McCain the warlike

Here's a link to my latest piece for Antiwar.com, a review of Matt Welch's excellent recent book, "McCain: The Myth of a Maverick." The book cuts through the heroic history and the media's love affair with with the 2000 Straight Talk Express to check out what McCain really thinks and what kinds of policies move him. The bottom line is that what his philosophy has evolved into is "national greatness" nationalism as expressed mostly through military action. He could be, if elected, the most militaristic president we've had in decades. He missed a chance to distance himself from Bush and identify with Petraeus on his recent trip when Petraeus talked about the lack of Iraqi government progress toward reconciliation. He could have talked nicely but tough to Maliki, but he seems so in love with the idea of the Iraq war that he doesn't seem to have thought of it.

And on the domestic side, he's about as far from a conservative, let alone a free-market advocate, as one can get. Add the legendary temper and possible instability, something he's displayed ever since he was a kid. He strikes me as actively hostile to liberty and a fairly complete disaster.