I had been hesitant to do so. I long ago came to the conclusion that RS’s reputation for journalistic excellence was largely undeserved, probably because its conclusions usually jibed with the preconceived cultural biases and world view of those who pass judgments on journalistic reputations. Plus, the RS is just soooo …. sixties.

There are a few parts of this article that make me cringe, like this one:

During his 1992 campaign, at the end of a long day, McCain’s wife, Cindy, mussed his receding hair and needled him playfully that he was “getting a little thin up there.” McCain reportedly blew his top, cutting his wife down with the kind of language that had gotten him hauled into court as a high schooler: “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” Even though the incident was witnessed by three reporters, the McCain campaign denies it took place.

I’ve seen this story in print before. If true, I makes it almost impossible to vote for McCain. But, as I’ve said before, I would find this anecdote would be much more believable if it named the reporters.

It’s a glaring omission in an article I found remarkably well-sourced. Time and again, writer Tim Dickinson quotes colleagues and former comrades — including those held at the Hanoi Hilton — to paint a picture of a reckless aviator who was accustomed to special treatment, who pulled strings to advance his career, and who didn’t behave especially bravely compared to other POWs:

Soon after McCain hit the ground in Hanoi, the code went out the window. “I’ll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital,” he later admitted pleading with his captors. McCain now insists the offer was a bluff, designed to fool the enemy into giving him medical treatment. In fact, his wounds were attended to only after the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a Navy admiral. What has never been disclosed is the manner in which they found out: McCain told them. According to [Air Force Lt. Col John] Dramesi, one of the few POWs who remained silent under years of torture, McCain tried to justify his behavior while they were still prisoners. “I had to tell them,” he insisted to Dramesi, “or I would have died in bed.”

Dramesi says he has no desire to dishonor McCain’s service, but he believes that celebrating the downed pilot’s behavior as heroic — “he wasn’t exceptional one way or the other” — has a corrosive effect on military discipline. “This business of my country before my life?” Dramesi says. “Well, he had that opportunity and failed miserably. If it really were country first, John McCain would probably be walking around without one or two arms or legs — or he’d be dead.”

McCain own words are also used to source the article. But the writer quotes Republican colleagues, who say they don’t want McCain’s finger anywhere near the trigger because he’s too hotheaded. The picture painted is that of a candidate too willing to place career above principle, too willing to flip-flop on matters of core ideology and who has never really stopped being the selfish son and grandson of admirals.

Basically, McCain is a maverick only because he keeps telling us he is. All evidence in this article is to the contrary.

It’s a fascinating read.

Even though I disagree with a number of McCain and Palin’s beliefs and actions, this Republican combination, once elected and with our help, can slow down this countries slide into populism and socialism. The Republicans, independents and many border line Democrats must be convinced to lay aside their own personal slights, jealousies, disappointments and “large” egos, tone down the “Faustian bargain made with Dobson and his ilk (See Dobson’s choice, 2/9/08) embracing most of the fundamentals on which this great country was founded and elect McCain/Palin to office.

And I have to agree. McCain spent the primary (at least the early part) telling voters that he was a different sort of candidate. he wasn’t going to trash anyone. He quickly learned how to play the game. As soon as his campaign figured out that McCain’s choice of Palin changed the game from a likely Obama win to a dead heat in the polls, the knives came out: Palin is a secessionist. Palin faked her pregnancy. Palin is a bad mother for not stayi9ng home with her kids. Palin is a gun-toting lunatic. Palin hunts endangered species. Palin had an affair. Palin. All denied and either proven untrue or died on the vine for lack of evidence.

The only reason I was considering voting for Obama is because I thought he might be the game changer we need to move us away from the hateful partisanship we’ve been experiencing from the left and right. McCain — who is NOT a Bush-style Republican no matter how much they try to make him out to be — is probably the change agent Obama tells people he is.

I can’t think of one single accomplishment of Obama OTHER than to win elections he was originally predicted to lose. Although I do believe the nation does owe him an eternal debt of gratitude for knocking Hillary Clinton out of the race.

Obama wrote two autobiographies, and not one significant piece of legislation. McCain has his name on significant pieces of legislation, whether or not you like that legislation. And McCain has a record of reaching across the aisle, not just talking about it.

McCain’s politics regarding the economy, energy, national defense and foreign relations are far closer to my own that Obama. I think McCain is honorable. He certainly would not have managed the Iraq and Afghanistan in the same way as Bush.

I don’t see McCain putting right-wing zealots with little legal brilliance on the Supreme Court. He couldn’t do it with a Democratic controlled Congress, and I don’t see him wanting to do so. I shudder for the future of gun rights and property rights with Congress giving a rubber stamp to Obama’s picks.

And McCain is on the right side when it comes to limiting the powers of the Presidency that were allowed to expand under Bush.

Again, both Obama and McCain have their pluses and minuses. Obama simply had more minuses than pluses.