I do wonder what motivated Will to write this column right now. Was he nudged by those still angry about McCain’s early campaign finance reforms?

i agree with others who’ve said that we’re seeing an inter-republican fight – but i don’t think it’s necessarily lead by the religious right, or even people still pissed about campaign finance reforms (although i expect they are allies). from a comment i left at fdl yesterday:

a very cursory review on tuesday made me wonder if we’re not seeing some republican infighting and we’re (the dems/progressives/left of center) are jumping in on the side of the anti-mccain faction.

this is all just the realm of wild speculation…. so please don’t take it as anything more than a question (or really a series of questions).

1. doesn’t mccain look dirty as hell from his time on the indian affairs committee? especially with regard to apparently threatening and potentially blackmailing the abramoff wing? and then covering up for them?

2. doesn’t it seem weird that the nyt would write a piece on mccain’s relationships with lobbyists by focusing on time when mccain (on the commerce committee) was involved in the debate over telco consolidation. an issue where the nyt sure looks far, far more corrupt than mccain (who was one of only a handful of senators to vote against the telecomunicaitons bill in (i think) 1996? isn’t that in issue where the dems look very bad?

3. were the sources of the recent nyt piece sourced to republicans?

so why does the nyt focus on an issue that (as far as i know) mccain was not as corrupt as either the MSM or the clinton administration and ignore the issue that looks (to me in my ignorance) to be the real dirt on mccain?

just does not compute for me.

if i were republican political operative who wanted to safely attack mccain, i’d pick something that if followed up carefully would lead to more corruption by the outlet i’m leaking to and the opposing party. i wouldn’t pick something that would, if followed up, lead to abramoff and his crew of republicans.

since i know so little about mccain’s history, i likely have it all wrong… hoping someone can correct me on the backstory and explain wtf is going on.

Jim White — great the YouTube clip. McCain is the biggest hypocrite – but W is the worst pREsident ever…

great idea!

But, becoming a PW changes the whole calculus. Post-capture and return, they get some special solicitude and maybe a little more rank than they would have achieved had they not been captured. They get promoted along with their peers even while in captivity. And that goes for officer as well as enlisted. A sergeant I served with had been a PW in Vietnam (and it showed – he looked ancient from the experience). No one even had to mention it – when he needed covering for (his treatment had taken most of his energy away), he got it without anyone ever mentioning it.

So, McCain might never have become a fleet commander or CINCPAC like his forebears, but had he stayed in (IIRC, he retired shortly after hitting his 20 years) he likely would have gotten a flag of his own and some notable job – one important but not on the main stream of career advancement and ultimately a dead end – where he could have been held up to the rank and file.

His getting out when he did was likely motivated by the opportunity of politics which may have been apparent (or made apparent) to him while he was in the Navy.

I do wonder what motivated Will to write this column right now. Was he nudged by those still angry about McCain’s early campaign finance reforms?

the rats are eating their own, and you wonder why ???

some of this might be “make nice” gestures toward the Democrats by repuglitards who can read the writing on the wall

or maybe Will just has his own finger in the wind, and senses a change coming …

we could drive ourselves crazy figuring out what this is about

but that kinda interferes with the enjoyment of it all