize Obama because he is black--can't even criticize him for USING the fact that he is black?  Most importantly, will McCain start acting and sounding like a REAL conservative?  Don't hold your breath.

 

However, my Christian friends assure me that miracles happen.  We shall see.