By Stephen C. Rose
John McCain is engaged in a hypocritical effort to preempt the narrative of this Presidential contest. Today I shall try to carry on a running account of this, using as few words as possible to describe what I devoutly hope will be, like the rest of the McCain campaign, a transparent and demeaning retreat from even the pretense of civility, wisdom and true concern for the people of this country.
From Nate at 538::
Americans feel about the debates they way I felt about Bugs Bunny. The cumulative audience between the three Presidential debates will likely significantly exceed that of the Super Bowl. They like watching them, and look forward to them. If McCain denies them that pleasure, they are likely to be angry with him, perhaps in ways they have difficulty expressing.
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Imagine instead if McCain had called on Obama to return to Washington, and also called on him to meet him at Georgetown University on Friday night for a "civil discussion" (a.k.a. a High Noon showdown) on leading America's economy forward. That could have been brilliant. Obama would probably have had to agree to the change of venue and subject matter. McCain would have needed to follow-through by actually winning the debate, but if he had, that would almost certainly have been a game-changer. But that's not what McCain did. SOURCE
And Now Letterman Skewers McCain for Nine Minutes
With nearly half a million views at 7:53 AM Eastern Thursday, this could be a loss leader for McCain's idiot campaign. Imagine Dylan singing Idiot Wind -- and recall that Blood on The Tracks is among Obama's favorite recordings.
Juan Cole Weighs In
Mao Zedong announced the adage by which John McCain is clearly living now: "The enemy advances, we retreat. / The enemy camps, we harass. / The enemy tires, we attack." Mao was describing not a conventional but a guerrilla war, and McCain is now unexpectedly playing the Filipino insurgents of 1899 to Obama's America. Guerrilla wars are waged by the weak but wily. McCain has all but announced that his conventional campaign has crashed and burned. We do not know if the prepping for the debate was a disaster, or it turns out you really can't let Palin be interviewed freely by normal people, or whether terror set in that a second great depression will turn the country starkly to the left for the foreseeable future. SOURCE
Much more where this came from, including videos.
Then we hear:
White House Worried McCain Will Vote NO
Here are more links pointing to John McCain Antics today:
MCCAIN put out surrogate talking points to exploit his delaying ploy
AS MCCAIN runs for cover, our superpower status wastes away
CNN pushes back on McCain campaign news blackout VIDEO
TO MCCAIN -- troops do not get time off for a financial crisis
NOW does the McCain camp want to postpone the VP debate?
MCCAIN's desperate debate-evasion ploy
OBAMA rejected McCain's blindsiding by revealing the truth
TIME take on what crisis says about leadership