John McCain = Mr. Potter

This is a quote from John McCain that I believe he said yesterday,

"Hope, my friends, is a powerful thing. I can attest to that better than many, for I have seen men's hopes tested in hard and cruel ways that few will ever experience. And I stood astonished at the resilience of their hope in the darkest of hours because it did not reside in an exaggerated belief in their individual strength, but in the support of their comrades, and their faith in their country. My hope for our country resides in my faith in the American character, the character which proudly defends the right to think and do for ourselves, but perceives self-interest in accord with a kinship of ideals, which, when called upon, Americans will defend with their very lives.

To encourage a country with only rhetoric rather than sound and proven ideas that trust in the strength and courage of free people is not a promise of hope. It is a platitude."

To me, he sounds like a cynical, bitter, old man, whose spirit, Washington has crushed. Individuals DO have the power to enact change. It's not an "exaggerated belief." Those in power do not want to admit, let alone encourage the masses to believe this. It threatens them.

John McCain is an honorable, brave American whose service to this country I admire. But listening to him yesterday, he reminded me of Mr. Potter from Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." I believe George Bailey said it best when he told Mr. Potter, "You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you.... In the whole vast configuration of things, I'd say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider." I say, "...and that goes for you too, Washington political elites!"