The man who would have been President--redux

Steve Benen notes the latest flip-flop from former GOP frontrunner, John McCain. Yeah, I know, flip-flopping is something you call a Democrat, just as you only question the loyalty of Democrats when they criticize the President during wartime. Here, McCain has introduced a bill to ban the use of reconciliation for Medicare, because it is "too important."

First, in recent years, McCain has voted for nine separate piece of legislation through the reconciliation process -- four of them included cuts to Medicare. He is, in other words, pushing a new measure to prevent a step he's already taken several times.

Second, it's hard to take seriously the notion that McCain is worried about cuts to Medicare just two years after he ran for president on a platform that included steep cuts to Medicare.

And third, McCain claims to believe that "entitlement reform" must be a top priority for policymakers, but he's now pushing a foolish amendment that would make "entitlement reform" almost impossible.

And speaking of Republicans accusing Democrats of disloyalty, Glenn Greenwald notes how our media covers the Liz Cheney/Bill Kristol smear machine:

The full-scale collapse: From Murrow to Blitzer - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com: "Blitzer first teased the segment as this on-screen logo appeared, taken directly from the Cheney/Kristol ad: "HAPPENING NOW: DEPT. OF JIHAD?"

The next time he teased the story, CNN flashed this logo -- "Al Qaeda 7?" -- also taken directly from the Cheney/Kristol ad, as Blitzer explained that numerous Justice Department lawyers have been -- as he put it -- "accused of disloyalty" by a national security organization headed by Liz Cheney. The final Blitzer tease came as these words were flashed on the screen: "Are Justice Dept. lawyers disloyal?"

The story itself began when Blitzer posed this question: "Should there be a loyalty test over at the Justice Department?" He then introduced CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve, who -- echoing Liz Cheney -- introduced her segment by asking about the Obama DOJ: "Should it really be called the Department of Jihad"?"

These slime balls are accusing the Obama people of serving the interests of terrorists on purpose, and our media covers that "side" as just another "point of view."

This is how demonstrably false allegations against John Kerry became the truth. This is how absolute lying scumbags like Liz Cheney are on television every damn day. This is how democracy dies.