I’ve had several people take me to task over this phrase from my previous blog post:

And thank God I don’t have to defend that foul-mouthed, turn-coat jerk John McCain.

“Why would you say that?” “Did you mean to say Obama?” “I thought you voted for McCain.” “Substantiate your comment.”

In truth, I did not vote for McCain directly. I didn’t have the stomach for it so I voted straight ticket Republican. Now, I know I’m splitting hairs here, and you can call me out on that if you like. My vote was, if anything, a vote against Obama’s socialist agenda.

Now, on to your concerns. If you’ll spend a minute or two searching this blog for “McCain,” you’ll see that I’ve long been a vocal critic.

Of special note are “McCain starts the ‘Donkey Dance’ early” and The John Farkus Affair in which McCain dropped f-bombs all over my Senator Cornyn. (Story here and here.)

Let me outline just a few of the reasons I’m not a fan.

• McCain/Kennedy alien amnesty… “Some have said that John McCain has destroyed his chances for President by getting in bed with Ted Kennedy on this bill”
• McCain/Feingold campaign butchery… “This bill limits the ability of citizens, however organized, to exercise their rights to free speech when it comes to elections.”
• Opposition to Bush tax cuts… “McCain aligned with liberal heavyweights like Ted Kennedy in his opposition to the tax cuts which eventually lead to and which continue today to propel the economic growth the U.S. is experiencing.”
• Very left-sounding criticism of Bush on Iraq… “McCain … accused the Bush administration of creating the impression that the war in Iraq would be ‘some kind of day at the beach.'”
• “The Moderate Myth”… As for Mr. McCain, this all leaves him … offering a political philosophy–no more tax cuts, moderate reforms to entitlement programs and moderate judges–that is actually costing Democrats votes. Paradoxically it’s a political philosophy that helps him wield tremendous power in the Senate, where there are plenty of mushy moderates. But the idea that it’s a political philosophy that will propel Republicans into the White House is a myth that this President Bush has long since dispelled.

Those are just a few examples of why McCain’s “maverickness” is directly opposed to my conservativeness.

There are also a lot of articulate, intelligent people who say his POW story doesn’t hold water and that his whole claim to fame is a lie. This sounds a lot like a foil-hat, conspiracy theorists delight and I don’t have enough information to call it either way. Since it’s a very serious charge, I’ll come short of endorsing it. Rather, I’ll offer it for you to make your own call. Click here, here, here, and these guys are very vocal about it.

Now, let’s put all this to bed and forget about politics for a few months, shall we?