John McCain’s recent comments about Iraq and Don Rumsfeld highlight a problem I have with the Senator. Michael Illions posts two of McCain’s quotes which show an inconsistency. First he quotes McCain’s recent statement claiming the Iraq War was grossly mismanaged, saying “I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history,” Then he reminds readers of the following quote from way back (last year) about Rumsfeld.
“While Secretary Rumsfeld and I have had our differences, he deserves Americans’ respect and gratitude for his many years of public service,” McCain said last year when Rumfeld stepped down.
I realize that McCain’s words about Rumsfeld last year were not overly effusive, and that he acknowledged that the two had disagreements, but still it seems that if McCain really believed Rumsfeld deserved America’s “respect and gratitude” then the way to show that would not be to say he would go down as one of the “worst secretaries of defense in history.” Now that I think about it, even though I often disagree with Senator McCain, I think he deserves Americans’ respect and gratitude, too.
