The Man In the Mirror

What have I become, my sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away in the end
You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
-- Nine Inch Nails, "Hurt"

When Sen. John McCain looks at himself in the mirror does he like what he sees?

I've never been a fan of the senator, but there was a time when I didn't loathe the man. I was disgusted over his push back of a federal holiday for Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1980s, but time passed and by 2000, I was so blinded by my utter distaste from the inarticulate, "reformed" frat boy slacker seed of George Herbert Walker Bush, that McCain seemed endearing. Refreshing even. He was a champion on ethics and campaign finance reform (largely out of the hard lessons learned during to the Keating 5 scandal.) To the media, who he once affectionately called his base, couldn't get enough of his accessibility and loquacity and his affinity for "straight talk."

There was this sense that John McCain was letting you in on what was really going down within the Republican Party. There was even a time, after getting trounced in 2000 by George W. Bush, when he was actively being sought by Democrats to at least become a dependent or switch sides altogether.

He entertained the notion, but like Sen. Chuck Hagel did recently, he declined.

The race in 2000 was devastating to McCain on all fronts. His wife was verbally abused and assaulted for her painkiller addiction. His adopted Bangladeshi daughter Bridget was used as a smear to insinuate that McCain had fathered a black child out of wedlock. He was accused of being a traitor to his fellow POWs. He was accused of being unfit for command due to post-traumatic stress and a bad temper. Karl Rove's minions all but branded the man as insane.

McCain, never good at hiding his true feelings, hated Bush. He might still hate Bush. The 2000 South Carolina leg of the Republican campaign was dirty. The man turned tail on the red hot Confederate flag issue. Bush's team humiliated him. Other conservatives hated him because his ethics reform dogma interfered with being a true GOP party man.

When he endorsed Bush in 2000 after being destroyed by the affable man-child, he could barely contain his bitterness and he spat out several times in a row:

I endorse Gov. Bush! I endorse Gov. Bush! I endorse Gov. Bush! I endorse Gov. Bush! I endorse Gov. Bush!

He said he didn't want the vice presidency. His body language said he didn't want anything to do with him.

What a difference four years make.

After years of being bitter, after the smears, the lies and the obfuscations, Sen. John McCain found himself on a stage helping out a man he hated. Mired in a tough 2004 presidential re-election campaign McCain lent his credibility and brand to Bush, famously captured in the photo of that enthusiastic, but awkward embrace. This snapshot demonstrated McCain had decided if he could not beat them, he would join them.

All was far in love, war and politics.

Old enemies became tepid friends. Bush had an incredible team who could raise funds and get him elected. The both had similar views on the rectitude of the war. The Republican Party was known for rewarding individuals when it was "their time" to be the nominee. McCain was finally willing to capitulate, finally willing to play ball.

Finally willing to bend over and sell his soul in one tender embrace.

Here is how Democratic strategist and former counselor to Bill Clinton, Paul Begala saw this career-defining moment.

It is the defining moment of John McCain's political career: The Hug. George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign needed help. After four years of a surprisingly radical brand of conservatism, Mr. Bush needed some moderate bona fides. After a campaign of fiction and falsehoods that led us to war, Bush needed a credibility transfusion. After the Democrats nominated a certified war hero, John Kerry, Mr. Bush (who famously avoided serving not only in Vietnam but even in the Alabama National Guard) needed a warrior's support.

And so John McCain gave him The Hug.

In embracing George W. Bush that August afternoon in Pensacola, Florida, John McCain embraced Mr. Bush's agenda, his policies, his principles, and his manipulative, mendacious brand of politics. And McCain embraced him with gusto.

This wasn't an irrationally exuberant Sammy Davis, Jr., spontaneously wrapping his arms around Richard Nixon. This was a calculated, choreographed commitment. The John McCain most people thought they knew would never have hugged George W. Bush. More likely, he'd have punched him in the nose. And for good reason.

Put yourself in McCain's shoes. Someone benefited from (and, some believe, orchestrated) the most savage attack on your sexuality, your sanity, your marriage, your wife, and your daughter. He smirked as his supporters attacked your honor, your dignity, your manhood, and your innocent child. What would you do? Seriously. Some of us might have shunned someone who'd treated us that way. Others might have cursed them. Still others might have kicked them in the shin or kneed them in the groin. But not John McCain.

John McCain hugged George W. Bush.

What about forgiveness? you may ask. Good point. But forgiveness starts with confession and contrition, and neither Mr. Bush nor his top advisers have ever manned up and confessed to smearing McCain. Indeed, as recently as 2007, Karl Rove aggressively challenged a questioner who alleged he had "helped spread the false story" about McCain's daughter. "That is absolutely not true, and I take offense," Rove replied to the questioner at Troy University in Alabama. "If you have any bit of evidence that anybody connected with the Bush campaign was involved in that, you bring it forward, because it is a reckless charge."

So why would John McCain embrace George W. Bush? Not to be too simplistic: He wanted to. He believed in the Bush agenda and wanted to advance it into a second term.

