No Room on McCain Bus for Press

By Keith Schmitz

There is evidence that Navy Captain McCain is turning into Captain Queeg.

For someone who was famously cozy with the press, the GOP presidential nominee is starting to lash out at his friends in the press, largely through surrogate attack hounds. But sometimes when you take up with a woman, you break up with your buddies because they don't approve of your current squeeze. That woman in question is of course Sarah Palin.

And shockingly, per the Joe Klein piece on the Time magazine blog, they are on to her:

(I)t is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God.

I'm actually pulling from the end of Klein's post. He starts it off talking about how the McCain campaign staff is getting awfully testy about the press committing (to throw back at Sykes) flagrant acts of journalism.

No wonder McCain's posse is mad. The wonderfully hardwired Republican party as they always do during elections keep repeating the lines about Palin being a tax cutter, a maverick and a pork fighter. They are good at boiling down things to simple and effective talking points.

But it turns out she not only can bring home the bacon, she can fry it up in the pan. She could let her husband let him not forget he's a man, but Palin is having a feud with his mother.

Soon the press will get around to telling us that Palin is nothing but a typical burrow and spend Republican.

The GOP can't have their talking points derailed. More and more we are learning the Staighttalk Express runs on methane. My God, then they'd have to talk about the issues and we can't have that.

They will do all they can to entreat to the American public about how mean the media is, and with any luck the good folks in the press will stand their ground and do their jobs.

UPDATE -- CNN has more on the bullying by the GOP. Also, one of the 20 years olds from the McCain is getting snippy right now with Chris Matthews on Hardball. And Matthews is calling out him and a Utah congressman on the politics of the pick. This is going to get interesting to watch the McCain self-immolation.