Looking at Astra 166's post about Barry Goldwater's granddaughter endorsing Obama, I can't help feeling a little sorry for John McCain.  Sure, he's running a vile, disgusting campaign now, but every complaint about him is something he fought against in 2000.  Personally, I'll never know if he sold out his integrity for a slim chance of becoming President, or if his fabled integrity was a facade from the beginning.  But no matter what his reasons, I know McCain once fought against the kind of sleaze he's now pushing--and worse, that George Bush got away with it for the first 5 years of his presidency (or, arguably, all 8, since he hasn't been impeached). 

So it saddens me now that the children and grandchildren of Goldwater, Eisenhower, William F. Buckley, etc, have taken this long to come forward, and that in their silence we have suffered through 8 years of national humiliation.  But I'm still glad that they're coming forward at last.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nycity-news-service/foreign-journalist-transl_b_136155.html

Apparently one translation for "maverick" is "Dog without a leash."