But I'd take this one further with Begala.

John McCain embraced Bush for John McCain. Not for the country or ideology or party solidarity. He embraced him because he believed it benefited him and his cause. It gave him leverage. Now W. owned him one. If he became the nominee in 2008 that meant access to W.'s people, donors and team. The same individuals who successfully brought down him and Sen. John Kerry.

No longer the "outsider," he would be in that inner circle by the oldest political deception -- the marriage of convenience.

The base loved Bush, not McCain, and he would never see the White House without the support of the base. The 2000 race had taught him that. So many enemies became friends like Bush, McCain found himself kissing and making up with old adversaries like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, the numerous Republican operatives who spread those defamatory tales.

McCain began selling it all away -- his morals, his integrity -- the minute he decided that power trumped all. In his self-prostitution he decided he could make it up to the country later.

If he was the right man for the job, and he'd believed he was, America would understand.

The ends justify the means.

Yet what I've seen lately is a man who has sold so much of himself for victory he is running out virtues to markdown. These last six months John McCain has been hosting a morality fire sale. All items must go to insure the presidency.

Straight talk? Gone. Integrity? Gone. The high road? He's on the low. Experience? Gone with the Palin. Why try substance when you can pull stunts? Why bother with talking to the best of Americans when you can rile up the weak base by appealing to the worst? Let's bring back the ghost of Jesse Helms to reach out with his white hands and snatch the White House away from a steadily advancing Obama.

Early this summer we learned that Sen. Hillary Clinton's fired adviser Mark Penn wanted the Senator to push hard on Obama by painting him as "the other." He wanted her to bring up former Weather Underground founder and 1960s counter-culture activist/reformed domestic terrorist William Ayers, by pushing harder on his "exotic" upbringing, by painting him as unAmerican.

Clinton was accused of a lot of things throughout the 2008 Democratic Primary, but in this one situation the-woman-who-would-not-be-queen said no. She had to draw a line somewhere. Calling Obama a dangerous foreigner was it.

McCain started out the general election, disowning individuals who demagogued Obama for having a Muslim name or those who used racial slurs. He said he was going to run on the issues, but the issues were not in his favor.

McCain tried a lot of things to "define" Obama, but none of them stuck. He's inexperienced! He's a celebrity! He's an elitist! He eats arugala! A lot of the false outrage rang of hypocrisy. McCain, while being in the senate for 26 years had no more executive experience than Obama. McCain was infinitely more wealthy than Obama by virtue of his rich second wife, Cindy's, inheritance. He was a sub par student who got into and got by in the academy trading off his father's well-respected name.

He gained some ground when he pulled out the politrick of picking Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, but in a matter of weeks (and a few nightmarish interviews), he was down again. The thinking class of the Republican Party were already writing his obituary, leaving him alone with the disparate fractions of a broken political apparatus.

Columnist David Brooks of The George Will Revolt (growing larger with every passing day) called McCain's vice presidential select "a fatal cancer to the Republican Party."

Then McCain was struck by his Achilles' heel. Not his temper, but his other Achilles' heel -- the economy.

When the market crashed he was found flat-footed. He gambled again on an "in-name-only" campaign suspension to work on the crisis. He came off as harried and erratic compared to Obama's calm, unflappable demeanor.

He'd done all he could, he sold all he could to get to where he is now. Maybe in his mind he could justify it. He could make it up to America later. He was the right man for the job and Obama wasn't so it was OK. Maybe that's what he told himself when he looked in the mirror before joining in with the angry, fearful mob shouting out "terrorist," "off with his head" and "kill him," during rallies. The mob that was fuming and thrilled every time Sarah Palin pounded Obama for a trumped up relationship with Ayers.

Like a not-so-secret recipe of hate -- add one part Ayers, one part black, one part "secret Muslim" and one part "Hussein" -- no one in the McCain campaign would admit what their alphabet soup was spelling, but his supporters could easily read fill in the blanks.

Terrorist. Dangerous. Manchurian candidate. Foreigner. Black. Bad. "Not one of us."

It's been done since forever and many times it has worked. But this is a different candidate, a different election and a different electorate. Dog whistles are one thing. The tubthumping of Palin, John McCain and a suddenly "mad as hell and not going to take it anymore" Cindy McCain, were leading a rallying cry for the natives to grab their torches and pitchforks.

Who did this Obama fellow think he was anyway?

Many people, like pundits/politicos David Gergen, Chris Matthews and Joan Walsh of Salon.com, pointed out that this was going in a scary, old school Strom Thurmond/Richard Nixon, "Southern strategy" direction. MSNBC host Rachel Maddow wondered if this talk bordered on inciting violence. The Secret Service and FBI were already looking into a few more verbose individuals.

Some scoffed at this notion. Especially certain conservatives like Pat Buchanan who thinks almost any smear against a Liberal or a Democrat is fair game. Even if it's a terrorist laden, racialized smear when our country has a history of murdering black people under the most suspect and flimsiest of circumstances.

