I can think of few nice things to say about John McCain. Actually there are exactly two. The first is that when the great Arizona liberal Congressman, Mo Udall, was dying of Parkinson's disease, Mc Cain was one of the few of Udall's former colleagues who ever bothered to visit. There was no political gain in sitting with a dying man, but Mc Cain did it anyway.

The other was when he accepted the apologiy of David Ifshin, a 60's radical who had gone to Hanoi to support the Viet Cong and who recorded messages to imprisoned GI's urging them to give up. One of the POW's who was subjected to Ifshin's diatribes was John Mc Cain.

Decades later, Ifshin, who I knew and liked, wanted to make amends so he met with Mc Cain and apologized for his treachery. Mc Cain heard him out and forgave him. They became friends and, when Ifshin died all too young a decade ago, Mc Cain eulogized him at his funeral. Mc Cain was as personally close to Ifshin as Obama is NOT close to Ayers. It's the difference between a significant friendship and an association fostered through working together on a project.

The point is that McCain dishonors himself by attacking Obama for not shunning Ayers although he, to his credit, refused to shun Ifshin. If David Ifshin was still here, would Mc Cain throw him over the side in order to get elected? The answer is obvious. (Of course, he wouldn't have to. Democrats don't smear their opponents for accepting the apologies of sinners).

It is pathetic. John McCain is not so much running against Obama as against the man he used to be