Shed a tear for John McCain

I don't know about the rest of you, but right now I'm feeling rather sorry for John McCain.

Consider: Back in early 2000, John McCain was the early front-runner in the Republican Presidential primary. His early momentum was immediately countered by a slew of Rovian dirty tricks from the George W. Bush campaign, including:

• Accusing John McCain of committing treason while a prisoner of war in Vietnam
• Calling McCain a "fag candidate" and that he was a closet homosexual
• Claming his wife Cindy was addicted to drugs
• Alleging that his eight-year-old adopted daughter was actually an illegitimate child he sired with a prostitute
• Questioning McCain's sanity due to trauma suffered while in Vietnam
• Using bogus push polls to spread further misinformation against McCain

While the Bush campaign denied that they were behind the attacks, it was an open secret that the thrashing of John McCain and his family came directly from the top of his campaign. As a result, McCain's momentum quickly fizzled in South Carolina, and the rest is history.

Needless to say, John McCain didn't enjoy being buried by the Bush campaign's avalanche of slime. As he told Dadmag.com after the election,

There were some pretty vile and hurtful things said during the South Carolina primary. It's a really nasty side of politics. We tried to ignore it and I think we shielded [my daughter] from it. It's just unfortunate that that sort of thing still exists As you know she's Bengali, and very dark skinned. A lot of phone calls were made by people who said we should be very ashamed about her, about the color of her skin. Thousands and thousands of calls from people to voters saying "You know the McCains have a black baby". I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those.

So imagine how absolutely gut-wrenching it must have been for John McCain when he appeared at the White House yesterday and was endorsed by George W. Bush himself (complete with soft-shoe dance). Pity poor John McCain, the fallen warrior, having to stand on stage next to George W. Bush, mouthing words of gratitude with a plaster grin, all while a long-smothered part of his soul burns with the rage of a thousand white-hot suns, just screaming for an instant to smite the Vietnam-deserting coward who destroyed his family and his honor eight years ago.

Yes, pity poor John McCain, who has now been thoroughly broken, reduced to supplicating himself before his enemy in humiliating defeat.

A cynical person might point to this as McCain's final capitulation, turned from a once-proud maverick into another member of the Republican establishment he originally railed against, a person who will now accept anything and court anyone in desperate hope of being the next President of the United States.

But let's give John McCain the benefit of a doubt, for none of us -- except, maybe, for John himself -- knows what's really going on in the deepest corners of his heart. For all any of us know, John McCain has simply achieved true nirvana, and is now at peace with everyone and everything -- including those who once worked to destroy him and his family. If so, he would have achieved a level of tolerance that would rival Jesus himself, and should be appointed Sainthood tout d'suite so the rest of us can learn from his example.

I don't claim to know what's really in John McCain's heart, but I think -- whether a political opportunist or an enlightened altruist -- there's still a part of him that just wants VENGEANCE...