by Chris Bodenner
In the post I just published, I wrote, "McCain's POW experience is unique, awe-inspiring, and timeless. But it isn't timely" like Obama's. I intended to follow it up with this: "Ironically, MCain's personal narrative could be timely, with all the trauma at hand and all the challenges we face. But beyond sloganeering, what "service to country" is he calling for? If McCain was true to his well-crafted narrative, he would ask Americans to sacrifice for the greater good in a variety of ways. Like, say, returning to the upper-class rates in place before we were engaged in three simultaneous wars. Or perhaps push a bold-but-reasonable plan for national service? (Ya know, something like Obama's.) Okay, start small: How about asking Americans not to pump so much gasoline? A tax holiday for what?
What is McCain asking us to sacrifice? A man who gave 6 excruciating years to his country can't ask Americans to forgo 6% of their annual income? Does he want us all to act like the self-absorbed hippies and materialistic squares he went to Hanoi for?