As I was watching McCain’s interview with George Stephanopoulos yesterday, I was struck by his almost Zen-master-like refusal to answer any of the questions that were put to him. He seemed very sad, very empty, and very old. It reminded me of the feeling of a poem by Wallace Stevens called The Snow Man. And so here is a little montage I made of the poem and the interview…
The Snow Man
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;
"It is not a date,'' McCain said of the 16-month timetable. "I want to make it very clear to you. It is not a date. It is conditions on the ground... I didn't use the word timetable ... Look, anything is a good timetable that is dictated by conditions on the ground... The timetable is dictated not by an artificial date, but conditions on the ground… I like three months, two months,'' McCain said of any withdrawal. "I like yesterday. But it is conditions on the ground.''
And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter
Of the January sun
STEPHANOPOULOS: But there are several hundred thousand children in the country who don’t have a home. And if a gay couple wants to adopt them, what’s wrong with that?
MCCAIN: I am for the values that two parent families, the traditional family represents. I am for the values and principles that two parent families represent. And I also do point out that many of these decisions are made by the states, as we all know. And I will do everything I can to encourage adoption, to encourage all of the things that keeps families together, including educational opportunities, including a better economy, job creation. And I’m running for president, because I want to help families in America. And one of my positions is that I believe that family values and family traditions are preserved.
and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,
Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place
STEPHANOPOULOS: Social Security. You're a longtime supporter of the private accounts, as President Bush called for them.
MCCAIN: I am a supporter of sitting down together and putting everything on the table and coming up with an answer. So, there is nothing I would take off the table. There was nothing I would demand. There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions, and I'll articulate them. But nothing's off the table.
For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.
Sources:
http://www.swamppolitics.com/...
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.co...
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/...