Derailing the Straight Talk Express

"Grr..."

John McCain started his presidential campaign, way back in 2000, by hopping on a bus, which he dubbed the "Straight Talk Express" and driving around the country with a bunch of fawning reporters.

Now, in 2008, after his shameless submission to the neo-conservatives regarding the Iraq War, his embarrassing humiliation at the hands of slimy Karl Rove, and his ass-kissing of right-wing panjandrums, he's back on the campaign trail.

But, the Straight Talk Express isn't quite the same:



Viewing this video, I was struck by how confused and befuddled Senator McCain seemed. Granted the video is produced to show Senator McCain in an unflattering light, but if you compare his mien today with that of the feisty (many would say "angry") man that ran against Junior Bush in the 2000 Republican primary there can be little doubt that the years (and, one assumes, the humiliation and shameful submission) have taken their toll.

Despite the convulsions that are raging through the Democratic party with the changing of the guard from the old Clinton machine to the new Obama organization, the problems with the McCain campaign seem to indicate that John McCain will suffer a whipping in November along with all the other Republicans.

McCain, whom I believe to be a perpetually angry person, will be exiled to impotent rage in a Senate where his party's strength has been vastly diminished, there to finish out what is left of his career.

Bummer for him, but for the rest of us... not so much.