John McCain: Straight Talk at a Town Hall

from DailyKos
by BarbinMD
Mon Jul 21, 2008

John McCain recently described his town hall meetings as an hour or so of him responding to people's "hopes and dreams and aspirations" and that when it's over, they "know my plan for the future of America." Leaving aside the ridiculous notion that all that is accomplished in 90 minutes (including McCain's opening statement), let's look at the straight talk he gave a voter yesterday in Michigan:

AUDIENCE MEMBER: As a Catholic male, I'm adamantly pro-life...Between Roe v. Wade...the unproven science of embryonic stem cell research, the moral implications of human cloning - I'm hoping to pull the lever for someone who will fight for the rights of the unborn. And can I count on you to fight for the rights of the unborn?

JOHN MCCAIN: Yes you can. I believe the noblest words ever written are that all of us are created equal and endowed by certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And I think that that applies to the unborn as well as the born.

This man specifically included stem cell research as a part of the "fight for the rights of the unborn," and McCain unequivocally said that the man could count on him. So, what is McCain's position on stem cell research?

I believe that we need to fund this. This is a tough issue for those of us in the pro-life community. I would remind you that these stem cells are either going to be discarded or perpetually frozen. We need to do what we can to relieve human suffering. It's a tough issue. I support federal funding.

So unless McCain is planning to flip-flop on the only position he takes that is overwhelmingly favored by the American people, he purposely misled lied to this man. In the grand scheme of John McCain's plans to to carry out George Bush's third term, perhaps this little sin of omission isn't important, but it says a lot about the kind of person he is.