"No Ma'am. He's a decent family man and citizen whom I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues."

"And that's what this campaign is all about." 

John McCain's answer to a woman who said, "I can't trust Obama.  I've read about him and he's . . . he's an Arab."

Whatever the motivation -- deep personal revulsion at the way this presidential contest was lurching into the gutter, and/or a change in strategy because it was driving his own campaign off the rails and down into the mire -- the effect on this voter, at least, is like sun breaking through the clouds, or a window thrown open in a room filling with carbon monoxide.  As for McCain, he looks like he just got out of prison again.  I thought his eyes looked desperate and humiliated before, as if he was trapped inside a grotesquely ill-fitting role.  (Remember when he said "my fellow prisoners" instead of "my fellow citizens"?)

It feels like a tremendous turning point.  Is it?  What do you think was the cause?  (Did someone advise McCain to do this, or was it a case of him breaking free from his toxic advisers?)  And what do you think will be the effect?

And will Sarah Palin continue to play the bad cop, not exactly feeding but certainly not discouraging the "He's an Arab" suspicions?  Note the difference, subtle as it may be, between that kind of insinuation and legitimate questioning of Obama's inexperience, straight-up liberal record, and peaceful coexistence with people even further left (as Krauthammer does here).  You can paint your opponent as out of the political mainstream and as a sincere proponent of what you believe to be terrible ideas.  Am I romanticizing the past or is that how it used to be done?  It's fighting hard but fair.  It's different from painting your opponent as sinister, treacherous, and evil -- or as ignorant, trigger-happy trailer trash.  (We know that too is a venerable American tradition, but not a proud one.)

Take a leaf, Democratic commentariat.  Someone had to make the first move. 

Comments

[Ron]

I have never doubted the decency of McCain, and this video only confirms that. That he needed to fight harder politically for his views and positions earlier, much earlier than now, I also feel is true. I could be wrong, but I think it's too late for him to succeed in persuading the voters, but we've had far, far worse candidates than John McCain from both sides of the aisle, some of whom have been elected.

[michael Reynolds]

Sorry, but I'm not buying. This is of a piece with McCain's embrace of the confederate battle flag when it served his purposes, followed, when the politics allowed, by public contrition.

McCain and his surrogates attack Obama personally for weeks and months. Then when it looks like the endless nastiness is getting dangerous politically, McCain suddenly veers into decency.

I'll be interested to read what Simon and Pat, the Fear Twins will have to say about this. Are they still going to be peddling their "grim sunset logo, death of all we hold dear, oh woe, oh woe!" line? Or are they going to veer along with McCain into phony tactical contrition?

I wait with bated breath.

[karen]

Michael is not alone- as our ever faithfully honest press, seeking only to be be fair and balance(snort) are painting this as fear, submission and throwing in the towel by McCain.

I'm so pissed that, way more than once(as the clip i saw was a man fearing a B.Obama presidency was told by Mc: "He is a decent man and you have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency")Mc has backed off from a dangerous direction that involves persons to hate and fear, only to be painted as scared or weak-- or maybe irradic?

Go ahead- take a person's honest and brave pronounciation for acting in a better, more Christian way and call it whatever you want to-- actions speak louder than words and to face the very people you need to vote for you and tell them a truth to their face takes way more stone than to stir it up or sit back and do nothing. He took control to his presidential disadvantage, buthe showed way more humanity than the other side, esp when it comes to Palin. Lashawn Barber has some interesting thoughts on this election, also.

Note: ended w/~also~ on the tail of my sentence- because that's how it came out. Which felt natural.

[Ally]

It was a fundamentally decent thing for McCain to do. It doesn't, however, come close to balancing the ledger. The real test will be if he keeps doing it, and if Palin does as well. I think she's constitutionally incapable of contrition, so I don't expect to see anything but more of the same from her.

The fact is, the McCain campaign has whipped its fringiest supporters into a dangerous lather, and it may be too late to calm them down. I keep reading about how the tone of the McCain campaign sounds eerily similar to political rhetoric in Israel before Rabin's assassination, and that frightens me.

[sail on]

Good to see McC let his fundamental decency and honor shine through again. Too bad he let the Rovians steer him down slime & sneer lane for so long.

