McCain

Thankfully, Senator McCain's speech last night was a reprieve from the hate-fest run by Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday. It had some moments that bothered me, but I left the speech remembering why I can't hate John McCain. He may be conservative, he may be dangerously unpredictable, he may be a philanderer, he may be he may have sold his independence this winter for a boost up the ladder, and he may be gratuitously milking his war stories to gather all the slack he can to make up for those flaws, but he really does believe he can make America a better place, and that's all he wants. I just can't agree with his definition of "better" or the means he's going to use to get there.

There are two parts that stuck in my craw. The first:

Matthew died serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their son loved so well and never returned to remains safe from its enemies.

McCain wears the bracelet and pledges to honor the memory of a man who died fighting an unnecessary war that the good Senator helped us get into. He pledges to keep our country safe from a country that never posed a direct threat to us. John McCain helped send Matthew Stanley to his death in pursuit of a farce, and now comforts himself with the belief that he's on the side of the soldiers, and uses that poor boy's name to gather votes. It's exploitation of the most petty sort that all politicians get into, and I really wish they'd knock it off.

The other thing that bothered me came after his lengthy depiction of life as a POW. He started talking about why he loves America so much, and it broke my heart because it's so far from what his party has been pushing our country to. So I'm just going to post the text, with some links added, so you can get the flavor of how much this tore me up.

I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith in the wisdom, justice, and goodness of its people.

I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again; I wasn't my own man anymore; I was my country's.

I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need.

My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.

My friends, if you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist...

Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an -- an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed.

Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier, because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

I'm going to fight for my cause every day as your president. I'm going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank him, that I'm an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on Earth. And with hard work -- with hard work, strong faith, and a little courage, great things are always within our reach.

Fight with me. Fight with me.

Fight for what's right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

John McCain has a beautiful vision of what America could be again, and he's leading us away from it.