Three Roads Blog

This from the Harper’s magazine’s weekly e-newsletter:

Senator John McCain promised workers at Thompson Center Arms, a small-weapons factory in Rochester, New Hampshire, that he would “follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell” and “shoot him with your products.” McCain also promised that if he were elected “the background music would be ABBA in the elevators all over the White House” and proposed “Take a Chance on Me” as his campaign song.

Although it was a short-lived romance, there was a time when I was smitten with John McCain. (I made the mistake of actually taking a closer look at his positions on various issues.)

Still, there are aspects of his personality that I like, namely his surly, unscripted side. I’m not talking about the highly cultivated “maverick” shtick, but rather the side that’s not afraid to call a college kid a “little jerk” for asking him if he’s too old to be president. I find his notorious temper oddly appealing. (If he were elected, it would concern me more, but at this point his chances seem pretty slim.) And then there’s the ABBA quote. That’s just great. He’s a multifaceted guy. One minute it’s wild-west-, pulp-novel-style declarations of vengeance. The next it’s Swedish pop music in the White House.

The truculent quote above fits squarely with McCain’s surly side. But it also fits into the theme of overall Republican belligerence and false bravado, the kind exemplified by the Napoleon from New York, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani’s belligerence is purely demagogic—designed to cater to prejudice and insecurity. It is in no way meant to advance any kind of rational policy.

At least when it comes from McCain there seems to be an appreciation for the absurd, a degree of playfulness, even.