No one is expecting a return to Bombingham, but the theatrics did not make McCain look good and at the end of the day, in the most recent debate, he couldn't even fling those smears he so forcefully promoted on the stump and in commercials to Barack Obama's face.

McCain had a choice: bite down hard and bend over if he really wants this presidency by any means necessary or try to put out the fire he started?'

It was always a lose-lose.

From The Huffington Post:

The episode reflected the intensity of the anger that many McCain-Palin supporters have for Obama -- anger that was stoked, in large part, by McCain itself. It also underscored just how difficult a situation McCain has walked himself into. Hours before he attempted to calm nerves, the Senator's campaign sent out a statement to reporters defending the remarks of its crowd members.

"Barack Obama's attacks on Americans who support John McCain reveal far more about him than they do about John McCain. It is clear that Barack Obama just doesn't understand regular people and the issues they care about," read a statement from spokesman Brian Rogers. "Even worse, he attacks anyone who dares to question his readiness to serve as their commander in chief in chief. Raising legitimate questions about record, character and judgment are a vital part of the Democratic process, and Barack Obama's effort to silence and shame those who seek answers should make everyone wonder exactly what he is hiding."

He tried to do the later and got booed. His base. His Muslim fearing, fear of a black presidency spewing base turned. They never could trust the bastard anyway. Did John McCain want this thing or not, hard right critics asked? George Bush, the son or the father, never let a little demonization get in the way. What was McCain's problem? Why couldn't he pull the trigger?

Mike Allen of Politico tried to answer this question:

After his first debate with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), both spectators in the hall and commentators on TV noted that McCain had deliberately avoided looking at his rival.

A close McCain friend said the reason is clear: McCain is miserable about having to run a campaign that’s antithetical to his persona.

“He is basically having to be somebody that he isn’t,” said the friend, who remains strongly supportive. “He is just not a guy that goes on the attack in public. For him to be on the attack constantly, attacking Obama’s character … McCain is uncomfortable with that, and it’s made him grumpy.”

That's why when I hear McCain speak and sound lost. When I look into his eyes and see confusion, frustration and exasperation that leads him to Bob Dole-esque flourishes of "Where's the outrage?" in calling Obama "that one." When I watch his campaign oscillate between "straight talk" and "hate talk," I see a man of two minds. One that remembers what he sold of himself to get here. Another that wants to win by whatever it takes.

In his wrestling with the devil we already know who's winning. This leaves the other side to look into the mirror and wonder what has he become. Things have come full circle and he is McSame -- but not for Bush's policies or his ideology -- but because he has become the thing he once hated.

The war hero is now the villian in the story of his life.

But I see McCain looking in the mirror, telling himself it'll all be worth it because he's not doing this to win, not for himself, but for the country. He's simply the better man for the job.

He blocks out the fac that he is steadily morphing into a charicature of Gollum from "Lord of the Rings." McCain nakedly desiring for "his precious" -- the power that comes with being biggest man to walk into any room.

The self-hate and the anger is there. But he will not divert from the path he has embarked. With a soldiers rectitude he will see this through even if the experience leaves nothing resembling the old John McCain behind.

The potential of absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In Politics It's The Lowest Road That Is Often Traveled

Oh dear Lord. It's HIDEOUS!

The beast is unleashed! (Not that it was every properly tied up in the first place.) And now it's being used and directed by Cheerleader-In-Chief Sarah "Silverman" Palin -- guilty as charged of saying reprehensible things will attempting to be adorable.

She has studied from the annals of Patrick J. Buchanan (who has the world's most obvious and disgusting dirty old man crush on her) and she's demagoging as fast as she can to make up for her dear soul mate, Johnny Mac's, lackluster campaigning.

She's Sarah Palin-Christ, Political Superstar, and she just wants to let you know -- there's something not right about that Barack Obama.

From Politico:

“Well, I was reading my copy of The New York Times the other day, and I was really interested to read about Barack’s friends from Chicago. Turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers. And according to The New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, ‘launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol,’” the Alaska governor said.

“Barack Obama said Ayers was just someone in the neighborhood. But that’s less than truthful. His own top advisor said they were, quote, “certainly friendly.” In fact, Obama held one of the first meetings of his political career in Bill Ayers’s home. And they’ve worked together on various projects in Chicago.”

From The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune:

"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." — Palin, to donors Saturday at a private airport in Englewood, Colo.

"This is someone who sees America as 'imperfect enough' to work with a former domestic terrorist who targeted his own country." — Palin, at a rally Monday in Clearwater, Fla.

"To tell you the truth, Bill, I don't know why that association isn't discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country, and to have sat in the pews for 20 years and listened to that — with, I don't know, a sense of condoning it, I guess, because he didn't get up and leave — to me, that does say something about character. But, you know, I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring that up." Palin, in an interview with William Kristol, published Monday in The New York Times.

"I'm making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there's no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don't want it." — McCain, speaking to reporters on April 23 about the North Carolina GOP ad which called Obama "too extreme" because of his association with Wright.

