I've read a disturbing diary at dKos: "Cross in the Dirt Story Stolen from Solzhenitsyn". Rickrocket appears to make a good case that of McCain's most compelling anecdotes  (and I thought most awkward--more on that later)  was actually taken from Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Archipelago".

Here's a link to the story--helpfully encaptured in a dramatic Christmas card campaign ad the McCain put together. McCain repeated that story last night. Per Rickrocket, here's the Solzhenitsyn story:

  Along with other prisoners, he worked in the fields day after day, in rain and sun, during summer and winter. His life appeared to be nothing more than backbreaking labor and slow starvation. The intense suffering reduced him to a state of despair.

    On one particular day, the hopelessness of his situation became too much for him. He saw no reason to continue his struggle, no reason to keep on living. His life made no difference in the world. So he gave up.

    Leaving his shovel on the ground, he slowly walked to a crude bench and sat down. He knew that at any moment a guard would order him to stand up, and when he failed to respond, the guard would beat him to death, probably with his own shovel. He had seen it happen to other prisoners.

    As he waited, head down, he felt a presence. Slowly he looked up and saw a skinny old prisoner squat down beside him. The man said nothing. Instead, he used a stick to trace in the dirt the sign of the Cross. The man then got back up and returned to his work.

    As Solzhenitsyn stared at the Cross drawn in the dirt his entire perspective changed. He knew he was only one man against the all-powerful Soviet empire. Yet he knew there was something greater than the evil he saw in the prison camp, something greater than the Soviet Union.  He knew that hope for all people was represented by that simple Cross. Through the power of the Cross, anything was possible.

    Solzhenitsyn slowly rose to his feet, picked up his shovel, and went back to work. Outwardly, nothing had changed. Inside, he had received hope.

Here's the awkward part: I thought it was incredibly manipulative, though undoubtedly moving, for McCain to tell that story in the interview. I find discussions of religion to be fascinating, but something that shouldn't be exploited for political gain. I also thought McCain shouldn't be leaning on the POW stories for sympathy.

But how unseemly is it to accuse McCain of stealing this story? But how can one not? Solzhenitsyn's Gulag was written well before McCain's story came to light. Is it some divine miracle of intervention in the communist prison guard world? Probably not. A sign that McCain really has had his memories altered as in The Manchurian Candidate? Probably not.

Perhaps this is a ruse, because I haven't read The Gulag Archipelago and don't have a copy to see if this is really there.

But man, this looks really bad to me, and as awkward as this is, I think the press would not be doing it's job not to point this out . Clearly Senator Obama can't, but someone should look into it.

Wow--this is as spectacular as the Portland rally. Obama is up 55 to 39 percent in the Gallup national daily tracking poll.

This is Obama's largest lead yet. Looks like he's completely pulling away. Is this because of Edwards, the superdelegates, media spin? It looks good for Obama either way. Hopefully this reflects the start of the Clinton supporters' unity move.

Do my fellow readers remember the time you first read one of the Obama smear e-mails? The ones that dredge up Muslim associations (doubly hard to refute without insulting Islamic American voters?), the ones that question Obama's mothers' sexual proclivities for dark skinned men, the ones that focus on the meanest, scariest, blackest people who ever crossed Obama's past?  I do. It was really jarring.

That first moment has to be in the background for context, but this post is about another moment: The Moment I Realized Barack Obama Also Heard These Smears. He probably read some version of these years ago. He's bright enough to imagine what ignorant Americans would do with his incredibly difficult (love the man, but it's not just "funny", it's damned insane post 9-11, post Iraq II). He knows--he knew--what was coming. When he entered the race he said:

I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness in this — a certain audacity — to this announcement

No kidding. Effing - audacious! Audacity or blind stupid courageous conviction? Should be a new swear word--fauckdacity! (fukdacity?!) This man can take it. He's been Barack Hussein Obama his entire life, through the first Gulf War, through 9-11, he knows. He learned to trash talk in basketball for a reason. This man uses these ridiculously big cajones to elevate the national dialog. He knew, and he's doing this anyway. He knew his life would be threatened, he knew, and I think this man has his eyes completely wide open to the facts and still -- still -- still talks of hope.

Has anyone else had that moment---when you realized exactly how audacious this campaign really is?