Like the "uniter" George W. Bush before him, John McCain is a maverick only when it comes to the truth. The word maverick, Wikipedia tells us, entered the English lexicon from Samuel A. Maverick, who refused to brand his cattle.
"Maverick's stated reason for not branding his cattle was that he didn't want to inflict pain on them. Other ranchers however, suspected that his true motivation was that it allowed him to collect any unbranded cattle and claim them as his own."
And so one of the definitions of "maverick" in the Oxford English Dictionary is this:
C v. 1 v.t. . . . take possession of without any legal claim; steal.
In this sense John McCain truly is a maverick. He wants to steal the presidency with the kind of lies that make even politicians blush. And the closer to the election, the primaries teach us, the more he’ll lie. Remember how he won Florida and so the primaries? He out-sleazed the sleazy Romney by, you got it, lying his way to victory.
And just wait until you hear what Republicans had to say about him.
Here's what happened:
In late January of 2008, just a day before the decisive Florida primary, McCain lied his way a win by accusing Romney of advocating for time-tables for Iraqi withdrawal. Romney did no such thing. But McCain did. As it turns out, McCain himself had advocated for timetables in January of 2007.
Romney made a futile attempt to remind voters of the truth, arguing: "That's dishonest, to say that I have a specific date. That's simply wrong. . . To say something that's not accurate is simply wrong, and he knows better."
Washington Post gave him three pinocchios.
Time Magazine’s headline: "McCain's Conversation Changer: A Misleading Low Blow." Sound familiar?
But don’t take a Democrat’s word for it. Look to the Republicans:
Bill Bennett on CNN:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Ann Coulter, in a column entitled, "STRAIGHT TALK' EXPRESS TAKES SCENIC ROUTE TO TRUTH" (crazy caps hers), wrote:
John McCain is Bob Dole minus the charm, conservatism and youth. Like McCain, pollsters assured us that Dole was the most "electable" Republican. Unlike McCain, Dole didn't lie all the time while claiming to engage in Straight Talk.
Rush Limbaugh on his radio show:
Now, this was totally dishonest. This attack by Senator McCain just wasn't true. . . Senator McCain had to change the subject because I think they got some bad polling data to indicate that they had to change the subject. . . This was just blatant, this was just an out-and-out lie, and many people thought that the McCain camp thought they would get away with it because of their love and slavish devotion of the Drive-By Media. But it didn't work. He didn't get away with it. It remains to be seen what impact it will have on primary voters in Florida tomorrow.
What a racket McCain is running. . . McCain comes out with this lie about Romney in the middle of the afternoon on Saturday. . . . I've got my political problems with Senator McCain, but this is beneath even him. This is just contemptible... This really disappoints me. The one thing about Senator McCain everybody's always been able to point to is his honor. There's no honor in this. It's just desperation. . . . [And McCain will] just keep repeating it as though it's true, hoping people will finally accept it. It's very disappointing.
Here's Mark Levin at the National Review:
Even worse than denying his own record, McCain is flatly lying about Romney’s position on Iraq. . . The evidence is irrefutable. And it’s also irrefutable that McCain is abusing the English language (Romney’s statements) the way Bill Clinton did in front of a grand jury. The problem is that once called on it by everyone from the New York Times to me, he obstinately refuses to admit the truth. So, last night, he lied about it again. This isn’t open to interpretation. But it does give us a window into who he is.
And Rich Lowry,National Review, wrote a column entitled "McCain's Dishonest Attack":
The rank dishonesty of his attack on Romney over the weekend. It's so shamelessly unfair, it's the kind of thing you'd expect of Bill Clinton attacking Barack Obama. Clearly, McCain wants to change the topic from the economy. And since he's suffering from his "straight-talk" about his relative lack of knowledge of and interest in the economy, he's trying to compensate with the opposite of straight talk--blatant distortions--about Romney's record. . . . The attack succeeded in the sense that it tipped the conversation back toward Iraq, but at a potential cost to McCain. His most important political asset is his political character, his reputation for truth-telling and honorable politics. This dishonest low-blow—if it continues to get attention in the closing hours—could chip away at that asset.
Here's Ed Morrissey's column, "The Low Blow":
This is a fundamentally dishonest attack. . . . McCain has promised to take a new, respectful tone with Democrats. If he wants to impress us in the primaries, maybe he should try that with Republicans.
And from here it just goes downhill into the land of blogs. Rhymes with Right called McCain "utterly despicable . . . disgraceful," arguing "we are either looking at a question of honesty or one of mental fitness. Neither option is particularly pretty."
Political Junkfood printed a column aptly entitled "McCain the Liar":
"McCain is the Hilary Clinton of the Republican Party, and lies about his opponents in the same kind of mean-spirited way and with his accomplice in the press even as Hilary does."
But for my money, I'll take the "straight talk" of wholesome, small-town, every day Republican posters on these blogs. People who post comments like this:
It is quite simple ...
- McCain is LYING about Romney ... he knows it and all of you McCain supporters know it ...
Straight Talk my a** ... Spin it all you want ...
YOUR GUY IS A G*D DAMN LIAR ...
Here's one from Rhymes with Right:
"I have supported McCain for years, and now I find he is nothing but a lying low life. He has lost my respect, and his honor.
I now look at him as a lame duck (72 - 80)candidate, and a valueless bottom dweller.
He has brought shame to his party and the presidential process."
And yet another red-values Republican speaks out:
"McCain McLies. His stubbornness to accept the truth on this topic is disgraceful and deplorable. It’s a shame when a grown man refuses to take responsibility and apologize for his dirty tactics and smear campaign to get political gain."
So don't take our word for it on Dailykos. Take the Republicans word for it:
John McCain is a totally dishonest, desperate, contemptible, dishonorable, shameless, mean-spirited, disgraceful, deplorable, lying-low life, bottom-dwelling, blatant G*D DAMN LIAR.
Personally, I'd rather be called a pig with lipstick.