You Don't (or Maybe You Do) Know Dick

I’ve followed with interest the exchange on TPM over the last few days about Dick Cheney’s change in personality. One of the fascinating stories of the last decade or so is Cheney’s transformation from boring, hardworking, rightwing technocrat to a secretive, really rightwing extralegal cipher. I think this explanation makes the most sense – this side of Cheney was always there, but it took a weakwilled manchild above him to allow him the space to really put it into effect. That said, I don’t think you can discount the idea of some sort of physiological transformation, either. I’ve known a few people who have had serious brain injuries that resulted in dramatic shifts in personality.

But, perhaps now is a good time to revisit this profile of Cheney from July, 2000 in the USA Today (Motto: “Almost like a newspaper!”).

Get Out of Jail Free

According to Talking Points Memo, the press is starting to catch on about how much McCain dislikes talking about his POW experience. So much so that he brings it up at every opportunity.

This is a problem for McCain. His whole narrative focuses on his POW experience, and the idea that he’s a basically decent person who’s not like “regular” politicians. If he’s seen using this as a political tool, I think it really cuts against that image. Bringing up the POW experience in non-related issues has been like a get out of jail free card for McCain.  It's a way to stop an argument that is not going his way.  I think they've been pretty cynical about using it so far.  Like the article mentions, McCain is in danger of drifting into the same territory Rudy Gulliani did which Joe Biden described as "a noun, a verb and 9-11."

Last Time for a While, I Promise

There's another post up from Josh Marshall over at TPM that I find interesting. Josh Marshall (along with Matt Yglesias) is simply the most insightful, sane voice I've found on the blogosphere. He's so consistently cold and intellectual in his analysis that I find this kind of earnest pleading a marked change coming from him.

I don't have a point beyond that, but I do understand his desperation. McCain is an extenuation of Cheney's foreign policy vision, and far too often an extension of George Bush's domestic vision. All of these leftists (some cogent, others not) talking about McCain's "Rovian campaign tactics/message" aren't exaggerating. Look at McCain's new ad. Money quote: "Hot chicks dig Obama." It is not unfair to say that if you disliked the executive vision and tone over the Bush/Cheney years than you're very unlikely to enjoy a McCain presidency.

The stakes are high. If, after eight years of Bush, we cannot substantively repudiate his vision of leadership, then paraphrasing Josh from yesterday, we have gone very far astray.

If You Won't Listen To Me...

Then listen to Josh Marshall over at TPM, as he's saying a lot of the same things. Money quote:

The hawks will say that the example set in Georgia will foreshadow Eastern Europe. But that's a highly, highly questionable leap. We're in the midst of being led very far astray.

Amen to that.

McCain Ad Reactions

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo Media had this post talking about MSM response to McCain's most recent ad. Sadly predictable I guess. It's hard to see how it's a good thing when media outlets go out of their way to be fundamentally uninforming.

I should mention that if you're unfamiliar with TPM you really should check it out. When I first began regularly reading political blogs a couple of years ago TPM was among the first ones I read, (on the advice of my friend Van Dorn). I've barely missed a post since then. Josh Marshall is, in my opinion, the most insightful person writing blog commentary anywhere on the web.