The return of truthiness

With John McCain having been given a free pass by the media on everything from his anger management issue, his flip-flops (not honest changing of the mind in the face of new information, but blatant pandering), his seeming loss of control of his intellectual faculties, it's even more astounding that the press is starting to say "Enough" when he stoops so low as the impugn the loyalty to the country of his opponent.

Michael D. Shear and Dan Balz, in the Washington Post:

For four days, Sen. John McCain and his allies have accused Sen. Barack Obama of snubbing wounded soldiers by canceling a visit to a military hospital because he could not take reporters with him, despite no evidence that the charge is true.

The attacks are part of a newly aggressive McCain operation whose aim is to portray the Democratic presidential candidate as a craven politician more interested in his image than in ailing soldiers, a senior McCain adviser said. They come despite repeated pledges by the Republican that he will never question his rival's patriotism.

[snip]

Despite serious and repeated queries about the charge over several days, McCain and his allies continued yesterday to question Obama's patriotism by focusing attention on the canceled hospital visit.

McCain's campaign released a statement from retired Sgt. Maj. Craig Layton, who worked as a commander at the hospital, who said: "If Senator Obama isn't comfortable meeting wounded American troops without his entourage, perhaps he does not have the experience necessary to serve as commander in chief."

McCain's advisers said they do not intend to back down from the charge, believing it an effective way to create a "narrative" about what they say is Obama's indifference toward the military.

"Narrative." Even if it isn't true, even if it's utter horsepuckey, they believe that outright "lies" constitute a legitimate "narrative."

I propose we create a "narrative" in which John McCain has a habit of buggering little boys in the choirloft in the Baptist church he makes a point of saying he attends.

So what if it isn't true. It's a "narrative."

UPDATE: The St. Petersburg Times joins the long-overdue pile-on:

The Straight Talk Express has taken a nasty turn into the gutter. Sen. John McCain has resorted to lies and distortions in what sounds like an increasingly desperate attempt to slow down Sen. Barack Obama by raising questions about his patriotism. Instead of taking the Democrat down a few notches, these baseless attacks are raising more questions about the Republican's campaign and his ability to control his temper.

The most offensive line comes from McCain himself. The Arizona senator has repeated that Obama "would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.'' That is one of the more outrageous statements by a major political party candidate seeking the presidency. The looming choices about the long-festering war in Iraq are not between winning and losing but about how quickly or slowly the United States can reduce its military forces without jeopardizing recent security gains. Even McCain acknowledges that, and insulting Obama in such a reckless way is not presidential.

Of course in John McCain's world, having been a POW means that he is by definition, presidential. It's about time someone called him out on his campaign's increasingly desperate tactics.