The American Spectator

br> Walnut Cove, North Carolina /p>

My goodness, Mr. Samples has just made that 08 migraine really start to throb. Has it really come down to this, McCain v. the Constitution? What is it about McCain that Republicans don’t quite get? Or rather, to be fair, that Independents and Democrats, his true coalition, don’t get? After all, McCain doesn’t hide his intentions all that well, except perhaps, his deceptive and mean spirited ploys with the Immigration bill, and his not-so-comical intellectual gyrations on behalf of the “Gang of 14.”

As Mr. Antle pointed out Monday, McCain himself has said it all about the foibles of Washington pols; “Washington changed us.” Indeed it has. I believe psychologists have an explanation for this desire by one of the Keating Five to punish the rest of America for his failings; it’s called projection.

p>So let me see if I have this right; another Clinton presidency (oh, it really hurts now) will simply appoint liberal jurists to re- write the Constitution, with an international flair, while a McCain presidency (*�%$#!!!) will simply cut and paste over the existing document, as has McCain-Feingold. Of course, both will do this with America’s best interest in mind; after all, we all need to be protected from ourselves, or am I projecting here? br> — A. DiPentima /p> p> Unfortunately, Mr. Samples is correct. John McCain either has no understanding of the U.S. Constitution or doesn’t give a fig about it. I suspect he doesn’t understand it. But what else would one expect from someone who was at the bottom of his class at Annapolis? Or who was dumb enough to be bamboozled by Charles Keating? Unfortunately, one would have to say that Jane Fonda is more supportive of the Constitution than is John McCain. I for one would never vote for McCain under any circumstances. I appreciate his military service, but certainly not his political service, which has been highly detrimental to the nation. He in fact should not only cease and desist in his presidential campaign, he should retire his Senate seat, and leave with dignity. I am one American who has long since tired of John McCain’s service to his nation, particularly as he wishes to dismantle the Constitution. Remember, Teddy Roosevelt is his idol, and Teddy Roosevelt was a Progressive, who left the Republican Party, after the Republican Party (Taft, et.al.) “scotched” his attempts to vitiate the U.S. Constitution. Say it out loud, John: You are neither a Conservative nor a Republican, and have no use for the Constitution. br> — Kent J. Lyon br> College Station, Texas /p>

The most important paragraph in Mr. Samples’s column is this:

“But as Welch points out, McCain sees distrust of government as ‘a ceiling on our greatness’ and contrary to fostering a proper pride in our institutions. Freedom of speech should give way to collective goodness.”