John McCain = "Dick Cheney with a better backstory."

[Eric J in MN]

says James Wolcott of Vanity Fair on his blog (about John McCain's appearance on Fox News Sunday.)

http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/08/theres_only_one.php

McCain will hear none of this defeatist talk. "We can't afford to fail," he emptily intoned, and then cleaved to Bush, claiming that Bush is no cold-hearted monster with no time for a Cindy Sheehan, no:
"He cares, and he grieves."

Message: He cares. Bring 'em on. Watch this shot.

It was also clear from the tone of McCain's remarks that he favors military action against Iran. It's difficult to think of any military action he wouldn't favor.

This man is too dangerous to let anywhere near the presidency. He's simply Dick Cheney with a better backstory.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. no way.

Do I agree with him on many issues? no.
Is he a draft dodging shithead thief? no.
Do i disagree with him about Iraq? you betcha.

We have failed, and I suspect he knows it. Then again, I plead ignorance. I did not see him discuss Iran. If he favors invasion Part Deux, to hell with him.

and his ilk.

[jobycom]

2. Oh, great line! I don't completely agree

I think Cheney is a focused monster who sees a selfish goal and destroys everything in his path to get to it. I think McCain is a hooker selling his body and soul to the person who can best get him the presidency. A man who could support an opponent who insulted his wife, children and patriotism the way Bush attacked McCain simply has no honor. He's a beaten dog.

[priller]

3. Love Wolcott! Just read that at his site.

And I agree that people -- by that I mean Democrats -- need to open their eyes about McCain. While he has brief moments of candor and he makes noises about election reform, he's no moderate. And worse, he's completely signed on to the Neocon agenda. He's far from the worst Puke, of course, but don't let the sheep's clothing fool you.

[MichiganVote]

4. What good is it to "succeed" in Iraq and fail the American public?

[Disturbed]

5. John McCain, Hypocrite

John McCain, Hypocrite
by Doug Ireland

John McCain, the media's darling, has found a clever way around his own campaign finance reform law to take big corporate bucks in furtherance of his political ambitions while carrying water for the corporate mammoth providing the dough. But the national press is ignoring the story.The Associated Press first ran the story of John McCain's odorous but lucrative Senatorial service to the communications giant Cablevision on the afternoon of March 7.

But, while some local papers in McCain's home state (like the East Valley Tribune) have run the story, nothing has as yet made it into the print editions of the New York Times, the L.A. Times, the Washington Post, or any of the half-dozen other big city dailies I checked (although, if one searches the hundreds of AP stories available on the Post's website on its Politics page by clicking on "Latest Wire Reports," one can find it there--but how many readers would bother to do that?) One notable exception: the Kansas City Star.

Here's what the AP's investigation found:McCain repeatedly intervened on behalf of a policy Cablevision favored -- one which "congressional and private studies conclude could make cable more expensive" -- while his chief political adviser, Rick Davis (who's masterminding McCain's probable '08 presidential rerun) solicited $200,000 in contributions from Cablevision to an institute that promotes McCain and pays Davis a $110,000 annual salary. The Reform Institute was set up to promote McCain and his issues--especially campaign finance reform, embodied in the famous McCain-Feingold law.

This Institute is "a tax-exempt group that touts McCain's views and has showcased him at events since his unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign," and it "often uses the senator's name in press releases and fund-raising letters and includes him at press conferences," the AP says. And, of course, it provides a cushy sinecure with no heavy lifting for McCain's main man, Davis, as he prepares the pontificating Senator's next presidential run. Cablevision's contributions account for a whopping 15% of the Institute's budget.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0309-35.htm

6. mccain defending bush

I think Bushco had to pull someone out to help them on the Cindy issue, because it is the kind of subject they can't defend themselves on without sounding callus. So they have mccain to counter Cindy.

Bush could shrug off political adversaries with his crude remarks and jokes, but he certainly can't handle this issue that way.

[EST]

7. I can't forget McCain's complicity and coverup in the

savings and loan debacle of two decades ago as well as his connections to Arizona's prison horrors. The man is a crook and more than a little nuts. (Ergo-he fits right in with the "conservatives)

[terrya]

8. He's a simpering toady for Bush now. Fuck John McCain.