When I watched & listened to the 2 Presidential debates, my response to McCain was "Yesterday" and to Obama, "Tomorrow". That's how it feels to me. As scary & uncertain as tomorrow looks from now.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Oh, how the hell is Sarah Palin encouraging the "he's an Arab" feeling? Because she uses the word "terrorist" to describe, well, a terrorist who blew shit up and certainly committed at least felony murder if New York has that statute --- and who isn't an Arab or an Islamist?

[amba]

He took control to his presidential disadvantage,

I'm not so sure it is to his disadvantage. He saved my vote.

[Ally]

Terrorist is a pretty loaded word these days, even if it's accurate. And Palin stood there smirking at a rally while some cop railed against Barack Hussein Obama. She has never interjected and corrected the people shouting "terrorist" and "kill him."

Sarah Palin was an indefensible choice and shows how faulty McCain's judgment can be.

[wj]

I think Michael may have it exactly backwards. This wasn't the equivalent of the South Carolina battle flag incident. Rather the previous focus of the campaign was.

This looks more like when McCain got up, after the South Carolina primary was over, and admitted that he had made a mistake. Granted, he has not, yet, said so explicitly. And if the campaign continues on as it has been, I will have been wrong. But I think Amba's right that McCain feels a lot more comfortable for having at least tried to stop the over-the-top accusations.

[amba]

Yeah, Ally, I didn't want to be the one to say the a-word, but I think it is smart (if late) to try to calm that kind of sentiment down. I've seen dark mutterings from supposedly rational people about "unless something providential happens" and I have wondered what the fuck they are really saying. Such an event would be far more catastrophic for the Republic than four years of liberals in power, and one of its ill effects would be Obama's elevation to sainthood and a paralyzing longing for a paradise lost of "what might have been." I'm still thinking about Mark Daniels' piece at TMV about how bad for us that kind of adoration of the idealized Kennedy brothers has been. It's much more effective to let reality and history bring such figures down to earth than to send them to heaven.

[amba]

some cop railed against Barack Hussein Obama.

Some cop! That was the sheriff of our second home, Lee County! Those words were uttered in Fort Myers, Florida.

[Christopher]

What I find fascinating is that our news media has done nothing to analyze the Islamophobia of that remark. So what if Sen. Obama were Arabic or even a Muslim. What was left unsaid was that Arab=bad, Muslim=terrorist. Had this woman said, Sen. Obama's a Jew or Japanese, would the press have left it at that? A lot went unanalyzed by our anemic press. They're not doing their job at this point content to be talking heads.

Frankly, Sen. McCain did the decent thing, but it's likely too late. His campaign stoked ugliness of this sort for weeks and it lead to this sort of flaring of the mob which is everybit as ugly and perhaps more vicious than the saviorism of Sen. Obama. Gov. Palin needs reigning in and now. Sen. Obama may be inexperienced, but I don't trust Sen. McCain either. He's lost a great deal of my respect.

[Ally]

Oh, the Lee County Sheriff! He's probably considered a raging liberal there. I'm surprised he didn't drop an "N-bomb," as people there are so wont to do.

[karen]

So, people are spouting off emotion, not very pretty to hear- and the Mc/Palin campaign is fueling these fires/fanning these flames by-- giving people a voice? Like- come again?

Are they suggesting evil things? Getting into peoples' faces, perhaps? Telling folks to lie for them? Are they encouraging violence?

Or, are they letting people speak their minds? In case it hasn't been noted, folks are visibly pissed at everything. Dems rote response: Republicans baaaa-aaad. Bush baaaa-aaaad. Rove- blahblahblah.

How about a little bit of honesty? Ally- i wonder what it is, exactly, that Palin has to do to get a little respect from you? Stop breathing?

[Spud]

Karen, I'm not Ally, but for me Palin would have to act presidential to get my respect, irrespective of her ideology. She comes across as a sarcastic ditz who never left high school. And I'm not prejudice. If the democrats had picked someone as clearly out of their league as she is, I would be just as harsh and no doubt embarrassed.

[karen]

I'd much rather have someone outside the league of typical Washington insiders and speaking in language i can understand- of which ~High Scool USA~ i am very fluent... then to decipher a Biden or a Pelosi(the alter-definition of Palin)-- sophisticate to a ~T~ and absolutely full of BS and garbled truth.

