But did he have sex with a younger woman?

Um, ignore that. IOKIYAR!

he's been a little squishy on the war, too.

but the press won't tell you that

McCain, though, has raised the ante: he's flipped and pandered on practically everything except one issue: his support for endless war in Iraq.

Actually, even on that issue, he's had his fair share of dissembling. He was recently insisting that he was one of the leading critics of Rumsfeld, when he never voiced any actual criticism. And he's now backtracking off the "100 years" comment fairly quickly too.

Well, that's certainly a pretty damning list...if a Democrat did it.

Republicans are allowed to present themselves as the reincarnation of Winston Churchill if they manage to demonstrate steadfastness on just a couple of high-profile issues.

I don't see why you didn't stop that sentence after "Churchill." As cleek and TR point out, his whole "I'm a Bush critic!" schtick is revisionist history.

"Straight Talk" means "lots of media access." In fairness, McCain did seem somewhat straight-talkish in reality in 2000, but he's gone to great lengths to squash that in the past 7 years.

And he's now backtracking off the "100 years" comment fairly quickly too.

My favorite of Gigolo John's recent statements is that "My friends, the war will be over soon, the war for all intents and purposes although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years."

The war will be over, though the insurgency will go on for years and years and years -- which is kind of like saying that the fire is out, but the flames will keep burning and burning and burning....

What a sad, crazy man, completely unmoored from any principles in his ruthless quest for power.

Twenty bucks for anyone who pastes together video clips of all of McCain's flip-flops to the tune of the BeeGee's "Jive Talkin'"and then posts them to YouTube.

Twenty bucks for anyone who pastes together video clips of all of McCain's flip-flops to the tune of the BeeGee's "Jive Talkin'"and then posts them to YouTube.

I know someone who is up to that challenge! What does Atrios say? WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Twenty bucks for anyone who pastes together video clips of all of McCain's flip-flops to the tune of the BeeGee's "Jive Talkin'"and then posts them to YouTube. Posted by: Stefan

Evil genius! Post this on few more sites, and I'm sure your wish will be granted.

Can't believe that y'all left this for me:

his "evolutions," as Mr. Straight Talk likes to put it

I thought these positions were intelligently designed.

We had a secret meeting and decided as a group to leave it for you. (Isn't your birthday coming up? That's what I told everyone.)

McCain's "stances" on the issues are just a bunch of smut.

The Bee Gees' song "I Started a Joke" might capture the spirit of McCain's policies a little better.

Don't forget his support of illegal infiltration and human trafficking, on which he is steadfast.

John the Lobbyist is not about submerging people in water but about submerging them in jive.

(20 old style Saddam dollars to anyone who can place this theme on youtube)

According to the Wall St. Journal,

"On Social Security, the Arizona senator says he still backs a system of private retirement accounts that President Bush pushed unsuccessfully, and disowned details of a Social Security proposal on his campaign Web site."

It doesn't matter what McCain says. MSM has already developed its narrative about McCain and no amount of reality will change it.

He was recently insisting that he was one of the leading critics of Rumsfeld, when he never voiced any actual criticism.

Stanley Fish repeated McCain's assertion as fact in today's New York Times.

Speaking of McCain, Mr. Military had a big role in giving the Air Force Tanker contract to EADS, and the timing of this is very poor in terms of American Jobs, in terms of the recession, and in terms of the loss of the economic multiplier of having taxpayer funds circulating overseas as opposed to overseas.

So first, I am very supportive of McCain's role in nuking the corrupt 767 Tanker Leasing deal.

However, as can be seen here, Northrop, EADS tanker win sparks controversy in U.S.

"The U.S. government is bringing an action against Airbus in the World Trade Organization and subsidies should have been taken into account" in this competition, Rep. Norm Dicks, a Washington Democrat, told Reuters.

McCain urged Robert Gates, before he was confirmed as defense secretary, to remove the issue from the terms of the competition, saying it could eliminate one of the bidders from the start.

"McCain wrote a very strong letter to Gates," Dicks said. "Clearly it was on the side of Airbus."

Dicks said the Air Force would face tough questions in Congress. "Here we are in a recession and the U.S. government hands such a big contract to the Europeans," he said.

Also, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is opposing the deal.

Kevin, can you use your blogomight to raise this issue? It would be a good issue for both Democratic candidates -- they have discussed their opposition to NAFTA, how do they feel about GATT and the WTO and WTO trade disputes? How much do they understand about outsourcing and the money multiplier? How much do they understand about the two americas?

