Tempted to pile on re: McCain advisor Charlie Black’s comments that a terror attack before November would be “Certainly it would be a big advantage” for McCain; it indeed comes perilously close to actively pining for a terrorist attack, but I doubt that’s what Black really thinks. Rather, I think he has the usual knee-jerk assumption that frightened Americans will flock to the Big Strong (Republican) Man Who Will Keep Them Safe.
Might depend, though, on the identity of the jihadi attacker. Iraqi? Or, al Qaeda who learned his craft in Iraq? A byproduct of our war in Iraq, trained in the ways of Jihad by U.S. taxpayers? Sure, that’s a good reason to keep voting Republican.
More striking, as Kevin Drum notes, are other aspects of the interview, in which McCain himself - in response to a question about the biggest threat to the U.S. economy - says this:
Well, I would think that the absolute gravest threat is the struggle that we’re in against Islamic extremism, which can affect, if they prevail, our very existence. Another successful attack on the United States of America could have devastating consequences.
It could, though even 9/11 didn’t destroy the economy. But as Drum notes:
McCain genuinely seems to believe that Islamic extremism poses not just a threat, but a threat to the very existence of the West. This is science fiction territory. Second, that he apparently can’t come up with any better answer to Fortune’s question about economic threats. Not energy, not high taxes, not runaway entitlement growth, not healthcare, not globalization, not any of a dozen plausible answers that would have gone down fine with his base. Instead, “His eyes are narrowed. Nine seconds of silence, ten seconds, 11.” And then he came up with Islamic extremism.
Emphasis added. But hardly needed.
Still, how how else is John McCain - the cornerstone of whose campaign is based entirely on science fiction territory - going to respond to this question?
Islamic extremism is the answer to everything.
But more than that - as Black’s comments indicate - John McCain needs it to be.
