Conservative commentator William Kristol has announced that a staffer from his magazine, Weekly Standard has become John McCain’s deputy communications director. That staffer’s name is Michael Goldfarb. The McCain campaign taking on a conservative partisan propogandist as their communications director would typically be no big deal, but Goldfarb has written some truly horrifying things for anyone who doesn’t believe in the Imperial Presidency.
In an article about withdrawal from Iraq, which was published on April 11, 2007, Mr. Goldfarb wrote:
Pam Hess, the UPI reporter who gave us this extremely moving and persuasive glimpse of the liberal case for the war in Iraq, asked if timetables for withdrawal “somehow infringe on the president’s powers as commander in chief?” Mitchell’s less than persuasive answer: “Congress is a coequal branch of government…the framers did not want to have one branch in charge of the government.” True enough, but they sought an energetic executive with near dictatorial power in pursuing foreign policy and war. So no, the Constitution does not put Congress on an equal footing with the executive in matters of national security. (emphasis mine)
When writing about waterboarding, Mr. Goldfarb wrote:
The Times indicts the Bush administration for exposing terrorists captured abroad to “head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.” Boo hoo.
Yes, “boo hoo.” Mr. Goldfarb apparently thinks it is acceptable for the United States of America to engage in the very practice which we exected Japanese soldiers for. But wait, there’s more. In an article about the GOP’s desire to give the telecom companies immunity for spying on American citizens at the President’s request Mr. Goldfarb said:
“And second, if federal agents show up at a corporate headquarters for a major American company and urgently seek that company’s officers for assistance in the war on terror, the companies damn well ought to give it as a matter of simple patriotism, whether the CIA wants a plane for some extraordinary rendition or help in tracking terrorists via email. The companies affected by the new draft Senate bill acted in the interests of their country when they decided to comply with the government’s requests. If the requests were inappropriate, that’s another matter, but to expect a company to resist a plea from the government for help in a time of war is ridiculous. To subject them to the whimsy of our judicial system would be outrageous.”
It would be interesting to see McCain questioned about these statements, but I’m not holding my breath that he ever will be.