Well, the cat's out of the bag! Barack Hussein Obama is a secret America-hating terrorist bent on killing "whitey!" Hey, where da white women at, indeed!

But wait? Didn't this cat get out during the lengthy Democratic Primary with Hillary Clinton where everything from former Weather Underground radical William Ayers was brought up in an ABC News debate to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's greatest hits played ad nausem on the cable news? And didn't that cat do nothing since he still was nominated as the head of the Democratic ticket?

Funny thing that lengthy Democratic Primary, the sparring with Sen. Hillary Clinton mixed with the media's desire to hop on the salacious story of the week, be it Hillary avoiding sniper fire in the former Yugoslavia to whether or not Obama was "black enough," everything that could come out about Barack and his wife Michelle is already out, has already been examined and is already old news.

To be blunt, we already went through this. He's been vetted, thoroughly no matter what backwards world you're living in. The press ran with whatever angle they could find (Rezko, that Madrassa rumor) and found nada. What new are Xena Warrior Smear Princess and Mr. Maverick Magoo going to find? Are they going to bust out that picture of Obama in traditional Somali garb? (Done that.) Play that misquote by Michelle Obama loving her country for the first time? (Been there.) Find that "whitey" tape? (Urban legend.)

That's the downside the long campaign. You're playing the media's greatest hits from five months ago. You're too late. Unless you find something new all you're doing is preaching to the Sean Hannity choir.

But don't let me stop you. Please, discuss this instead of the fact that we're all screwed because there's between $16 and $60 trillion in funny money out there according to 60 Minutes. Go ahead. Get the yokels all riled up in this "us against the world" garbage that the ruling class has been using it since early colonists used the "specialness" of whiteness to separate white indentured servants from black indentured servants who were, quite suddenly, turned into slaves.

We know why they do it. For the base, the mau-mauing just plain works.

From Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish:

Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, 'Sit down, boy.'

Nice. "Sit down, boy." As I've half-joked, half-seriously said, can we just bust out with the N-jokes already, because I'm tired of this "golly gee gosh," wink, wink "elitist is the new uppity" baloney. Gimmie the straight bigotry, no chaser. Reveal yourself as the baseless, desperate, ruthless political pugilist you are, Sarah, Plain and Full of Gall. So tough you can sling these words in front of 3,000 faithful, but so fearful that you can't say one word to a reporter who doesn't come from FOX News -- and even then you barely talk to them.

They're all the enemy (even though other Republicans talk to them all the time with little problem). Let's face it. If it doesn't involve rote memorization or a stump speech you are stumped by anything that requires deep thought. Or even cursory thought. You claim annoyance with Katie Couric's "gotcha" questions of "what do you read?" and "what Supreme Court case do you disagree with?" Perhaps if she'd asked what your favorite color was or your views on the New England Patriot's "Spygate" scandal of 2007?

All of this to distract us from the truth -- that the McCain hath no clothes. That the economy has left him bare. That his own risks have left him with the taint of one who is too dangerous to lead. That he is the wild one and the young guy, he's the calm in the midst of the hurricane.

McCain is all Rita, all Katrina, all Ike all the time. A whirling dervish of desperation, hiding behind the skirt of a political light weight refashioned as the not-so-heavy. But can he throw that Ayers laced punch himself at the second debate? Can he go even further? Even in that first non-game changed debate, McCain spent most of it looking agitated, as if he could tell he wasn't making up any ground. And looking constipated did not endear him to voters who threw the debate to Hopey McChange.

Damn that Hopey McChange! Johnny Mac tried to be Maverick McChange, but it didn't really catch on. So then he ripped some Kenny Loggins and took us all to the danger zone. Maverick's in the hizz house, bizz-itches, and he marches behind with the woman everyone really came to see.

Manufactured hype, no wind in the sails. All looking, no touchy-touchy! All style, no substance. And isn't that what they used to say about our dear Hopey?

To quote the malapropism Bart Simpson once uttered, "The ironing is delicious."

So this is the campaign, Johnny Mac? Now that you've stopped even trying to explain what you'd do to save us all from financial doom. Now that you don't bother to offer a tepid exit strategy in Iraq. You've pulled out of Michigan, announcing it, another contradiction -- letting the opposition know what you're going to do.

Plus, no one told the Palinator. She really wanted to give Michigan shot. Back of the bus, honey. Your job is to look good while saying douchey things, not interrupt the menfolks as they do their hardest to mismanage this boondoggle.

It's time to double-down and get ugly as McCain continues his MacBeth march to infamy. Better to go down in a blaze of hate (or a blaze of glory if the stunt works), than out with a whimper a capitulation. No need to put on niceties or heirs. The high road was abandoned a long time ago.

To rework some Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one lowest one,
And that has made all the difference.

Slate's Tom Perrotta Beats Me to the Chase: Palin As Puritan Sex Goddess

I had a length conversation with reader Dorothy last night about Sarah Palin. She was infuriated by Palin fulfilling the prophecy of myself and many political experts -- that the McCain campaign would find a way to rear the head of William Ayrers. This time it came through the mouth of their Cheerleader-in-Chief, Sarah Barracuda.

