BIGOTRY, APOLOGY, REPEAT AS NECESSARY

BIGOTRY, APOLOGY, REPEAT AS NECESSARY

The Rise of John McCain

Time after time, McCain weighs a decision. Then, after careful consideration, he chooses evil over good. In the short run, evil gets him what he wants. Later, when the devil comes to collect his due, McCain issues a retraction.

Running for president in 2000, John McCain squared off against George W. Bush in the key South Carolina primary. Asked whether the Confederate battle flag should continue to fly over the state capitol, McCain sided with the rednecks: "Personally, I see the flag as symbol of heritage."

A few months later, he'd lost South Carolina and quit the race. He apologized--not to the African-Americans he'd offended, but to a friendly audience of Republicans. "I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary," he admitted. "So I chose to compromise my principles." It wasn't the first time, or the last.

Also in 2000, McCain insulted Asians. "I hate the gooks," John McCain hissed, "and I will hate them for as long as I live...and you can quote me." After a few days of negative press attention, he took it back: "I apologize and renounce all language that is bigoted and offensive, which is contrary to all that I represent and believe."

What does McCain "represent and believe"? In 2000 McCain attacked George W. Bush for speaking at Bob Jones University, a freaky institution that smeared Catholics, banned jazz and interracial dating. Six years later, however, it was McCain's turn to suck up to the Christianist right. He appeared at the Rev. Jerry Falwell's extremist Liberty University, which--like BJU--bans gays and denies pregnant students the right to seek an abortion.

No apology for that one.

In 1983, John McCain was a freshman congressman from Arizona, then one of the most right-wing states in the country. In order to appease his Republican Party's base--racist whites--he voted against the bill that established Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. "I thought that it was not necessary to have another federal holiday, that it cost too much money, that other presidents were not recognized," he explained in 2000. Do Chester Arthur or Gerry Ford deserve holidays? Anyway, MLK Day didn't cost employers a cent; Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday were replaced by the generic President's Day.

He also floated the "states rights" excuse (with its own racist signifiers) that referenced his support for Confederate "heritage" in South Carolina. "I believe it's an issue that the people of South Carolina can settle, just as we in Arizona settled the very divisive issue over the recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King as a holiday. I resented it a great deal when people from Washington and pundits and politicians and others came to my state to tell us how we should work out a very difficult problem."

Healthcare is "a very difficult problem." Iraq is "a very difficult problem." MLK Day, like the Confederate flag "issue," was a simple question of right and wrong.

True to his pattern, McCain understood that the racist pandering he used to launch his political career could come back to haunt him in the more enlightened--the John Birchers who contributed to his early campaigns might say "politically correct"--election year of 2008. Time for another apology: "I was wrong and eventually realized that, in time to give full support for a state holiday in Arizona," he concedes. "We can all be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing, and Dr. King understood this about his fellow Americans."

A little late?

"Well, I learned that this individual was a transcendent figure in American history, he deserved to be honored, and I thought it was appropriate to do so," McCain explained about his change of, um, heart. Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. McCain voted no on the MLK bill in 1983. That's 15 years later. How much longer did McCain need to "learn" about "this individual"?

The big question is: Is McCain racist? Or is he pandering to racists? And is there a difference?

His 2007 use of the term "tar baby" pretty much settles it. Unless, of course, you're a sucker for yet another apology: "I don't think I should have used that word and it was wrong to do so."

It's the 21^st century. Even Nazi skinheads don't use terms like "tar baby."

God, if you're up there, please grant us this wish: Don't let John McCain become president. But if you do, don't let him meet any foreign leaders who don't happen to be white.

(Ted Rall is the author of the book "Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?," an in-depth prose and graphic novel analysis of America's next big foreign policy challenge.)

PET FOOD UPDATE

Rat poison found in tainted pet food

ALBANY, N.Y. - Rat poison was found in the pet food suspected of causing kidney failure that killed at least 16 cats and dogs, but scientists still don't know how it got there, state officials said Friday.
The toxin was identified as aminopterin, which is used to kill rats in some countries, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said.
Aminopterin is not registered for killing rodents in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, though it is used as a cancer drug. State officials wouldn't speculate on how the toxin got into Menu Foods' now-recalled pet food but said no criminal investigations had been launched.
Scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell and at the New York State Food Laboratory tested three cat food samples provided by Menu Foods and found Aminopterin in two of them. Hooker said they would test individual components of the pet food, as well. The early test results were released to give veterinarians a better idea of how to treat sick animals.
"Any amount of this product is too much in food," Hooker said.
Aminopterin, also used as a cancer drug, is highly toxic in high doses. It inhibits the growth of malignant cells and suppresses the immune system.
In dogs and cats, it can cause kidney failure, according to Donald Smith, dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
The Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation into the pet deaths was focusing on wheat gluten in the pet food. Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated, the FDA said.
Bob Rosenberg, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Pest Management Association, said he had never heard of the substance before Friday.
"It would make no sense to spray a crop itself with rodenticide," Rosenberg said, though he said grain shippers typically put bait stations around the perimeter of their storage facilities.
The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. There have been several reports of kidney failure in pets that ate the recalled brands, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog.
Menu Foods last week recalled "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food. The recall sparked concern among pet owners across North America. It includes food sold under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels such as Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
The company, already facing lawsuits, planned a media teleconference for later Friday, a spokesman said. It is majority owned by Menu Foods Income Fund of Streetsville.
A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was posted online by Menu Foods and is available at http://tinyurl.com/2pn6mm. The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information: (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708.
A spokesman for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he was not aware of any criminal investigation involving the tainted food.
FBI spokesman Paul Holstein in Albany said Friday he was not aware of any FBI involvement in the case.
"I don't know where we'll go from here," he said.

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