[Ally]

Palin would gain some respect from me if she pulled her name off the ticket (and if she showed an iota of genuine humility). She should never have accepted. And Karen, you seem like an intelligent person. I'm surprised you fall for this Washington insider BS. I actually kinda want someone who knows the ways of Washington involved in running the country. And yes, in that regard, McCain qualifies. Palin strikes me as the female George W Bush. More intelligent, perhaps, but just as incurious and arrogant, and even less qualified than he was 8 years ago.

[Ally]

And P.S. -- someone "elite" is fine with me as well. In fact, it's a prerequisite for the job. If being an elitist is a mark against you, then certainly Thomas Jefferson should never have been president. Or either of the Roosevelts. I could go on and on.

[karen]

It seems to me that definitions are ever-changing. I don't like that. What used to be a Classical Democrat, for instance- no longer exists in Democrat form, IMhumbleO. Liberal is an example and Elite is another one of those words whose definition seems to have taken on a life of its own.

Maybe all of the great Presidents were elitists- IDK. I believe they had much more respect for their fellow countrymen than the lot we now have representing us in Washington. Bernie Sanders is one who supposedly represents me, as a VTer, and i find no common ground to stand upon w/him. I think he's a player- tells the voter what s/he wants to hear and then takes that vote to the bank... in Washington. We'll never, NEVER be rid of him and i feel he accomplishes nothing, no matter the air rushing through his lungs and out his lying mouth, telling me otherwise.

I buy that ~Washington Insider~crap and swallow it down w/a *Mike's Hard Lemonade(cranberry). I see it, Ally. I know how these smooth operators answer questions and i'm left shaking my head, going: what did he just say? THAT'S not the freaking answer to that question-- WThell? It makes me feel manipulated. Lied to.

Palin isn't playing that game. I admit to not seeing/hearing much of anything she's saying and i sure as hell am not going to rely on the Press to tell me. They hate her as much as you do-- you're not a journalist, are you?

One last thing. Please have nothing in your mouth you wish to swallow down the wrong hole.

I love my President. Everyone thinks he's such an ignorant, incurious idiot.

I think he is a Patriot- a man that has America's best interests at heart. I beleive he's been ostracized by the Left and every offered hand across that damnable aisle has been shunned to the detriment of our country and Her strength. Not to mention his own party not ever giving him the benefit of the doubt 3/4s of the time.

That probably shaves a few points off my questionable IQ, but i don't care. My best friends are my husband, my kids, my God and my cows. Order interchangable.

Oh, and i don't beleive Biden knows his assh*le from his elbow- so Palin's intelligence should not be the only one in question.

[Melinda]

speaking in language i can understand- of which ~High Scool USA~ i am very fluent

Karen, I could be way off base here, but it sounds as if you're saying, "I consider myself uneducated, and I want an elected official who is as uneducated as me."

I've often said to doctors or lawyers, "speak to me in plain old ordinary English, not legalese" (or "medical-ese" or whatever). So maybe that's what you mean by it.

Full disclosure here: My vocabulary was beyond the high school level before high school. I was the only kid in third grade who sounded like William Safire. You know what? It got my ass kicked in a New York City schoolyard. I made myself dumb myself down so that people would like me.

So you know how I feel when I see this strain of anti-intellectualism coming out of the GOP? Like I'm in third grade and the whole country is a New York City schoolyard.

[Ron]

Gosh darn Melinda, don't blame the GOP if you weren't tough enough to defend yourself and your opinions. You're not the only intellectual who had to deal with thugs growing up. Don't dumb yourself down for anyone; be smarter than they are. And if can't be or you won't defend yourself, maybe you're not as smart as you think.

[Melinda]

You're not the only intellectual who had to deal with thugs growing up.

That's how I see the GOP sometimes...like a bunch of thugs. I'm sure the Dems have had their turn. I'm sure that Karl Rove is some kind of cosmic payback for LBJ's "Daisy" ad.

And I may feel like that third-grader sometimes, but it doesn't mean that I don't or can't turn around and kick ass back. That's the fun part of being a grown-up.

[Ally]

Karen,

I agree 100 percent with your take on the smooth-talkers. But it's not a phenomenon created by Washington. It's a manifestation of soul-eating ambition, and you can find it on local school boards and in local city halls as well as in the corridors of national power.