I told her that Palin was the embodiment of the sexual desires of conservative men in search and described her as such.

(S)he's the perfect person to do (attack Obama). She's the Punky Brewster of the Republican Party. The love child of Ann Coulter and (George W. Bush) ... But they're all so in love and proud of her and wanting to fuck her. It's by far the sickest thing I've ever seen. It's horrifying. She's the Britney Spears (circa 1999) of the Republican Party. Back when she did The Rolling Stone cover in her PJ's and undies and said she was virgin.

And on Sept. 26, Tom Perrotta of Slate.com wrote this:

Caribou hunting aside, Sarah Palin represents the state-of-the-art version of a particular type of woman—let's call her the Sexy Puritan—that's become a familiar and potent figure in the culture war in recent years.

Sexy Puritans have been around for a while. Anita Bryant, the Miss America runner-up turned anti-gay crusader in the 1970s, was an early exemplar of the trend. The young Britney Spears, provocatively dressed and loudly proclaiming her virginity, is a more modern version, though that didn't turn out so well. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the most conservative member of The View, has a bit of the Sexy Puritan about her, as does Monica Goodling, the former aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who admitted to engaging in improperly political hiring practices, including the dismissal of a career prosecutor Goodling believed to be a lesbian.

I continued to write to Dorothy:

I get sick of the small town vs. big city. When they first (introduced Spears) that's what they played on. That she was this "good" girl from a small town who didn't know she was hot who had a corny accent, but danced with a stripper's pole. That's where Palin is. And what he said is part of Palin's 90s Britney Spears allure.

She's a whore and a virgin. A virgin/whore. The unicorn of the patriarchy -- a woman who doesn't complain and puts out and does whatever you want her to do. It doesn't matter that even Palin doesn't cosign onto that shit. But some menfolks need the dream.

(A)fter watching Pat Buchanan, ordinarily a hateful bastard to everyone, go in lust/love over her and discount the fact that she was woefully unprepared or that "good enough" isn't good enough for the (vice) presidency, he just was like, "Fuck that shit! I got me a unicorn!"

She's someone they can point to when yelling at other women.

"See? She has five kids, stays hot and is governor! Why do you have to bitch about me (not helping to raise) my own kids? I want my woman to bring home the bacon, fry it in a pan and never let me forget who has the penis!"

But I'm not alone in this assertion. My friend, author Cintra Wilson was lambasted for making the same claim in Salon.com:

Like many people, I thought, "Damn, a hyperconservative, fuckable, Type A, antiabortion, Christian Stepford wife in a 'sexy librarian' costume -- as a vice president? That's a brilliant stroke of horrifyingly cynical pandering to the Christian right. Karl Rove must be behind it."

It is a kind of eerie coincidence that Sarah Palin is being sprung on the public at the same time as the bimbo/frat-boy titty comedy "House Bunny," which features a poster of a beautiful young lady with Playmate-style bunny ears, big, stupid eyes and her mouth hanging open like someone just punched her.

Sarah Palin is the White House bunny -- the most nauseating novelty confection of the evangelical mind-set since Southern "chastity balls," wherein teen girls pledge abstinence from premarital sex by ceremonially faux-marrying their own fathers.

I'm not alone, in thinking that part of fervor is over the fever of the mythology of the Madonna/mother/whore psychology. Conservative pundits focus on her razzle dazzle and her camera-ready looks, but not on the fact that she was only able to recite talking points and defend herself. But you have to play make believer that Palin is about substance, otherwise you have to acknowledge that her selection was about sexing up McCain's saggy ticket. That she as a winky diversion to McCain's wrinkly politicking. Many aren't willing to admit that like Buchanan, most rather bask in the lust, dreaming of Palin, conservative Dominatrix-in-Chief 2012.

Hold Your Breath Until November

I can almost see the gears turning in the Obama Campaign machine.

Nobody move. This son-of-a-bitch could implode all on its own.

Sometimes I wonder if John McCain wants to throw the election. One person can't be this reckless, erratic and risky. This has to be performance art. There has to be a trick here, a method to this madness, yet we only see madness after madness.

Even conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer had to fill Barack Obama with backhanded praise for being the one of even temperament and intellect compared to McCain's high wire, hail Mary circus act. For McCain there's no problem a tacky gimmick can't fix. There is no gawdy, grandiose display of "Country First" that's too shallow, disingenuous or shady. The wheels came off a long time ago, but he's still sliding around, getting by on what is left of his formerly good name. Relying on culture wars and the "us versus them" that he's never engaged in with any authenticity to get him through.

Because John McCain isn't a true believer. That's the main philosophical difference between him and George W. Bush. He's a war hawk and a free market lover and a hater of graft (ever since his career was almost destroyed by his involvement in the Savings and Loan debacle in the 1980s). But he's not a culture warrior. He's not Pat Buchanan or Phyllis Schlafly. He's not some Bible-thumping, Jesus-quoting, gay-bashing, master of divide and conquer rhetoric.

