McCain is known for his alarming history of bizarre, violent outbursts of temper. He's also known for spending frequent lost weekends gambling away his wife's money in casinos. Here's a story from Michael Kinsley that should give pause to anyone who is still considering voting for the man.
Jeff [Dearth] was at the table when McCain showed up and happily made room for him. Apparently there is some kind of rule or tradition in craps that everyone’s hands are supposed to be above the table when the dice are about to be thrown. McCain... apparently was violating this rule. A small middle-aged woman at the table, apparently a "regular," reached out and pulled McCain’s arm away. I’ll let Jeff take over the story:
"McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: DON’T TOUCH ME.’ The woman started to explain... McCain interrupted her: DON’T TOUCH ME,’ he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO?’
The rest of the story below.
The story comes from Kinsley's friend Jeff Dearth, "a media investment banker and former publisher of The New Republic." I'm reposting some of the quotes above because I had to edit too much out to make it fit.
www.thedailybeast.com
Jeff was at the table when McCain showed up and happily made room for him. Apparently there is some kind of rule or tradition in craps that everyone’s hands are supposed to be above the table when the dice are about to be thrown. McCain—"very likely distracted by one of the many people who approached him that evening," Jeff says charitably—apparently was violating this rule. A small middle-aged woman at the table, apparently a "regular," reached out and pulled McCain’s arm away. I’ll let Jeff take over the story:
"McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME.’ The woman started to explain...McCain interrupted her: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME,’ he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. ‘DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO?’ McCain continued, his voice rising and his hands now raised in the ‘bring it on’ position. He was red-faced. By this time all the action at the table had stopped. I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it, and in the space of about ten seconds. ‘Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,’ the pit boss said to McCain. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ASK ANYBODY AROUND HERE WHO I AM."
This being Puerto Rico, the pit boss might not have known McCain. But the senator continued in full fury—"DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"—and crisis was avoided only when Jeff offered to change places and stand between McCain and the woman who had touched his arm.
Kinsley goes on to say that, "Although there were published reports that McCain had gambled late into the night, which properly treated that matter as charming, this particular episode has gone unreported until now."
And that's just one story. There are dozens of others. If you haven't seen Robert Greenwald's video, John McCain's Rage is a National Security Issue, posted here earlier today, it's a must.
Couching it in polite terms like "temperament" doesn't really describe the situation. John McCain is a rage-aholic. He's irrational. He has no self-control. What on earth makes him think he should be President of the United States of America? He's unfit. Period.