I must defend Senator Mccain as regards the accusation that he is flip-flopping ...

Whether on the left ...

or on the right ... or smack damn down the middle ...


John McCain is John McCain is John McCain and he is a true-blue maverick just as I remember his father (Admiral John McCain) from my days at CINCPAC during the late 60s. I might disagree with the man on just about everything, but he's definitely dogged and almost Clintonesque (and sadly, somewhat effective) in his verbal delivery to crowds of varying political persuasions.

I generally find him to be something of a windbag (a lot like Rudy Giuliani, in fact, in agreement with Gore Vidal's characterization of them both on Air America yesterday) and a bit pie-in-the-sky as regards his desiring the US to beef up its commitments in the Middle East to a strength well beyond what we can realistically support.

But as regards the quotes with which the hosts on Air America were slapping McCain while accusing him of flip-flopping today ... well, they actually sound to be about in agreement with each other.

"We are paying a very heavy price for the mismanagement -- that's the kindest word I can give you -- of Donald Rumsfeld, of this war," was what Senator McCain (R. Arizona, above right and left and center) told a crowd of under a thousand people at a retirement community near Hilton Head Island, S.C. "The price is very, very heavy and I regret it enormously."

McCain followed that up with, "I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history."

The hosts on Air America pointed to his comments about Donald Rumsfeld on the day that Rummy resigned.

What he said back in November (specifically) was, "While Secretary Rumsfeld and I have had our differences, he deserves Americans' respect and gratitude for his many years of public service."

That kind of sounds to this old curmudgeon like he was saying, "Rummy is a jerk!" in the politest way he could under the circumstances at the time. Hell, even I didn't want to kick Rummy while he was going through a public and private Hell.

My recommendation to the folks at Air America is that they probably ought to find better quotes than those that McCain has made about Donald Rumsfeld to make their case that he is a flip-flopper.

But even more important ...

Please friends, let's take on the neocons who are still in power and are ruthlessly and mindlessly grinding our military down while pursuing a mistake--the Iraq War!

In other words, focus!

Bash Bush!!! ... and quit kicking dead horses.