Everyone is expecting McCain to become increasingly desperate and dirty if the trend of Obama pulling away continues. People are predicting a dusty return to Rev. Jeremiah Wright (which would be pathetic) and more attempts to tie Obama to William Ayers (which would be the apex of pathetic).

The operatives and pundits recite all on cue that McCain is near the nadir of his campaign, a depth which he may descend to and never dig out of. Chris Matthews remains one of the few TV yakkers who can't let go of the fact that McCain's no. 2, Gov. Sarah Palin gave a "spelling bee-esque" performance that could have been done by any well coached grad student. That there was no thought in her answers, just the reciting of talking points and when those failed her, the rambling of words, a stream of consciousness that muddled the McCain's position on gay rights and the role of the vice presidency.

Did she really mean that the vice president needed more constitutional powers? Was she just bullshitting to get through the two minutes? Could it really be a success, Matthews bellowed if she kept having to look at her notes and had to rely on winks and declaring that she wouldn't answer the questions as asked no matter what, how could that be deemed a success? All politicians evade answers, he said, but few announced from jump that they would be doing so.

How could the pundits see a tie when all the polls said American saw an overwhelming victory by Sen. Joe Biden, even though their feelings towards her general intelligence and capabilities went from zilch to, "Oh, I guess she was just a little nervous when she bungled those elementary questions CBS News Anchor Katie Couric asked. She seems chipper now. She's talking loud and saying nothing, but she's standing on her hind legs and being assertive. Attaboy!"

More than once, Matthews, and many others have simply wondered allowed what on earth is going on in the McCain campaign? Why did every night appear to be amateur night for a veteran politician? All the Obama campaign has to do is lie in the wings and wait. McCain was doing the heavy lifting, dismantling his own campaign exploding brick by exploding brick for Barack.

I'm sure Barack appreciates it too. He needs a "Bradley Effect" buffer. He'll take every fumble and foible. Those ahead don't fall over the one behind. He can see the tip of McCain's sword and is anticipating a fall. No one fully trusts it, but that is the impression given.

Him pulling out of Michigan. Rumors he may pull out of Pennsylvania. The fact that his number one surrogate, his running-mate, can't do TV interviews. Hardliners pushing for McCain to play Rev. Wright's greatest hits one last time, but rumors that McCain likely won't, depending on the RNC and 527 groups to do the muckwork. The George Will Revolt, which continues despite Palin's make-up exam, with conservative critics suddenly turning on their nominee as if they've already declared him dead in the street. They talk as if he's already gone.

But sometimes they come back.

So we're left watching, waiting, staring not wanting to make one false move before November. We want to hasten the fall, but we don't want to delude ourselves into thinking the hard work is don. So we wonder what's next? No one could be this bad on purpose, we ponder. This has to be a trick.

I don't necessarily think this is a trick. These are the acts of distraction by a desperate man trying to break through the albatrosses of President Bush and the tarnished Republican brand. He's trying to survive a collapsing economy and discontent over two wars. He's trying to argue why a Republican can fix the mess a Republican president created. That they are not two of a kind. That he is not "McSame." This is how you act when you're coming from behind. Throw everything, do everything -- something has to work. There's no method to this madness. It's just madness. But just because they are desperate acts of insanity doesn't mean they won't work.

Who's Zoomin' Who?

Rep. Barney Frank is not feeling the Republican response to why the bailout bill failed Monday. The Republicans came twelve people short in a vote where the Democrats brought two-thirds of their team.

Give me those twelve people's names, and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them, and tell them what wonderful people they are, and maybe they'll think about the country.

Insiders say the Republican leadership made the mistake of going to the floor of the House not knowing if they had enough votes.

Extreme Palin: Her Face On A Corn Maze. Really?

I imagine it's because she's corny as hell, right? Right?

Never has one woman who has impressed so little inspired so much.

Buyer's Remorse

Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker wants her money back. Well, not actual money, but she would probably like to take a few words back. If she ever said anything good about Gov. Sarah Palin, she'd like to take that back, please!

From The National Review, by-the-way of The Huffington Post:

As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted ...

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.

For those counting, The George Will Revolt now includes: David Brooks, Kathleen Parker and Lou Dobbs (although, technically, he hates everyone).

There's still no deal, but McCain is gonna get his debate on. And oh, by the way we're all screwed.

John McCain has change of heart! Washington really doesn't need him after all!

From Politico:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ended three days of suspense on Friday morning and announced that he will leave bailout negotiations in Washington and fly to Oxford, Miss., for tonight's opening presidential debate

McCain had previously said that he would suspend his campaign—and so would not attend the debate—until an agreement was reached on the administration's $700 billion mortgage proposal.

No such agreement has been reached, but Republicans said the standoff was hurting McCain's campaign and that he would look terrible if he didn't attend the nationally televised, eagerly anticipated debate, while Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was ready to go on stage.

