In a recent TV interview, presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain vehemently denied reports from various internet websites, newspaper columns and articles, and a new book, The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter, that his temper is a serious problem.
He asserted that he does in fact get "angry" over bureaucratic waste (but not so much over the $12 billion per month on Iraq), illegal campaign funding such as the Abramhoff scandal (no mention of the Keating 5 and his own take from the Savings & Loan scam), and the use of insulting language to describe others (ignoring he once addressed each of 2 Arizona congressmen as "boy" and started a fistfight with Rep. Renzi).
In his personal opinion, McCain's temper is directed at matters which warrant genuine anger . . . and he'll punch any jackass who claims otherwise.
In Schecter's book, one matter that warranted genuine anger was directed by the senator at his wife Cindy, who was fussing with his hair. She commented, jokingly, that it was getting thinner. McCain went vitriolic and called her one of the slang words for female pudenda. This vicious incident was not covered by the journalists present because it is so hopelessly difficult to use such terms on television or radio, and it's even a hassle for print journalists because almost all mainstream newspapers and magazines avoid this and similar words, so a very ugly example of McCain's nasty temper, which was aimed at his beautiful wife, went un-reported . . . and it's a good thing because the senator would thrash any fool silly enough to tell the tale.
McCain also seems angered that supporters of his opponents have called the GOP heir-apparent a "warmonger." The senator and his staff have asked for retractions and denials, insisting that McCain is not a proponent of war. In various moves that really tick off the senator, the folks who use the term "warmonger" always play the YouTube video of McCain singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb . . . bomb, bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys "Barbara Ann." And the radio commentator who started this crap has been warned not get anywhere near the Straight Talk Express or the senator will bitch-slap him under the bus.
The McCain group also seems quite upset that liberals, supporters of Senators Obama and Clinton, and some columnists have begun to constantly point out that there is no relationship between the government of Shiite Iran and the fanatical Sunni terrorists of al-Qaeda--which Sen. McCain has ridiculously asserted several times. McCain made this silly statement on March 21, 2008, in Amman, Jordan, whereupon Sen. Lieberman very loudly "corrected" the would-be president's blunder. A Jordanian security agent later commented that McCain went yelling and chasing immediately after the "dirty little turncoat, weasel, fake Democrat," but the Connecticut senator was quickly escorted to King Abdullah's private office.
McCain repeated this nonsense on April 8, 2008, during his comments to Gen. Petraeus, who was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee. GOP campaign staff members are becoming fed up with denying to the "dead tree" journalists that McCain doesn't even know the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims, or which sect attacks US military personnel, or may somehow be connected with al-Qaeda. Perhaps to avoid McCain's raging temper, the cable and network news talking heads ignore the mis-statements which show that the senator doesn't know one from the other, although many print writers are of the opinion that the blathering-TV-talk types fail to report it because they don't know the difference either.
MCCAIN: Do you still view al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat?
PETRAEUS: It is still a major threat, though it is certainly not as major a threat as it was say 15 months ago.
MCCAIN: Certainly not an obscure sect of the Shi'ites overall?
PETREAUS: No.
MCCAIN: Or Sunnis or anybody else.
Sen. McCain finds the process tedious. He thinks his anger is useful. And if you disagree, he'll gladly meet you on the lawn in front of the Washington Monument and kick your phony ass right straight up under your shoulder blades.
