To the editors:



I have rarely read a published political article where the author seemed to know so little about basic American politics (“The Mirage of the Maverick, op-ed, Dec. 11).

In the sixth paragraph, the author criticizes as hypocritical McCain’s push for the Republican Party to return to its roots because of his support of abortion. When, since the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, has the GOP been pro-choice? Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, no one questions that the Republican Party is, at its core, not a pro-choice party in regards to abortion. Is she confusing the Republican Party with the Democratic Party? Or even the Libertarian Party? Is this really published by The Crimson?

Given her criticism of McCain on stem cell research, the author must have been one of the first to proclaim Senator Kerry a flip-flopper, as she evidently has no understanding of the nuance under-appreciated in federal legislation, especially in legislation pertaining to an issue as scientifically technical in its complexity as stem cells. Sadly, compared to the remainder of her attack on Senator McCain, it bears the closest resemblance to informed criticism.

In her eighth paragraph she denounces McCain as a hypocrite, presumably on fiscal irresponsibility and pork-barrel spending (or perhaps, again, for his being a pro-life conservative, cementing the author’s amazing ignorance on American conservatism) but on what evidence? She gives none, leaving the reader only with well-established facts: McCain was a lonely GOP voice and vote opposing Bush’s tax cuts because they were fiscally irresponsible. He has long opposed pork, and whether the author knows it or not, he was specifically referring to a infamous piece of pork in his reference to an Alaskan “Bridge to Nowhere” shamefully advocated by a fellow GOP senator. Both these issues also substantiate his Maverick labeling, as well as his opposing Bush very publicly on torture, Donald Rumsfeld’s performance as secretary of defense long before his resignation, and on the now-much-derided Medicare drug bill on the basis of fiscal responsibility.

He is a true maverick, and not just a liberal Republican or a Bush-basher. Despite all polls to the contrary, he calls for ever more troops in Iraq. He has joined Bush to fight hard-line conservatives and the bulk of the GOP on immigration reform. He is one of the only GOP’ers to say America should be worried about global warming. And he always arouses the ire of fundraising Republicans and Democrats alike by his campaign finance crusade, which produced not only real legislation but also, through his aggressive chairmanship of the Indian Affairs Committee, help bring to light the scandalous backroom dealings of Jack Abramoff, dealings which greatly contributed to the GOP drifting from their core values and losing the election.

Senator McCain is not perfect. He seems to revel in the media’s glare. A good author could even make a case for hypocrisy after his opportunistic flipflop over ethanol to help his bid in the Iowa straw poll. Certainly his immediate dismissal of the Iraq Study Group report could be called into question. There are opinion pieces critical of Senator McCain that are well written and well researched. This opinion piece is neither.



NICHOLAS R. TURZA

Fort Campbell, Ky.

Dec. 11



The writer is a captain in the 101st Airborne Division.