There's no agreement. No plan. Talks broke down so bad last night Secy. of the Treasury Henry Paulson was on one knee "half-jokingly," begging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to not go before the press and call out the House Republicans for stalling on the bill.

As he got down on one knee to lighten the mood, Pelosi joked back, "I didn't know you were a Catholic."

Paulson was afraid her statement could cause the markets to go into free fall Friday.

After all that "straight talk," McCain has found himself on a plane straight to Mississippi for a debate of destiny with Barack Obama. In this game of chicken of McCain versus Obama, the presidential debates commission and Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, it was McCain who blinked. Despite his staff (surprisingly still working despite his campaign being "suspended") who came out to say that it was Obama who's "grandstanding" derailed the White House talks

McCain's campaign said the meeting "devolved into a contentious shouting match" and implied Obama was at fault — on a day when McCain said he was putting politics aside to focus on the nation's financial problems.

But, yeah. This battle was always his to win or lose and Nancy Pelosi has (of course) declared McCain the loser.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took on the notion that John McCain has helped in the federal bailout negotiations Friday, calling the Arizona senator’s involvement “a blip.”

“He hasn't been involved in this, and now, as there's some discussion about putting this off, I don't think that we can do that,” Pelosi said on “Good Morning America.”

“I think Sen. McCain's involvement is sort of a blip.”

Pelosi called Thursday's meeting with the president, congressional leaders and the presidential candidates “disruptive” to the negotiations “because we had to begin writing the bill.”

“We can't take the bill to the floor until the bill is written, and we were on a path to that. It took a whole afternoon. And that time is important to us,” Pelosi said.

Describing the phone call she received from McCain shortly before he suspended his campaign, Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference that the Arizona senator “said that he was calling because nothing was happening, and there was no progress being made on all of this; he was calling a meeting, and would I come” ...

“Well, Senator, I have good news for you,” Pelosi responded. “Quite a bit has been done. The deliberations are going forward, and we make progress every day, and I don't see any reason for us to come to a meeting based on a premise that nothing is being done, because plenty is. We're moving in a forward direction, and we'd like to keep on our path to get that done.”

Others agreed, saying McCain did little-to-nothing to help the process. Some even accusing him of hindering progress. But it may be that this was all just a Category 5 failure among all the rebelling GOP members.

From Think Progress:

Bailout negotiations “dissolved into a verbal brawl” at the White House yesterday, as some House Republicans, led by Eric Cantor (R-VA), said they wouldn’t back a bipartisan negotiation on the package. The House GOP faction stunned the participants at the meeting yesterday by announcing their own plan which “advocates tax cuts and relaxed regulations.”

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said the House GOP proposal would not work. “Democratic leaders questioned McCain’s involvement in the House Republicans’ opposition to the plan.” McCain met with House GOP leaders before heading to the White House, but neither party seemed to know what they were talking about:

Boehner and McCain discussed the bailout plan, but Republican leadership aides described the conversation as somewhat surreal. Neither man was familiar with the details of the proposal being pressed by House conservatives, and up to the moment they departed for the White House yesterday afternoon, neither had seen any description beyond news reports.

Think Progress reports that at the bipartisan meeting McCain didn't speak "until 43 minutes into” it. That the candidate “sat silently for more than 40 minutes ... then offered only a vague sense of where he stood.”

Sen. Chris Dodd said, “Instead of being a rescue plan for our economy it was a rescue plan for John McCain.” Sen. Chuck Schumer urged Bush to “respectfully tell Sen. McCain to get out of town. He’s not helping.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid added, “We had [Republican] Senator [Bob] Bennett, a high ranking official, who said these are the principles. And then, guess who came to town? And it all fell apart.”

Fellow Republicans, White House Press Secy. Dana Perino and Independent Democrat and McCain BFF Joe Lieberman all tried to talk up the work McCain did in half-ass suspending his campaign and sort of rushing to Washington on his white horse to save the day.

Lieberman said McCain “felt that yesterday the best thing he could do is to listen and then try to work with all sides to make that happen. That's what he was doing all day yesterday.”

But some folks had to admit, the turnabout did not look good.

The action contradicted the position McCain had taken Wednesday, when he announced, "I'm directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the Commission on Presidential Debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis."

McCain had also said he would suspend all campaign activities, but in reality the campaign just shifted to Washington while the work of trying to win the election went on

McCain had taken a gamble with the move, trying to appear above politics and as a leader on an issue that had overshadowed the presidential campaign and given him trouble. But Democratic rival Barack Obama had not bowed to McCain's challenge, and instead questioned why the Republican nominee couldn't handle two things at once — the debate and involvement in the bailout negotiations.

An Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll out Friday just before McCain's announcement showed the public overwhelmingly wanted the candidates to debate, 60 percent to 22 percent, with the rest undecided ...

By Friday morning, it appeared McCain was looking for a face-saving way to get to the debate even though a deal had not been reached. He met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, before heading to his campaign headquarters and issuing a statement that blamed others in Washington for the failure to reach an agreement ...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a McCain supporter, said the Republican made a "huge mistake" by even discussing canceling the debate.

