Vainglory and venom...

Comment on "The Field", http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/shockingly-bad#comments

John McCain's speech last night was about two things: fighting against enemies, and his own past. It was as if he believed his personal history should be sufficient reason to drape the presidency on his shoulders, as if it were an honorary degree -- as if he felt he deserved to be president for what he'd already done, rather than for his spirit and proposals for the future. But there was also a logical fallacy at the heart of this speech: He insisted that he was serving a cause greater than himself, even as he talked primarily about himself -- as if he saw himself as a kind of Mother Teresa of martial selflessness. In a word, he was vainglorious. And the night before, Sarah Palin delivered a speech that one pundit called "venom-filled". In light of the Republicans' constant invoking of the Christian faith, perhaps they and their nominees should remember the gently sarcastic rebuke that St. Paul gave to himself and some of his followers: "Do we begin again to commend ourselves?" The great apostle knew that overweening pride -- much less ridicule of those who disagree with you -- is not the way to persuade others to join a cause beyond themselves. This week neither McCain nor Palin practiced the values they preached.