My appreciation for John McCain continues to grow.

[tongodeon]

To recap: this evening's "Nightline" broadcast, from beginning to end, will be a reading of the names of soldiers who have died in combat in Iraq. David Smith, the Republican supporter who owns the Sinclair Broadcast Group, has decided not to air this show because he thinks it will help the Democrats. John McCain, my Republican senator from

Comments

[merde]

wonderful. the word "opprobrium" really ought to appear more frequently in daily usage.

[tongodeon]

If we elected a smarter president (like McCain) it probably would.

[tongodeon]

Actually, that was Rove also.

[matrushkaka]

I would have voted for McCain if he were on the Presidential ticket, even without this, and I rarely vote Republican.

[merde]

me too. i'm a staunch democrat, but i'd still prefer him to Kerry.

[tongodeon]

Me too. I'd ask "so why didn't they pick McCain instead of Bush", but the answer is that McCain's not interested in advancing the Republican platform. So rather than pick an honest guy with great cross-platform appeal, they picked a guy who'd alienate 49.999% of the population and advance their goals. And their gamble paid off. I can't fault their strategy if it works.

[tongodeon]

Yeah, but my point is that they don't have to. They'd rather gamble on a guy who'll pay off big when he starts handing out the favors, rather than play it safe with a moderate who might actually not always toe the party line. A guy who might do something nutty like insist on honoring our war dead, for example.

Speaking of South Carolina...

[anonymous]

the totally fabricated rumor that McCain had an illegitimate black child.

This came out of the South Carolina primary. What you probably don't know is this story, that McCain hired the editor of a pro-Confederacy magazine as a consultant for that primary. At least McCain later had the good grace to apologize for saying that the Confederate flag should continue to fly over the South Carolina capitol.

-Josh

[jwgh]

[. . .] the totally fabricated rumor that McCain had an illegitimate black child.
They were probably thinking of Strom Thurmond.

[tongodeon]

I'm forgetting my timeline. Wasn't that around the time that Strom's Black Baby was in the news? I wouldn't be surprised if they just appropriated the idea. "Hey, this is really killing Strom: maybe it'll hit McCain as well."