Missing the John McCain of 2000

I miss the moderate maverick who called Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance" and called the media his "base."  I don't like this cranky old man who's yapping at Barack Obama to get off his porch.

In the same way that the Clintons this year adopted Rovian tactics against Obama and almost literally became the "vast right wing conspiracy" they once faced off against, McCain too has become the very thing he once opposed.  The John McCain of 2008 is not quite an agent of intolerance, but he has devolved into a cranky, bitter old bum who isn't the least bit attractive.

I'm a Democrat, but I'm not a fucking ideologue.  I can find lots of good things about the other side - if there are good things to be found.  Case in point: Chuck Hagel - one of my favorite politicians ever.  Truth be told, the only thing we have in common is Iraq, but he's honest and honorable and tells it like it is - things that McCain used to be.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, ludicrous as it may be, and I'll always respect the rights of others to disagree.  Just show some fucking class, and don't lie about things just because you're in the heat of a hard-fought campaign.

2008 may be the year America elects its first black president, or its oldest president ever.  We don't know yet.  What we do know is that 2008 is the year in which John McCain plummeted from his perch atop the totem pole of diplomatic American politicians.  I mean, think about it: how ironic is it that the died-in-the-wool patriotic war hero who bleeds red, white and blue is the pathological liar airing ads that feature Britney Spears?