McMaverick

Rollingstone has three great articles from the October 16th issue posted on their website. The profile of McCain is particularly unflattering. Please go over there and read them; they will curl your hair. Tim Dickinson's long profile portrays McCain as being cut from the same cloth as George W. Bush:

In its broad strokes, McCain's life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At each step, with the aid of their fathers' powerful friends, both failed upward. And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives' evangelical churches.

Given the libel laws in this country, I have little reason to doubt the quality of the reporting, especially since Tim Dickinson quotes extensively from McCain's own writings. As they say in football, you're neither as good or as bad as they say you are; I am willing to take some of Dickinson's characterizations of events and situations with a grain of salt, but geez it's pretty damning.

The Dickinson piece, Make-Believe Maverick, is very long, but it is rewarding reading. It lends credence to my sister's theory that the pandering lie machine that John McCain has become was the real John McCain all along. The other two pieces, a chronicle of McCain's reversals over the years and a Matt Taibbi essay about the choice of Sarah Palin, are also well worth the time to read.