He just doesn’t get it

Via TalkLeft, John McCain writes in the National Law Journal:

Terrorists are not the only threat to public safety. Lax enforcement policies, judges who legislate from the bench and lack of support for law enforcement personnel all continue to force our innocent citizens behind the barred windows of their homes and allow criminals to roam free.
And now drugs are bringing waves of crime and organized gang activity to rural areas thought to be nearly immune from such problems. The federal government must both support state and local law enforcement and effectively enforce federal laws designed to root out violent crime, organized gangs and other interstate criminal activity.
None of these law enforcement efforts will succeed without a judiciary that understands its proper role and its proper mission. Senator Obama would appoint liberal activist judges and supply them with greater sentencing discretion. I will appoint judges who will strictly interpret our Constitution. Senator Obama’s judges would coddle criminals. I will appoint judges who will hold criminals accountable.

This is just completely messed up on so many levels, both practical and logical.
Again, I don’t expect great things in the way of enlightened criminal justice reform from Obama, but McCain just seems to be going out of his way to pander to the authoritarian base that has been taking us down this dangerous path for years.