POW, POW, POW...

John McCain likes to remind us all that he was a POW. He does it early, he does it often, and he thinks it excuses all manner of sins. Last night, he even used it to respond to Jay Leno's query on how many homes he owned:

“You know, could I just mention to you, Jay, and a moment of seriousness. I spent five and a half years in a prison cell, without-I didn’t have a house, I didn’t have a kitchen table, I didn’t have a table, I didn’t have a chair. And I spent those five and a half years, because-not because I wanted to get a house when I got out. And you know, I’m very proud of Cindy’s father, he was a guy that barely got out of high school, fought in World War II in the Army Air Corps, came home and made a business and made the American dream.”

Here's a guy who was raised by admirals (read: connected military men in the highest of patrician traditions), married into money, votes for tax cuts for the rich, and can't tell you how any homes he owns....(in fact, he still owes property taxes on one of them). But he's going to tell us about the value of hard work and how anyone can achieve the American dream? And now he's bringing up his POW years in response to potentially embarrassing questions? This guy isn't ready to be commander-in-chief.

Many thanks to Matt T for reminding me of how McCain always seems like Colonel Koontz from Pulp Fiction:


Listen, I respect the fact that McCain spent 5 years being mistreated and tortured during Vietnam. That's probably the only reason he's consistently opposed torture while in the Senate while his troglodyte Republican colleagues scoff at any notion of human rights.
But let's get real here: not knowing how many houses you own is, well, elitist and proves that you're out of touch with the challenges faced by working people. And owing back property taxes on one of them is irresponsible...and it's reprehensible, given that the property is in California, a state that's been hit hard by a budget crisis.

Not that any of this matters. The electoral math of 2008 heavily favors Obama, and even Karl Rove's own polls are predicting an Obama electoral landslide.
Disregard the national polls showing a dead heat...unless something catastrophic happens (and I don't put that past the inept and corrupt Democratic party machinery) this one's going into the blue column. I'm not ecstatic about that (I'm a Green and am generally skeptical about the ability of electoral politics to change things), but the Dems have put forth their best presidential candidate in many years, and I'll gladly cast my vote or him.