Here’s something I’ve been trying to wrap my head around, but have not been able to.

Media Narrative 1: McCain really wanted to pick Lieberman for Vice-President, because he likes Lieberman and he is a Maverick. Lieberman, however, would have pissed off the Republican base.

Media Narrative 2: McCain picked Sarah Palin over many more conventional choices because he is Maverick. Also, she happens to cater perfectly to the desires of his raving base.

So basically, whatever McCain does, even if it’s caving to his own desires to settle for someone who placates Conservatives, the media will still call him Maverick. I’m getting to the point where, every time I hear or say Maverick, I feel like I’m being molested in my ear or mouth a little bit.

All I know is, if Sarah Palin were Maverick Tom Cruise’s Top Gun Flight School Instructor in Top Gun the Movie, he would have crashed his fighter jet in World War I, just like Maverick John McCain.

“If you’re sitting here today, you’re not economically illiterate and you’re not a whiner, so I’m not worried about who you’re going to vote for,” Gramm told supporters of McCain at a Financial Services Roundtable event in Minneapolis on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention.

Actually, I guess that sort of makes sense. [Bloomberg via TPM]

Leahy told Vogel yesterday the media has given McCain a free pass on flubs including mixing up Middle East geography, Shiite and Sunni Muslims, and referring to Russia’s relationship Czechoslovakia — a country that hasn’t existed for 15 years.

“It was the same way with Ronald Reagan in the last few years he was president,” Leahy said, referring to the belief that Reagan experienced early signs of Alzheimer’s disease late in his presidency.

That’s right, and McCain’s going to show communist Russia who’s boss all over again, bitches. [Politico]

Bill Kristol uses far to many words in his gasbaggingest explanation ever of why Republicans/ pro-lifers would rather have a McCain-Lieberman ticket that a democratic one (Answer- because they’re republicans). First, he forgets that it’s not which way they would vote that is important; it’s whether they would make the effort to vote (and this is what I love about American democracy, as opposed to, say, Australia- if people don’t care enough, let them stay home). Second, his arguments for why pro-lifers would support McCain-Lieberman are bullshit, sine they’re both basically centrist assholes, and Lieberman would be a full-on pro-choice with a 196 year old president. Third, Lieberman is a stupid pussyass cockface and no one wanted him as VP his first time around.

Remember the times before we had real news, when right wing crazies went on and on about Obama the terrorist?
Oh, apparently Biden “should be named an honorary soldier in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
[Family Security Matters]