The Real McCain

Oh, John McCain, you maverick. Announcing your intention to run for president in 2008 on David Letterman's show, or at least announcing you were going to announce it. Yeah, I laughed when I heard it, but really it was Paul Schaeffer had the best line, saying the official announcement was gonna be on Leno. I was a big supporter of McCain in the 2000 primaries - I bought into his portrayal of himself as a straight talker, I respect his service in the military, and admire his courage as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. I heard Bush saying things during that primary like "We're gonna make America stronger" - I thought, there's no way a bumbling, empty-headed goof like Bush would beat out a man of such substance for the nomination. Who knows, maybe he didn't.

But Bush became the nominee, and McCain did an immediate flip-flop, throwing his full support behind his party's candidate - I justified it in my own mind, thinking he's got to toe the line for his future campaigns. So much for the straight talk... Then next thing I know he's hugging Bush, saying Pat Robertson isn't so bad, speaking out against gay marriage, calling for troop escalations in Iraq. Well, I almost agree with him on that last point - but the time for a heavy presence was four years ago, not now. And if he beats out Rudy for the nomination this time around, he'll lose the general election because of it.

So you may have heard of a guy Robert Greenwald, he's the mouthpiece for the radical leftist website MoveOn.org. Like most of you I rebel against those hard to either side, but if you can look past the extremist sniper rhetoric he does have some good facts. And so I'd encourage you to check out his website documenting McCain's flip-flops, The Real McCain.com. I imagine the McCain campaign will again present an image of him speaking truth to power, but don't be fooled by yet another rich old white man. The Straight Talk Express derailed years ago.