And yes, I'm afraid I am a journalist, though I haven't worked for a newspaper since 1997, and only got back into it, in its online form, a year ago.

It's a free country; you're entitled to like W. I believe history will judge him even more harshly than the public is judging him today. In my view, he had some good days in the wake of 9/11. That's about it.

[Ron]

Don't assume thuggish behavior lines up on party lines, so that only Repubs do it. I'm here in a college town where you get hectored not for being Republican, but not being Democrat enough! Or have those Hillary voters been happy with the way they were treated by the their own party?

Along these lines, check out "The Coming Obama Thugocracy" over at the National Review. Disagree, fine, but look, you found a meme in the air!

[Michael Reynolds]

Charlie:

That's actually what I meant, though I must not have stated it very clearly.

I mean that McCain race-baits and hate-baits when it serves his purposes. And then we get the contrition. Once the damage is done.

It's bullshit. And I'm sorry but it takes an extraordinary degree of self-delusion or naivete to buy it.

It's terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, decent man, terrorist, terrorist, terrorist.

McCain knows he's in the gutter. He chose to go into the gutter. He hired the people who slandered him knowing that he was hiring them to slander Obama. He pays the salary of people whose only job is to navigate the gutter.

He does not get a pass. He does not have a "get of the gutter free" card. He has lost his honor. And after tis disgusting display a "decent man" does not cover the debt.

[Michael Reynolds]

Amba:

Currently 100% of paid advertising from McCain is negative. Approximately a third of Obama ads are attack ads.

There is no moral equivalency between those who start throwing mud and those who throw it back.

There is no equivalency between Dem commentators and the campaigns themselves. We cannot somehow balance McCain and Palin against the comments sections at DailyKos and call it even.

And nothing Obama has said or done comes anywhere close to the kind of vile assaults McCain and Palin have launched. It's not Obama's people standing up at rallies and demanding that Obama savage McCain.

If we were seeing the same smears from Obama we'd be hearing about Cindy McCain's criminal drug history. We'd be hearing Manchurian Candidate attacks. We'd be hearing stories of dead soldiers whose death in the war is somehow all McCain's fault. There are a lot of places Obama could go. He's not doing it.

The worst he's said about McCain is that McCain is erratic. I can find you a dozen Republican sources who would wholeheartedly agree. His campaign has been erratic.

It was conservative David Brooks who called Sarah Palin a fatal cancer on the GOP, not Obama. A "fatal cancer." Seems like only a few days ago I was accused in comments here of low-roading for calling Palin a "bimbo."

[karen]

Heh. So that's how to spell ~erratic~. I just couldn't seem to find my dictionary the last time i spelled it out. I blog like Rainy:0).

I guessed lucky, Ally. I had no idea that you were a journalist. My husband and i watch ~Washington Week~ and it is a game to try figure sentiment from the words spoken by each journalist. Not very many symathetic to the Conservative cause, i believe. David Wessel(sp-sorry)is quite amazingly thoughtful. He covers all the bases. I don't know his leaning, but he seems to respect the fact that open-collar ideology might gag the average Conservative.

Melinda- i am fairly under-educated, but probably right on par for where i live and work. I never got my ass kicked, and i wouldn't know how to kick ass if i tried. I don't like conflict.

I doubt that Palin speaks like a HS student. I was being facetious. Is she dumbing down? I have no idea. Is she inciting hate? I have no idea. Does she think Ayers is dangerous for America- that he tried to tear Her apart from the outside- and continues to go at Her from the inside? Yes. What an association for a President to have while fighting the ~War on Terror~. Who better to counter w/then a home grown unrepentant terrorist?

Do people see this association as such? Yes. At least they ae airing their emotions. Mc is trying to calm that fear- that which he did not incite-- it's there. Getting it out now is not a bad thing.

[Danny]

I don't believe for a second that Palin is worried about Obama's associations with Ayers. I'm sure she knows that there's nothing to worry about. The resurgence of Ayers in the McCain campaign is a sign of desperation and it's a despicable one in my opinion.

As for me, the "elitist" hubbub bothers me a lot. I definitely want a President and Vice President who are extremely smart and know a hell of a lot more than I do! They needn't be arrogant but I sure want them to be well educated and have a full understanding of U.S. and world history and many other topics. I think it's quite clear that all of our great Presidents had amazing minds. It terrifies me that this is now seen as some kind of detriment to public office.

