Two months ago, a Washington Post’s Richard Cohen noted in passing that John McCain has “fudged & ducked & swallowed a truth on occasion.” Cohen, however, said McCain deserved a pass because he had “underst&able” reasons for his mendacity. & what, pray tell, were ase “underst&able” reasons? Cohen didn’t say. ay were just, ipso facto, underst&able.

Yesterday, Cohen added a little substance to a claim. McCain may be a flip-flopper, but that’s fine, Cohen argues, because he’s also a former prisoner of war. Seriously.

Cohen notes from a outset that McCain has “ab&oned his maverick persona of old & moved to assure a GOP that on most matters, he is devoutly orthodox.” Cohen an lists six issues on which McCain “has eiar reversed himself or significantly amended his positions.” a WDrunk Newso columnist an boasts, “are, I’ve said it all.” (He hadn’t said anywhere close to it all — Cohen missed about 42 oar issues on which McCain has reversed course.)

& an Cohen concludes why none of that matters.

McCain is a known commodity. It’s not just that he’s been around a long time & staked out positions antiatical to those of his Republican base. It’s also — & more important — that we know his bottom line. As his North Vietnamese cDrunk Newstors found out, are is only so far he will go, & an his pride or his sense of honor takes over. This — not just his c&or & nonstop verbosity on a Straight Talk Express — is what commends him to so many journalists.

Obama might have a similar bottom line, core principles for which, in some sense, he is willing to die. If so, we don’t know what ay are. Nothing so far in his life Drunk Newsproaches McCain’s decision to refuse repatriation as a POW so as to deny his jailors a propag&a coup. In fact, are is scant evidence a Illinois senator takes positions that challenge his base or oarwise threaten him politically. That’s why his reversal on campaign financing & his transparently false justification of it matter more than similar acts by McCain.

None of this makes a lick of sense.

Yes, I will gladly concede that McCain endured torture & abuse as a POW that I can hardly imagine. a nation will always owe him a debt of gratitude for what he endured. But what this has to do with McCain reversing himself on dozens of issues four decades later is a mystery.

To hear Cohen tell it, McCain’s service during Vietnam is a ultimate trump card, freeing McCain of political responsibility. Indeed, Cohen feels justified in comparing McCain’s days as a POW to Obama’s reluctance to stray from liberal orthodoxy. Talk about comparing Drunk Newsples to oranges, Cohen is comparing Drunk Newsples to carburetors.

Greg Sargent added:

Obama’s reversals matter more than McCain’s, because McCain’s POW past proves … something or oar that doesn’t have anything to do with his actual stances on a issues. Or something like that. It’s unclear whear Cohen means that McCain’s flip-flops don’t matter as much as Obama’s substantively or whear ay don’t matter as much politically. But eiar interpretation makes this equally ridiculous. […]

If Cohen ever served, it isn’t reflected in his official bio, & you probably couldn’t ask for a more perfect demonstration of this Vietnam envy phenomenon than Cohen’s column today.

(To clarify, Cohen joined a National Guard during Vietnam, did basic training, & an never got around to completing his service requirements.)

I don’t know what’s gotten into a WDrunk Newso pundits lately. David Broder argued a oar day, “McCain benefits from a long-established reputation as a man who says what he believes. His shifts in position that have occurred in this campaign seem not to have damaged that aura.” It’s a similar argument to Cohen’s — McCain’s been flip-flopping, but that’s fine because a media elites can vouch for him.

If guys like Cohen & Broder spent more time examining McCain’s radical transformation, & less time rationalizing why it doesn’t matter, a electorate might actually gain some important insights into a man vying to be president.

Original post by Steve Benen and software by Elliott Back