Maureen Dowd lets McCain have it. Right in the kisser!

[Phx_Dem]

Is there a Real McCain?

Watching him, one can only wonder: Is McCain betraying his best self? Who is the real McCain?

John McCain is no longer the media’s delight and his party’s burr, bucking convention with infectious relish.

The man used to be such a constructive independent that some of his Republican Senate colleagues called him a traitor. Now he’s such a predictable obstructionist that he’s in the just-say-no vanguard with the same conservatives who used to despise him.

Even some of McCain’s former aides are disturbed by the 73-year-old’s hostile, vindictive, sarcastic persona — a far cry from The Honorable Man portrait so lovingly pumped up in books by his former aide and co-writer Mark Salter

<SNIP>

With President Obama, McCain’s objections seem motivated more by vendetta than principle.

<SNIP?

Unlike his pal Lindsey Graham, who voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor, McCain seemed motivated by revenge when he voted against Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee.

“An excellent résumé and an inspiring life story are not enough to qualify one for a lifetime of service on the Supreme Court,” McCain sniffed.

<SNIP>

Maybe an excellent résumé and an inspiring life story are not enough to qualify one as a real statesman. :rofl:


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/opinion/23dowd.html?_r=1

[BOSSHOG]

1. And if I were a member of the Keating Five

I would not have sought reelection. But then again, I don't have conservative values.

[Cha]

2. To me, mccain has always

shown that palin was all he ever deserved.

[leftofcool]

3. McCain is senile

[tularetom]

4. Old man yells at cloud

[felinetta]

5. It has always been obvious to me that he is nothing more than an opportunist. McCain was born

angry and bitter and will remain so. The media never read him
correctly.  He actually put politics
before his own daughter. I have absolutely NO respect for him.

[DrToast]

6. This is the real McCain

The other McCain was a manufactured image.

[Dappleganger]

7. McCain's reputation as an Class A asshole is well-deserved...

any other view of him is merely an illusion. My father worked on his plane as a mechanic so we've heard all the stories growing up (and dad is a longtime repuke). There's nothing that would convince me he's changed, and assholes tend to only get worse as they age.

[Phx_Dem]

13. Yeah, I agree.

[BeyondGeography]

8. His anger came through the other night prior to the vote

Gramps is having a very hard time letting go. He was basically replaying the campaign ("The President said this, then he did that..."). Kind of like a variation of Jon Lovitz' Dukakis in the famous debate skit; "I can't believe I lost to that guy."

[Orsino]

9. Six months to a year late? Check.

Invented narrative? Check.

Unfunny? Check.

It's Dowd, all right.

[Bitwit1234]

10. This is not just a disparaging post but do you people think

he is maybe going into the first stages of Alzheimer's. He is acting just like a person that does. He forgets. He is combative. And he is not as sharp as he used to be. Could it be or is he just getting old and cranky before his time.

[Garam_Masala]

12. probably...so it is good his finger is not on the red button eom

[SharonAnn]

17. I have wondered the same thing. He's behaving like some I knew when they were

in early/medium stages of Alzheimer's.

Black/white thinking, argumentative and combative, etc.

[Garam_Masala]

11. McCain the Chameleon is shifting right since he is facing Primary

opponents to the right of him. Plain and simple.

[stevenleser]

14. Usually love MoDo's articles, this one is no exception. Of course, the downside is, when

I check Free Republic as I do every so often to see what they are up to over there, MoDo articles get the most childish responses possible. There is a rule over there that MoDo articles have to have responses with pictures of Catharine Zeta-Jones.

The reason is that MoDo used to date Michael Douglas. After they broke up, he went out with and married Catharine Zeta-Jones. See, funny huh? No? I dont think so either. The stupidity of doing that is astounding, but they think it is funny over there.

[stevenleser]

15. Sometimes, I hate it when I am right. Here you are...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413538/posts

[slingsam]

16. "Is McCain Real?"

Would have been a better title

[TomCADem]

18. I Have To Agree. Just Shows That McCain Was No Different ...

From any other Republican. Heck, he is not absolutely interchangeable with the rest of his caucus. Maverick indeed.