McCain: I'm a Liar, My Friends

For those of us who are obsessed with politics and watching the slow and torturous meltdown of John McCain and his campaign, this was a spectacular week. The one drawback is that a casual observer may not have heard the vast majority of the gaffes or missteps that came out of the McCain camp this week, or any other week for that matter. I don’t think that the term “Teflon John” is an exaggeration when it comes to describing the coverage that the mainstream press shows of John McCain and his supporters and spokespeople.

Rachel Maddow filling in for Keith Olbermann last night said that the mistakes and blunders by the McCain campaign will be in future textbooks to be studied by students who want to see what an ill-prepared candidate who will say anything to get elected looked like. This has truly been an interesting election to watch and learn from, and I do believe that candidates of the future will know from watching and listening carefully what to do and what not to do even more.

This week McCain chief economic advisor told the Washington Times that the recessionary trend in this country is all in our heads and that we are just a bunch of whiners. This statement takes on more significance because John McCain has previously stated that the economy is not his strong suit and that he intends to rely very heavily on one main person, Phil Gramm, his chief economic advisor. It seems unlikely that this story will go away any time soon, and it shouldn’t.

In a Hillary-type moment, John McCain the other day told a Pittsburgh, PA newspaper reporter that when interrogated in Vietnam with torture looming if he didn’t give up his squadron’s names, he mentioned the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defensive line, the famous Steel Curtain. Unfortunately, his capture predates the Steel Curtain by several years, and in his book and the movie that was made from it, he claimed that he mentioned the defensive line of the Green Bay Packers, which seems more likely because the Packers won the Super Bowl that year, 1967.

The women of his campaign fared no better. Mrs. McCain, in an apparent attempt to demonstrate that she and John are like any other couple, charged three-quarters of a million dollars on God knows what last week. Also, it was announced last week that the McCains neglected to pay to the property taxes on a home they own in San Diego County for four straight years. I suppose that home fell through the cracks because of the dozen or so other homes they also own. Finally, Carly Fiorina, McCain spokesperson, mischaracterized the McCain position on Roe v Wade, mistakenly representing that McCain has no identified position against it and that women deserve to have their insurance plans pay for their birth control, also incorrectly characterizing McCain’s position.

John McCain essentially came out against Social Security benefits, and also completely ignored the prime minister of Iraq calling for timetables for American troop withdrawal, something that McCain has criticized Obama for calling for, and he also has previously stated that if Iraq wants us to leave, we’ll leave. Well, that time is now being talked about by the Iraqi government, and McCain is suddenly hard of hearing. He also this week claimed to have no knowledge that the US was selling anything to Iran, and when he discovered that the US tobacco companies were selling cigarettes to Iran, joked that maybe the good news is that the Iranians will get cancer from smoking.

This week we also discovered that the McCain campaign apparently forces the reporter pool following the McCain campaign around on its bus and plane to earn their way on, which is just unacceptable, and then went out and promised that he will balance the budget in his first term in office. Not one economist, no matter how partisan, believes that any candidate can balance the US budget in the next four years. McCain also criticized Barack Obama for voting against the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment and boasting that he is much more in touch with what the American people want, except for one minor detail…McCain voted against the amendment, too.

In maybe the most galling display of arrogance and audacity, John McCain took credit for the passage of the new GI Bill, claiming at a town hall meeting that he has received the highest rating from every veteran’s group and organization, and when a veteran in the audience challenged that statement, McCain essentially told him that he was mistaken and sarcastically thanked him for his version of McCain’s record. It turns out that McCain’s version is the inaccurate one. Instead of being in favor of the new GI Bill, John McCain was vehemently against it and didn’t even show up in the US Senate to vote on this or any other legislation in several months.

If this is just one week of the McCain campaign for president, I can only imagine what fun we’ll have in the weeks to come. Last week he was forced to run away from comments made by his top aide, Charlie Black, who told a magazine that a terrorist attack on US soil would be good for McCain’s presidential bid, and McCain told an audience last week that his proposal for a gas tax holiday would not provide real relief at the pump, but would instead provide a good emotional lift to the country. He also has been pushing the idea that the US should allow drilling off of our coastlines and completely ignores the fact that all experts agree that no oil will come from that endeavor for at least seven to ten years.

One of these days, a few of these significant missteps and blunders will become common knowledge to the average American, but it is my belief that the mainstream media is doing its best to keep most of these gaffes under wraps because it is their desire to keep this race as close as possible. This is why we’ll hear story after story about Barack no matter how meritless and non-newsworthy the story is, but highly sensitive and negative information that average voters have a right to know is currently being suppressed.

Well, that is about to change. And if my little blog here becomes common knowledge, well I’m happy to do my part.