In his eternal quest for the Republican presidential nomination, the supposed maverick John McCain has repeatedly reversed long-held positions and compromised purportedly core principles. From the Bush tax cuts, the religious right and immigration reform to overturning Roe v. Wade, proclaiming Samuel Alito a model Supreme Court Justice and bashing France (just to name a […]

Just in case Republicans still wonder why the GOP routinely garners less than 10% of the African-American vote, the reactions of some of their leading lights to the Supreme Court's Guantanamo detainee decision should provide a quick reminder. While John McCain Friday simply called the Court's Boumediene ruling "one of the worst decisions in the […]

In the wake of the Supreme Court's restoration of habeas corpus rights in its Boumediene decision Friday, John McCain and his allies on the right have predictably forecast an American bloodbath at the hands of terrorists unleashed from Guantanamo. While Justice Antonin Scalia claimed the ruling would "almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed," […]

During a town hall meeting in New Jersey on Friday, Republican presidential nominee John McCain reiterated his pledge to "get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice." Amazingly, McCain was able to make his promise without his signature line about following Bin Laden to "the gates of hell." Even more amazing, McCain cited swimming […]

On the same day the McClatchy papers released the results of a devastating investigation into dozens of terrorism detainees wrongly imprisoned by the United States, Republican water carrier Bill Kristol reported that Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are planning to double-down on Gitmo. In the wake of Friday's Supreme Court ruling McCain branded "one […]

Back in 1976, WABC-TV weatherman Tex Antoine was fired for joking on air to his New York audience, "'If rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it." 32 years later, John McCain abruptly cancelled a fundraiser at the home of Texas oilman Clayton Williams, who it turns out happens to have told the same grotesque […]

On the stump in New Jersey today, John McCain launched a thundering two-pronged assault on yesterday's Supreme Court decision on habeas corpus rights for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. Again raising the specter of "unaccountable judges," McCain picked up on his earlier, right-wing handbook assault against so-called judicial activism. Then turning to fear-mongering, McCain proclaimed […]

A year after he admitted "you've stumped me" when asked whether contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV, John McCain once again finds himself in the AIDS spotlight. On Wednesday, Americans learned that arch-conservative Tom Coburn (R-OK) is blocking Senate action on a proposed tripling of President Bush's global AIDS program. That would be the […]

One day after he proclaimed that it is "not too important" when U.S. troops return from Iraq, John McCain commemorated an unfortunate five year anniversary. In the annals of McCain's dismal record of flawed forecasts and calamitous calls on Iraq, June 11, 2003 stands out. On that one day, George W. Bush's would-be Republican successor […]

On Tuesday, Jon Stewart welcomed former Christian Coalition wunderkind and Jack Abramoff scandal figure Ralph Reed to the Daily Show to pitch his new book, Dark Horse. But while the two discussed Reed's joining Scooter Libby, Bill O'Reilly and Lynne Cheney among the ranks of racy right-wing novelists, Stewart gave the disgraced lobbyist and failed […]