We are wondering how he'll respond to all the specifics that Obama hit him with last night. Maybe he'll use his status as a POW forty years ago as an excuse for the pit the Republicans have put America in.
"I think they are going to it way too many times. It's the original story that defined John McCain.... But now it not only defines him, it's become a crutch in the campaign. And I think he is in danger of trivializing it. By the time they get to the convention in St. Paul, there might not be much of it left to use."
.... It does seem like they're flirting with Giuliani/9/11 territory here, in which at subject that seems utterly immune to humor, used as a first resort, suddenly becomes a running joke among your political enemies and your late night comic friends.
So it's hard to believe that John McCain is now in danger of exceeding his credit limit on the equivalent of an American Express black card. His campaign is cheapening his greatest strength - and making a mockery of his already dubious claim that he's reticent to talk about his P.O.W. experience - by flashing the P.O.W. card to rebut any criticism, no matter how unrelated.
Of course, Keith Olberman has his hand in as well. But it's clearly gone much farther than Keith alone. It really does seem that Versailles is finally noticing how absurd this has become. And that could very well spell the end of McCain's presidential hopes. After all, what else does he have left?
McCain's status as a former POW is now his all-purpose defense against everything. Can't remember how many houses he owns? "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," --McCain spokesman Brian Rogers. Maybe cheated in the Saddleback House of God debate? "The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous." [Even though he cheated on his first wife.] -- McCain spokeswoman Nicole Wallace. Farted in public? "This is a guy who never went out in public for five and a half years. He was in prison! [Fart!]" -- McCain spokesbrat Bart Simpson.
I know that this will come as a deep shock to many, but it's true: John McCain isn't the only POW in the history of world. In fact, there have been millions of them, as Wikipedia notes in this "list of nations with the highest number of POWs since the start of World War II, listed in descending order":
Hmmm. Roughly 20 million in WWII alone. That's a lot of POWs. Well over 100,000 were Americans, and not one of them ran for President based on his status as a WWII POW. Some stupid general named Eisenhower--whoever he was--crowded them all out.
So, if John McCain's not unique, then why is he special? Why is he the only person around who is routinely identified as a former POW, and why is that taken to be so important? Why is he the first POW superstar in American history? These are questions that always hover in the air. Let's try bringing them down to earth, shall we?
Our Republican friends have begun the campaign season with their usual class and style; and the resulting Internet gossip has reported that Obama is a secret Muslim, that his Christian Reverend is the scourge of American religion, that he's no patriot...and that he associates with every evil person on the planet, either by allowing them into his campaign or by his willingness to talk to those who hate us the most.
And Obama has, to this point, chosen to remain above the fray.
Because Obama has chosen the high road, I wanted to offer a few words about how we can be a more civil blogging community-and about a few things we should seek to leave off the table.
STATE BLOGS
