Comedy from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ):
Asked by Politics Daily about comments his close friend and colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) made about his move away from edgy past positions because "John's got a primary. He's got to focus on getting reelected," McCain responded, "Lindsey knows that I don't change in my positions.
"I have not changed in my positions. I know how popular it is for the Eastern press to paint me as having changed positions," he said. "That's not true. I know they're going to continue to say it. It's fundamentally false. Not only am I sure that they'll say it, you'll say it. You'll write it. And I've just grown to accept that."
Leaving aside the "Eastern press" phrasing that sounds straight out of 1912, who is he trying to kid? Depending on the year and the constituency McCain is pandering to, he has flip-flopped on Social Security privatization, torture, immigration reform, repealing Roe v. Wade, climate change legislation, the Bush tax cuts, offshore drilling, the estate tax, nuclear waste storage ... cripes, this guy even flip-flopped on the Confederate flag.
You make the call. Is the "Eastern press" painting a fundamentally false picture of McCain's record? Or is John McCain, who earlier this year said:
I never considered myself a maverick.
... lying through his teeth?