[karen]

Hey...

just wanted to add(now that my hands are numb from going to put our cows out to pasture)that the student-ese comes from having two kids in HS. It wasn't only reflective of my comfort zone tone.

[karen]

Having a great and grasping mind doesn't necessarily have to do w/what it's been fed or how it is groomed, Danny.

That's the whole problem. Perception and association rule the day. And i'm appearing to be ill-educated by understanding HS speak? These folks seem to be living it-- cliques and all.

[amba]

I was reading about Ayers yesterday, and I came upon the startling fact that the City of Chicago named him its Citizen of the Year in 1997, after his book A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court came out. When his unapologetic memoir Fugitive Days came out right after 9/11, many Chicagoans -- who apparently had not paid close attention to who he was -- felt betrayed and some demanded that he and Dohrn be fired from their university jobs, which they were not.

So that's a glimpse of the kind of amnesia and respectability that had gathered around Ayers until he, as it were, blew his own cover.

It's amazing to me because, while I was not very aware of Ayers, I knew very well who Bernardine Dohrn was.

[Melinda]

Karen: the student-ese comes from having two kids in HS. It wasn't only reflective of my comfort zone tone.

Okay, good. I was hoping it was something like that, but I'm not assuming anything these days. In the words of Felix Unger, "Assume makes an ass out of U and Me."

Ron: Disagree, fine, but look, you found a meme in the air!

I shot a meme into the air...

[Spud]

Melinda- i am fairly under-educated, but probably right on par for where i live and work.

Karen, tell the truth, you're college educated and I was told by your brother you were tops in your class.

Does she think Ayers is dangerous for America- that he tried to tear Her apart from the outside- and continues to go at Her from the inside? Yes.

Both you and Sarah Palin were not around for the Vietnam war. I was, and was also in the draft lottery. I did not agree with the violent protesting that took place during those turbulent times, I did agree with the peaceful war protests that took place all over America. From what I have read Ayers did not try and kill people, and I think it is misleading to associate him as a terrorist, in the same degree as Osama Bin Laden. Calling him a radical would be more accurate in my opinion. Show me where he continues his "terrorist's" way as you allege. And what purpose is it to link Obama with Ayers? To show that somehow Obama is a terrorist? It is false and misleading to assert their relationship as being close when they aren't.

What an association for a President to have while fighting the ~War on Terror~. Who better to counter w/then a home grown unrepentant terrorist?

I know he is quoted as saying, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough." but he also said "My memoir is, from start to finish, a condemnation of terrorism." But I get the feeling if he had said, I regret what we did in the past, it wouldn't be enough for a lot of people. What matters to me is how does he live today. From what I can gather, he is respected by those who know him, conservatives and liberals alike.

And also, not all alleged terrorists and radicals are shunned.
Former IRA bomber Gerry Adams is welcomed at the White House as a peacemaker. And so wasn't the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Former SDS member and Ayers friend Tom Hayden, was elected to the California state legislature, and the former Black Panther Bobby Rush is a congressman. I can understand your desperation Karen that you McCain supporters are feeling right now, as things are not looking to good for the McCain/Palin team.

[karen]

:0)-spudly...

I don't see desperation. If we lose, we lose. So be it. What i see is the address of concerns that average Americans(like me own self)hold. Maybe some were born after the Vietnam War and need claification, maybe some need reassurance... and maybe some want to see Mc get tougher on the associations B.Obama has w/big $$$$ and crooks(Rezco-Rezo-- that rez-guy),etc.

As to teh other guys of whom you speak- that ahve lofty positions leading a country they were pent on destroying... IDK- i'll have to take your word for it.

Ayers' view on education is opposite to my liking, opposite to my gut and probably pretty dangerous(humph- folks think Catholic school is dangerous, eh?). He couldn't blow Her up so now he's endoctrinating lockstep weirdims. That's destructive form the inside, spudly.

Lrt mr guess... you think i'm full fo what the little birdies eat, don't you?

[karen]

Ahhh, a new language emerges.

"Let me guess..." Although, next time i see you, i'll just call you mr. guess :0).

[RW Rogers]

Spud, your contention that bomb-making and setting are not terrorist acts is revealing.

