John McCain's Long War Against Honesty

Roger Simon at the brand-new Politico has a scoop: John McCain is trashing Dick Cheney!

"The president listened too much to the Vice President . . . Of course, the president bears the ultimate responsibility, but he was very badly served by both the Vice President and, most of all, the Secretary of Defense."

Simon, correctly, calls bullshit. When he was campaigning for the Bush ticket, McCain called Cheney "one of the most capable, experienced, intelligent and steady vice presidents this country has ever had." Simon quotes one instance of this; there were many more than one. From The Carlsbad Current Argus, September 6, 2004:

Appearing as a surprise guest at the rally was Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.

"I believe that Dick Cheney is the most qualified vice president we have had in our history," McCain said, raising his voice above the enthused crowd's chant of 'Cheney, Cheney.'"

In fairness, McCain had been criticizing Rumsfeld for years for his unwillingness to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq. He only rallied support for one person he knew was losing the Iraq war.