Excuse me, Senator McCain, but your pants on fire -- and your having been a POW is immaterial

I sometimes wonder how other Vietnam veterans who were prisoners of war feel about John McCain's view that he is entitled to a free pass on every sleazy thing he's ever done just because he was a POW.

So it turns out that rather than being in a "cone of silence" at the Saddleback Church on Saturday night while Barack Obama was being asked the same questions that would soon be posed to him, John McCain was in his motorcade, in all likelihood listening to said questions:

Senator John McCain was not in a “cone of silence” on Saturday night while his rival, Senator Barack Obama, was being interviewed at the Saddleback Church in California.

Members of the McCain campaign staff, who flew here Sunday from California, said Mr. McCain was in his motorcade on the way to the church as Mr. Obama was being interviewed by the Rev. Rick Warren, the author of the best-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life.”

The matter is of interest because Mr. McCain, who followed Mr. Obama’s hourlong appearance in the forum, was asked virtually the same questions as Mr. Obama. Mr. McCain’s performance was well received, raising speculation among some viewers, especially supporters of Mr. Obama, that he was not as isolated during the Obama interview as Mr. Warren implied.

Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

Uh, Ms. Wallace? Can you please explain what John McCain having been a prisoner of war has to do with whether he had advance notification of the questions? And don't you think that the word "cheated" is kind of a peculiar one about which to be outraged, given the Senator's marital history?

And as for the "insinuation" that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated, well, then, how do you explain your campaign's hysterical response to the idea that the Senator may have heard the questions in advance? Don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?

Perhaps you're a touch hypersensitive because your guy has already been busted for plagiarizing Alexander Solzhenytsin, in addition to his various lies about his record.

So yes, Ms. Wallace, we are accusing John McCain of cheating. And lying, and of being corrupt. Go prove us wrong.