Not That He Ever Was

Fairly sure Can't Remember Shit isn't fatal, unless we're talking about one's credibility:

As he faces a potentially tough Republican U.S. Senate primary in Arizona, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) no longer claims the "Maverick" mantle, Newsweek reports. In fact, he now denies he ever was one.

Said McCain: "I never considered myself a maverick."

Ever since he did the deed I've assumed McCain picked Palin largely because she burnished his Mavericky persona. "He did what? Now there's something that takes guts! He's one against-the-grain feller, that 'ol S.O.B." After all, he had a decade of Beltway hagiography to protect since 2000 when George Bush's presence forced him to the middle. Too bad for McCain that Palin was abhorred by GOP insiders and fans of Strunk & White.

Flash forward 18 months and McCain's shrugging off his security blanket of a political moniker while embarrassingly embracing his dubious veep pick on the Arizona campaign stump. Sure, it's a primary and that's typically all about out-basing your opponent. But a more confident, secure and safe politician wouldn't be forced to genuflect before the alter of Tea Partyism. Safe to says that after three decades in the Senate, McCain is none of those things.

I thought the old man's reaction after HCR passed—when he promising not to work with the Obama administration on any legislation until November—was a new low for McCain's brand of policy petulance. Then there's this, which is a new notch on the growing list of McCain's brand of rhetorical flatulence.