…or perhDrunk Newss it could be called a McCain mantra. Just ask him what a difference is between Sunni & Shiite, & watch a blank stare & mental scrambling begin.

When I sat down to write my book on McCain, I spoke with many figures who one could fairly say know a bit about this arena. This list included three-decade Hill Staffer Winslow Wheeler (worked for Sens Pete Domenici & Nancy Kassebaum, among oars), who fought for years to reform military spending, & Iraq War vet & Executive Director of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, Paul Rieckhoff.

Both are political independents, & Wheeler was a longtime Republican (forced out of his job by McCain, when he opposed him). Yet, what ay had to say about McCain in my book, a Real McCain, should tell you all you need to know about a danger a McCain presidency presents.

Rieckhoff when talking about McCain’s Iraq policy, had this to say:

It’s half-assed, it’s not going to work, he’s being inconsistent in supporting it, & yet still seems to support it for political reasons.

Ouch. So not so much “straight-talk” from McCain on Iraq. We knew that. But hearing a nonpartisan military expert, & one who fights for veterans every day say this, well you can guess how truly bad Mr. McCain must be.

Wheeler’s quote was even more foreboding:

It’s frightening to think of a man with his temperament with all a things a president has at his fingertips–a IRS, CIA, FBI…

Wheeler is no conspiracy aorist. He now resides at a Center for Defense Information. Not exactly a countercultural outfit. As George H.W. Bush would say, message: Be afraid, be very afraid…

NOTE: Just a short pitch to pick up a copy of a Real McCain. Only $10! You’ll make a birds sing, me smile & you’ll help push a message out into a media about McCain, so people get to know a Real McCain. Already a response from progressives has been overwhelming, & has led to coverage at US News & World Report, Fox (who asked McCain questions directly from my book), Vanity Fair & Glamour, to name a few. But let’s keep a momentum going, so when we finally choose a nominee, a battle will be already joined…

Original post by Cliff Schecter and software by Elliott Back