As my old pappy used to say, if at first you don't succeed, try something else.

Our own principled Maverick John McCain told the Iraqi government that the American public is losing patience with the conflict and that they need to quickly form a unity government.

It's nice to know John McCain is willing to buck the system and cut out on his own. Especially when most Americans now consider the Iraq war a mistake. *SNARK* Way to show us some of that "straight talk" you're so well known for.

But then McCain has repeatedly demonstrated that, in a profession known for it's allegiance to bullshit, he'll be second to none in his willingness to pretend or say anything in order to score political points. He could have spoken out against the war and the poor execution of same at any time during the last three years but he chose to sit on his hands until the tide of public opinion turned.

I've wondered of late what the young, heroic John McCain would say if he were somehow able to meet this older, shallower Senatorial incarnation of his former self. Would he be ashamed at pandering and posing? Would he see what we see see; a man whipped so badly by George W. Bush during the 2000 primaries that he's rolled over like an abused dog? The younger McCain had the guts to survive torture by the North Vietnamese during the war. The older McCain throws his principles out the door at the first hint of tickle-torture by Bush and Rove.

Unlike Senator McCain, I can't believe that the younger McCain would find much in common with a man who used his surrogates to defame the service of a decorated fellow soldier. Much less a man that dishonorably slandered his own wife and family.

McCain has become the best example yet of a Potempkin Senator. Built for the cameras but when you open the door and peak inside there's nothing of substance.