Sunday, March 18, 2007

McCain and HIV Prevention



I hate to say this but I think John McCain may be losing it. I read on Caffeinated Politics about McCain's really dumb fumbling with regard to his position on HIV/AIDS prevention and condoms. NYT TheCaucus blog

Then I went to Daily Kos and read some of the comments on McCain and his inability to articulate (remember!) his position on HIV prevention.

A few people wondered if McCain is getting old? I guess that's valid but I'm getting old and I know where I stand on abstinence (doesn't work) and condoms (give them out to kids in high school.) My memory isn't as good as it was when I was young but, come on, I don't forget IMPORTANT things, like, my name, address, phone number.

Another few wondered, and this is serious, if maybe what he suffered in Vietnam is beginning to have an effect.

Maybe, and I'm cutting him some slack, he was taken aback by the question. Maybe he hasn't been asked the question in a long time...and he just doesn't know where he's stood in the past. Oh now that's bad...

The comments on Kos point out that McCain has done a lot of pandering in the past on this issue and so now he has no idea where he's at. Tch, tch Mr. McCain.

Here's something McCain said a few years ago quoted from Daily Kos comments:
The ethical implications of not doing everything in our power to slow the spread of this disease are severe. The most basic morality requires that we commit ourselves to combating HIV/AIDS everywhere

Here's what his South Carolina campaign manager, Trey Walker, said about McCain's stance in February 2007:
"Senator McCain has a long legislative record of supporting abstinence-based initiatives in his record in the U.S. Senate. He thinks that abstinence is healthier and should be promoted in our society for young people."

Of course that's unfortunate...more pandering now to right-wing conservatives...

And all this on McCain's "Straight Talk Express" bus trip in the Midwest. It's a real shame.

theteach

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

For a couple of years I worked at starting a program to help people take their meds on a daily basis for the AIDS Network here in Madison. I was not schooled in some areas of this project but had enough foundation skills to do the job with others. I say this to underscore the fact that average folks can know the facts about HIV and help to make a difference. For McCain to be so off base in his facts about HIV, and to couch words for political reasons is a horrible idea to advance.

maryt/theteach said...

Thanks for the comment, Deke. Read what it says about McCain at this link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/
story/0,,-6491077,00.html

theteach/maryt