McCainical Defects

[H2O Man]

In 2007, the Penguin Press published a book, "Journals 1952 - 2000," which is a fascinating selection from the journals of liberal historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. The book, which was published after Schlesinger's death, was edited by his two oldest sons. It includes the memories of a man who worked for democrats such as Adlai Stevenson, President Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy. It also has a lot of gossip from Washington, DC.

There are two paragraphs, from his November 2, 1998 entry, that focuses on the character defects of Senator John McCain. I posted these in January, as part of a discussion regarding why I did not think that the democratic party had much to worry about if McCain was the republican nominee. Let's take another look at them:

"We also talked about the incident some years ago on the MacNeil-Lehrer show when John McCain harshly questioned McGovern's patriotism, saying something to the effect that he would still be in a Viet Cong prison camp if George had been elected in 1972. George started to reply that, if he had had his way, McCain would never have gone to Vietnam and was preparing to mention his own record as a decorated bomber pilot in the Second World War when Robin MacNeil interrupted and brought the interview to an end.

"McCain is a loose cannon. He has commendably defied his party on campaign finance, but he is also capable of bizarre behavior. Recently, speaking at a Republican dinner, he told the following so-called joke: why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? because she is the illegimate child of Hillary Clinton and Janey Reno. This plus his reputedly wayward sex life will surely destroy his evident presidential aspirations." (page 833)

There is much more to come on this story folks. McCain is damaged goods. I hope that he remains the republican front-runner for the nominee, but I think that it is likely that by March, he will decide he needs to step aside to spend more time with his family and friends.