McCain's Open Basket Mind?

[I don't remember exactly where the phrase came from, but I recall when we were once studying different types of mentality someone used the expression, "open basket mind" to describe the sort of persons into whose heads were likely to pop all sorts of disparate ideas and who would comparably respond with all sorts of random thoughts without coherence either at the time or over the long run.

Watching McCain's performance over the years this 'maverick' more characteristically looks like the sort of person from whom any number of random thoughts are likely to emerge -- not one who has a coherent world view on things. His positions on almost any issue have been on both sides from time to time and at others are simply incoherent as this following article intimates. He is all for war, but can't keep straight who the 'enemies' are -- Shiites versus Sunnis, Persians versus Arabs, whatever and wherever. Note his confusion over immigration policy -- for immigrants or against? He was against tax cuts for the rich and now is for them precisely when his war is bankrupting us. Check out whatever he has to say as the campaign progresses.

The only coherent pattern that I see is that he wants to be viewed as Mr. Nice Old Guy. He looks to be one of those types who has learned to make it with his personality rather than any agenda of ideas. Beware such types as they tend to turn mean when they find that they are not liked. There was a 19th century pope, Pio Nono, who suffered from the same condition and who set back the Catholic Church horrendously when he panicked at the emergence of democracy in Italy. Ed Kent]

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McCain Battles a Nemesis, the Teleprompter
By MARK LEIBOVICH
A politician who has thrived in informal settings is now
trying to meet the more scripted speaking demands of a
general election campaign.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/us/politics/06mccain.html?th&emc=th
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"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
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Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
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