One of the better shows on the radio these days is NPR's On the Media, which analyzes and critiques the media. This week's show included a report on the two contradictory tapes released regarding the January 6 confrontation between U.S. Navy and Iranian Republican Guard ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The interviewee was Bill Arkin of the Washington Post, who indicated that each of the U.S. and Iran had doctored the tape it released of the incident by melding video of the event with unrelated audio.
Now I don't know if Arkin is correct (and a cursory online search didn't turn up any dispositive corroborating evidence), but if he is, this is just another example of the current administration's enormous disrespect for the American people. This disrespect is particularly irritating to me because I voted for Bush in the 2000 and 2004 general elections (though I voted for McCain in the 2000 primary). While I was never overly impressed by Dubya's rhetorical skills or business acumen, his record of reaching across the aisle in Texas suggested an end to the partisan bickering that marked the end of the Clinton era. I was impressed by the Republican luminaries that lined up behind the man. And I was enticed by the promise of "compassionate conservatism" -- promise that remains largely unrealized, except perhaps in certain aspects of the Bush immigration proposal.
Eight years later, the once-bright potential of the second Bush administration lies overshadowed by the decision to go to war in Iraq. Amid the paranoid secrecy, clumsy lies, and rabid partisanship of the current administrations, it's clearly time for a change. Government should be honest, transparent, and collegial. And more than any other candidate on either side of the aisle, McCain embodies those qualities. South Carolina voters seem to have agreed last Saturday. Hopefully, Florida voters will feel the same way on Tuesday.