[Spud]

RW Rogers, if you take a closer look, what I said was, "I think it is misleading to associate him as a terrorist, in the same degree as Osama Bin Laden". That does not mean I condone what he did.

[Spud]

As to teh other guys of whom you speak- that ahve lofty positions leading a country they were pent on destroying... IDK- i'll have to take your word for it.

This is where I disagree. I don't think Ayers, ect.. were trying to destroy America, anymore than I think those who have spoken out against President Bush's policies, hate America.

Lrt mr guess... you think i'm full fo what the little birdies eat, don't you?

Corn? That's what I see them eating out of the corn silage that Bones chopped and trucked over here. :-)

[RW Rogers]

Spud, your continuing arguments on behalf of criminal conspirators and terrorists are enlightening.

[Spud]

Well, you know how us liberals are, we love terrorists and enjoy terrorism.

[RW Rogers]

Your attempt to divert the subject to a generalization about liberals is not unexpected but I don't believe that you are representative. You alone made the decision to become apologist for terrorism and are now selectively rewriting history to suit your perceived political goals at the moment. Fortunately, it is easy to fact-check you and your attempts fall flat as a result, but the exercise is educational and revealing.

[Spud]

You alone made the decision to become apologist for terrorism and are now selectively rewriting history to suit your perceived political goals at the moment.

I'll chalk your statement up to dishonesty. If you can show me where I am an apologist for terrorism, lets see it, otherwise you're doing the rewriting.

[RW Rogers]

I think it is misleading to associate him as a terrorist

Your words.

What matters to me is how does he live today.

Sounds like you share Ayers's views expressed in his endorsement of the Hugo Chavez regime in Venezuela in his recent address to Chavez at a conference in Venezuela. Chavez's continuing financial and material support for leftist FARC terorists in Columbia is well-documented. Or are you giving him a pass here, too?

[Spud]

I think it is misleading to associate him as a terrorist

Your words.

Here is the complete sentence."I think it is misleading to associate him as a terrorist, in the same degree as Osama Bin Laden."

Sounds like you share Ayers's views expressed in his endorsement of the Hugo Chavez regime in Venezuela in his recent address to Chavez at a conference in Venezuela.

Now you're reading into things.

[RW Rogers]

Spud, that was not your complete sentence and I don't understand why you would claim it was when that is a fact so easily verified. The complete sentence reads:

From what I have read Ayers did not try and kill people, and I think it is misleading to associate him as a terrorist, in the same degree as Osama Bin Laden.

Your phrasing is informative, as is your subsequent use of scare quotes:

Show me where he continues his "terrorist's" way as you allege.

(I just gave you one example, BTW.)

Later, your phrasing once again demonstrates that you are acting as an apologist for terrorism:

And also, not all alleged terrorists and radicals are shunned.

I note the use of "alleged" here. There's no "alleged" about it, Spud. He's an "admitted" terrorist.

Now you're reading into things.

Am I? You're the one who wrote:

What matters to me is how does he live today.

I took your statement at face value. Apologies for believing you actually meant what you wrote. There is ample documentation of that what Ayers says and does today is not substantially different than what he said and did years ago and throughout his life. While he doesn't personally make the bombs any longer, his long record demonstrates that he continues to support those who do and those who finance those who do.

[Spud]

Obviously you have missed what I was trying to say due to semantics. I have to keep remembering that I am a farmer and not a skilled writer on a blog that is full of such writers. I can assure you that I am not "acting as an apologist for terrorism", as you say. I will try to express it in a different way: I don't lump William Ayers in the same category as Osama Bin Laden, which I think you are trying to do.

[RW Rogers]

IIRC, just a day or two ago you said you were resuming your career as a journalist, or was that someone else?

[Peter Hoh]

And so, in similar fashion, I said to Pam, "No Ma'am, the blogger who calls himself the Libertarian Conservative is a decent family man and a citizen with whom I happen to disagree."

[amba]

Randy -- Ally was a reporter, then an education foundation officer for a while; now he's a VP of a business-education alliance and writes/edits an online Colorado education newsletter and blog; it's in that sense that he's "back in journalism."

[jaltcoh.blogspot.com]

I"m surprised you had such a positive reaction to McCain rebutting the "He's an Arab" comment by saying that on the contrary, he's a decent person. What is that implying about Arabs?