John McCain blinked and as Sarah Palin has taught us you cannot blink. There is NO blinking allowed. But don't fret. Not everyone thought McCain batted his eyelashes at the matter.

"It's tempting to say that he blinked, but it's not like he was squaring off against someone and finally gave in. If anything, he was squaring off against himself," wrote Jed Lewison in his piece for The Huffington Post, aptly titled, "Humiliation."

What will this change of plans mean? And what does it mean when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is calling you out saying it was a "huge mistake" that McCain even discussed skipping the debate?

"You can't just say, 'World, stop for a moment. I'm going to cancel everything,'" Huckabee told reporters Thursday night in Alabama before attending a benefit for the University of Mobile. He said it's more important for voters to hear from the presidential candidates than for them to huddle with fellow senators in Washington

I actually feel a little sorry for McCain because there was not a lot he could realistically do (nor could Obama). Neither were on the commerce committee. The most they could do was try to rally the troops and vote. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had their team in place and on message (which is shocking considering we're talking about Democrats. These people tend to either eat their young or butcher it all).

McCain talked favorably of the plan on the trail, but returned to Capitol Hill with a House Republican mutiny on the President's hands. George and Vice President Cheney no longer have the cache to whip them into line. The Hammer, bka Tom Delay wasn't their to make them cry and vote the way he wanted. And former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich seems to be cheering on the mutiny.

So what was McCain to do? The recalcitrant, somewhat newish House Republicans weren't interested in bowing to him. House Minority Leader John Boehner is accusing the White House of trying to bully them into voting for a bill they don't believe in. So who does McCain side with? The populist Republican rebellion in the House or the White House, Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke? Both come with risks.

Choose the rebels and he gets to maintain his maverick cred, but he also has to face the uncertainty of what the markets will do the longer Congress goes without passing a plan. Overnight Washington Mutual became the largest bank to collapse in US history. More banks are set to fail the longer this goes on. If the market goes into free fall he could get blamed.

But on the other hand, if Johnny Mac goes with the President and the plan the Democrats negotiated for, he could anger his base, alienate a sizable chuck of House Republicans and once again, be tied to President Bush. And it doesn't matter that Obama is signing on to this same crazy plan. Obama has a (D) after his title. It's McCain who gets hung by Bush every time -- especially if the bailout doesn't stop the bleeding.

And the reality for all of us, whether you're pro- or anti-bailout -- there are no good options. Do nothing, the markets will fall and more banks will fail. Do the bailout and inflation could skyrocket as we would have to devalue our currency as the Treasury prints more money to flood our market with, making the dollar ever more worthless. This could have dire consequences for food and fuel prices. But do nothing and the credit industry will lock up. Banks won't loan each other money. Banks won't loan us money. And without credit businesses would find themselves unable to meet payroll and then, God only knows.

We're in it bad whether you only have a pound or a ton. If you've got a 401K or a pension, you're in trouble. If your place of employment is having a tough year, you're in trouble. If you're banking some place other than Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, you're in trouble. If you're still paying on a mortgage, you're in trouble.

I hope McCain and Obama will discuss the economy at length tonight. I've got questions. I hope they have answers.

Photos by The Associated Press and The New York Times

Who Needs John McCain?

Apparently not Congress. Debate's still on, old man!

From The Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Warned that time was running short to bolster the distressed economy, congressional Republicans and Democrats reported agreement in principle Thursday on a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, and said they would present it to the Bush administration in hopes of a vote within days.

Emerging from a two-hour negotiating session, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said, "We are very confident that we can act expeditiously."

"I now expect that we will indeed have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate (and) be signed by the president," said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

The bipartisan consensus on the general direction of the legislation was reported just hours before President Bush was to host presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain and congressional leaders at the White House for discussions on how to clear obstacles to the unpopular rescue plan.

Key lawmakers said at midday that few difficulties actually remained.

"There really isn't much of a deadlock to break," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

McCain is a magician! The deal may be done and he didn't even have to do anything! It's magic, I tell ya! Magic!

The White House is still playing it cautious, but this further solidifies what a stunt this was by McCain to hijack the narrative and make it about him and not about the economy (or the fact that his poll numbers were crashing).

From CNN:

Sen. John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign is being played by Democrats as a desperate ploy from a campaign in decline and by Republicans as a courageous move to rescue the economy.

The Arizona senator said he won't show up for Friday's presidential debate if no deal is reached on the government's $700 billion bailout proposal, leading Democrats to accuse him of looking for a distraction.

"I think it shows that John McCain is becoming increasingly desperate in his campaign," said Keith Boykin, a Democratic strategist and host of BET's "My Two Cents" ...

Democratic candidate Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday accused the Republicans of looking for a "distraction."

"They don't want to debate the issues with us," he said Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky. "They don't want to debate the issues ... because they know they really literally don't have a political leg to stand on."

Touché. Your move, McMaverick.