McCain and Theodore Roosevelt

When I read several months ago that McCain has vowed that he will refuse Secret Service protection I was reminded of something that I have known for eight years-- he loves Theodore Roosevelt.

When President William McKinley was killed and Roosevelt was sworn in as the new president, he rejected a group of policemen who offered to escort him around town.
(from Edmund Morris' "Theodore Rex"): "Irritatedly, he shooed them away. 'I do not want to establish the precedent of going about guarded.'"

In fact, the U.S. Secret Service's role of 24/7 guardian of the president was basically foisted on Roosevelt by Congress during 1902. It didn't have that role prior to that time.

However, in this era is it insane for a U.S. presidential nominee to reject security? Uh, yes.

Lately other people have noted that a McCain presidency would resemble a TR presidency.

"McCain has long identified Roosevelt, president from 1901 to 1909, as a political idol. Roosevelt made national parks and nature preserves a priority, and McCain has drawn fire from conservative Republicans for opposing oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and for sponsoring legislation to address climate change."

TR loved trees and arboretums; McCain often talks about the degradation of the ozone layer. LIBERAL FAGGOTS!

There is also the dark side of McCain and TR-- the love of militarism and empire.

When President McKinley started the second-most worthless war in American history-- the Spanish-American war-- Roosevelt was so ardent to join in on the fun that he "resigned from the Navy Department and, with the aid of U.S. Army Colonel Leonard Wood, organized the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment from cowboys from the Western territories to Ivy League friends from New York."

Does that seem similar to a guy who refused to be released from a Vietnamese prison twice because he believed so much in America's third-most worthless war?

Most people recognize Theodore Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick" (an African saying) as his assertion that the U.S. has a right to forceful imperialism in the whole of the West.



(from Wikipedia): "Through this policy, the United States became increasingly assertive in the early 1900s acting as an international police force. Eventually, the phrase "Big Stick" was used in reference to any foreign policy that backed up negotiations with the implicit threat of military force."

Great.