"I think I can. I think I can." 

Nope. It turns out, I can't.

Unless, and until, folks define their terms, I really can’t know with any level of certainty what they’re really saying, or what they’re really trying to accomplish.

Take the word “character” for example. On C-SPAN’s Washington Journal viewer morning call-in program, I’ve heard many McCain vocalize the senator’s “character” as a foundation for their support.

Recently I submitted evidence (with URL, his own book, and court records attributions) of his lifetime of philandering, of cheating on his first spouse, cheating John McCain does not deny, and of his flat-out lying concerning the when and the circumstances in which his cheating occurred.

Regardless, significant portions of the electorate continue to tout the Arizona senator’s “moral character,” and I’m bewildered just how low the bar must be for these people, or perhaps, how extraordinarily resilient must their racial bigotry be, for them to call on “character” as a source of their political position. (Senator Obama is sufficiently vulnerable on any number of issues that it would seem endorsing his opponent on the issue of moral character would be wholly unnecessary.)

Let the record show that Senator John McCain is a rank panderer and contortionist of the first rank. To wit I offer the following in evidence. 

By the speech Senator McCain delivered at the NAACP convention this week in Cincinnati one might be fooled into believing John McCain marched hand in hand with Martin Luther King, and that no minority ever had a more out-front, stalwart ally than him. Follows is the link to the full test of his speech.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/us/politics/16text-mccain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

But then, what about how John McCain twice voted against civil rights legislation? ([1990 Senate Vote #276, 10/16/1990; 1990 Senate Vote #304, 10/24/1990; 1990 CQ Almanac, p. 60-S])

Or, how John McCain voted against Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday? ([Vote 289, HR 3706, Motion agreed to 89-77, D 249-13, 8/2/83; CQ 1983])

When I recall how, during his 2000 campaign for the presidency, McCain called the country’s most prevalent far-Right evangelical personalities “agents of intolerance," and then of a sudden how, this time around, he couldn’t hug them closer to his bosom, and when I cull the gathering tide of increasing evidence of his convenient position reversals, will anyone suggest I am somehow so terribly biased I cannot locate in the man the true strength of moral character that is there?

When I recall how, in a Baton Rouge town hall meeting this year, Senator McCain expounded on how he had been extremely concerned for the plight of the citizens of Louisiana, as Katrina was bearing down, this White House photograph (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/images/20050829-5_p082905pm-0125-515h.html), taken during the storm's onslaught of New Orleans, tells a rather different tale, I am forced once again to ask, am I so terribly biased . . . ? 

If only I could try harder. (Or, if only Senator McCain could learn — at least for a little while — to tell the truth.)  

— Ed Tubbs

Thousand Oaks, CA

PS — Of course I welcome responses, those that disagree as well as those that agree. But I’ve got to insist that only those retaining the courage of their convictions to include their real name and the city where they reside, exactly as they would for any letter to the editor, will be read or responded to. Now is the time for all of us to live up to the words and sentiments in our National Anthem.

Follows are the senate.gov records, evidence that McCain has voted against EVERY active or veteran benefit bill since 2000; that from a senator who has missed more votes (59.2%) than any other.

September, 2007, McCain voted against the Webb amendment that would have provided all troops in Iraq have at least as much time home and in training as in theater. (S.Amdt 2909, 2910, 2910; 9/19/2007,  5:30 pm) http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00341

May, 2006, voted against an amendment that would have provided the VA with an additional $20 million for healthcare facilities.  (S.Amdt 3704; 5/4/2006, 11:34 am) http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00111

April, 2006, McCain was one of 13 Republicans to vote against $430 million for VA outpatient care and facilities. (S.Amdt 3642; 4/26/2006, 5:55 pm) http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00098

March, 2006, McCain voted against increasing VA medical services funding. (S.Amdt 3007 to S.Con.Res 83; 3/14/2006, 4:22 pm) http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00041

March, 2004, McCain voted against establishing a VA reserve fund to treat  veterans. (S.Amdt 2745 to S.Con.Res 95; 3/10/2004, 9:34 pm) http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=2&vote=00040

October, 2003, McCain voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd (D-CN) that called for an additional $322 million in safety equipment for soldiers in Iraq.  (S.Amdt. 1817 to S. 1689; 10/2/2003, 7:36 pm) http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00376

April, 2003, McCain voted to table a senate vote to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq.  (S.Amdt 452 to S. 762; 4/2/2003, 5:35 pm) http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00116

August, 2001, McCain voted against increasing the amount available for medical care for veterans  by $650 million.  (S.Amdt. 1218 to S.Amdt.  1214; 8/1/2001, 6:02 pm) http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00263