New at Reason

You can forget the sex scandal, though Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has plenty to answer for.

reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch, author of the definitive McCain: The Myth of a Maverick, gives the lowdown on what The New York Times got wrong in its expose of the presumptive GOP nominee's seamy relationship to lobbyists.

Comments

The It Girl | February 22, 2008, 4:44pm | #

No video? Did McCain's lawyer call already?

Bingo | February 22, 2008, 4:47pm | #

I think its being wacky, youtube might still be processing it.

Mad Max | February 22, 2008, 4:58pm | #

Top news item: Someone from *Reason* deplores salaciousness in the media!

The It Girl | February 22, 2008, 5:01pm | #

It works now. Great stuff!
I guess Reason staff are going to be issued matching black outfits now?

Andrew Lynch | February 22, 2008, 6:00pm | #

A drop of water in the ocean. Yawn. Wake me when we get to the good stuff.

J sub D | February 22, 2008, 6:02pm | #

The It girl -

You should place this link in your handle. Just a suggestion.

The It Girl | February 22, 2008, 8:00pm | #

Thank you J Sub D. I knew you were too much of a gentleman to mention this one.

Isaac Bartram | February 22, 2008, 9:03pm | #

Thank you J Sub D. I knew you were too much of a gentleman to mention this one.

Gentleman?

Whoa, the guy was a sailor.

He wasn't even an officer, like some of the folks hereabouts. :)

I'm kidding, mate.

James | February 23, 2008, 4:44am | #

Reason TV is great - would be greater without such shitbox theme music.

J sub D | February 23, 2008, 5:17pm | #

Isaac, The It Girl -
I'm not a gentleman, but I play one on the internet.

Barry Dauphin | February 23, 2008, 9:16pm | #

True enough that McCain can be a bit of a hypocrite around the lobbying issue. But he is different in many ways from many politicians. He basically did little to no campaigning in Iowa, because he knows no one will vote for him, given his opposing ethanol subsidies. He told people in Michigan during the primary that those jobs aren't coming back.

Sure he's still a politician in many ways, and the journos can easily find clay feet. But compared with most other politicians (and that is the relevant comparison, not comparing him with some pristine libertarian idealist philosophy), he handles many things differently. Not always well or to my liking, but he does things other politicians don't.

Yes it will be interesting how the war plays. Welch implies that nobody knows that McCain supports the war. Heck, that's one of the reasons many people do support him. And if liberals are going to flee him (which they migh), it won't be over the war. It will be over abortion.

Bail | February 24, 2008, 5:34pm | #

I do feel that John McCain's Monkey Business pales in comparison to his derision of POW/MIA activists and family members simply because he chooses not to tell the truth about those abandoned U S citizens. I could certainly fill in the blanks for the NYTs but I don't want to catch the Potomac Fever virus which is going around.

It's all so complicated but the hint was there when the media mentions the "Queen of Diamonds" and McCain's campaign flounders when the staff became aware of the Vicki Tapes. Flying in a Lear Jet with Miss Vicki means just what it says and McCain suffers from the Lear Complex which is a Shakespearean psychoanalytic theory; a father's libidinous fixation on a daughter.

Chris Baker | February 24, 2008, 9:47pm | #

I regard John McCain as one of the most dangerous Presidential candidates ever. He lies with reckless abandon and is psychologically unfit for the office.

His wife Cindy stole prescription drugs from her non-profit organization. Jim Bovard wrote about it in _Playboy_. McCain worked to get her off.

He has quite a few extra-marital affairs. This is his second marriage. His first one ended because he was messing around.

He took bribes from Charles Keating in order to protect him during the savings and loan crisis.

His father was an admiral who helped whitewash Israel's attack on the _USS Liberty_ in 1967. McCain also promotes these lies.

McCain's daddy and grandfather were admirals. McCain only got to captain. One has to wonder why. My guess is that the brass knew he was unfit for that type of role.

Gun Owners of America gives him an F rating

There isn't anything good to be said about John McCain. He's a fraud of a human being and just plain crazy.