Thank you, thank you. PLEASE point out John "Flip-Flop" McCain's inconsistencies and reveal the folly that is him.

James Madison, while a US Congressman" "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."

War-mongering, America-ruining John McCain.

Fear-a-con nonsense, as Rachel Maddow said....

The Media lets him slide. Stop the insanity~

No more C students for president.

Hubby is in the financial business so I often turn to CNBC stock channel for the early evening market review and analysis. Typically they seem so republican to me...but today>>>>>>

Financial experts today expressed that the market and economy would improve under Barack Obama rather than McCain, since Obama intends to end the war spending.
And McCain would carry on the insane spending ad infinitum...in the trillions more...no good for the economy or for investors or the market for investing.

I was pleased to hear the analysis.

*

I'll say again here what I just said at Matt's place:

I think the lesson is that McCain is far less interested in being President generally than he is in being Commander-in-Chief specifically. "Give me control of the empire's expansion, and the rest is negotiable," or something to that effect.

mhr: how do you libs feel about the Obama revelation that he "prays to Jesus every night?"

Okay by me. As long as Jesus doesn't tell him to invade Iran, and he doesn't try and make me pray to Jesus.

But his fellow secret Muslims must be furious!

Here's the most impressive flip-flop of all: most of McCain's party voted against him before they were for him!

The issue McCain is not equivocal of is using military force to solve problems.

On foreign policy Bush has morphed from "strong but humble" to "humble but pre-emptive" to "who cares about humble, let's do empire". This is steadfast?

As far as McCain's exceptions go he did indeed flip flop on this issue by breaking his promise, his most sacred vow, by supporting a war the American people did not in fact support. And this one didn't even have the fight-communism leg to stand on, as it was only a heinous re-election stunt by Bush, who revealed his war-time-president idea in a pre-election interview.

I do love James Wolcott, at least on the subject of John McCain

Cockburn takes a star turn in the Wolcott post. And so does Matt Taibbi:

[McCain has] survived because Onward to Victory is the last great illusion the Republican Party has left to sell this country, even to its own followers. They can't sell fiscal responsibility, they can't sell "values," they can't sell competence, they can't sell small government, they can't even sell the economy. All they have left to offer is this sad, dwindling, knee-jerk patriotism, a promise to keep selling world politics as a McHale's Navy rerun to a Middle America that wants nothing to do with realizing the world has changed since 1946.

The lesson of the McCain campaign is that one should never underestimate America's capacity for self-delusion. Balls-deep in one of the biggest foreign-policy catastrophes of all time, an arrogant military misadventure destined to make us infamous for a generation across a dozen cultures, minivan-driving suburban America is still waiting for Bill Holden to make it right by blowing up the Bridge on the River Kwai--and returning, tanned and handsome, to get the girl with a mouth full of cool one-liners.

RIDE ON THE DOUBLE TALK EXPRESS LEADS TO WAR

John McCain is clearly focused on one thing and one thing only - WAR. He lives for it, he loves it, he's obsessed by it, it is his entire identity. He is a Post Traumatic Stress hot-headed and unstable lunatic who cares nothing about the will of the American people. He is loyal to his backers and his backers make a killing off of war, war and more war. It just so happens those are all of John McCain's personal interests as well. He's no sell out. He is a man of passion. And if elected, he will deliver.

In his own words, "Friends, I want to give you some straight talk. Friends, there are going to be more wars. I'm sorry to tell you, but there are going to be more wars...". Wow. Interesting Foriegn Policy approach there, John.

After 2004 it became apparent to me what I had been trying to forget after the 2000 election, that much of America is just plain stupid. It would be foolish to under-estimate their stpuidity this time around. McCain, like Bush before him, can win. We cannot let that happen.

Unfortunately Hilary Clinton represents the exact same special interests that McCain does. They should run on the same ticket.

There is only one serious contender who is sane and that is Barack Obama. If you measure who the best candidate is by body count, consider that over 1.1 million people have died as the result of the Iraqi invasion. Consider also that Hilary and McCain pushed this forward every step of the way and remember that only Barack had the decency and good common sense to oppose this needless invasion from the very start, even when it was unpopular.

Someone who speaks in straight talk doesn't have to keep reminding you that it's straight talk. They just speak the truth. And that is why my vote is enthusiastically for Barack Obama this election season.

www.WeCanStopMcCain.org