In-depth report on the life and career of John McCain, which raises questions about his record. Unfortunately, the author lets his own viewpoint about the candidate interfere with the fairness of the report, which reduces its overall value. The article is loaded with derogative words, and appears so determined to paint McCain as a villain that it may be distorting the facts to fit its objectives.

Stretches the point a bit; castigating McCain for seeking shelter on a burning aircraft carrier when some other pilots were helping fight the fire is not a real character flaw, since he never claimed to have been heroic in that incident. Whereas debunking his claims of unusual heroism in the prison camp is indeed fair game. All in all, a good synopsis to puncture the myth of McCain's superior character.

The article punctures the myths that McCain has developed over the years based primarily on his loyal following among the press. It reports accurately the facts of McCain's background, some of which have been misstated or obscured by campaign spin and the McCain family media management. For example most people don't know that McCain cooperated with North Vietnam's anti-US propaganda campaign, and may would actively deny that he had done so. Cindy McCain has also gotten a free pass from the press, which long repeated her (false) assertion that Mother Teresa urged her to adopt her Bangladeshi daughter, and used a double standard in its treatment of her theft of drugs from a charity she supported. Had a single black mother done ... More »

The author may be biased but, in the face of his research, it would be hard to be objective. It's a must read.

Well sourced article that shows McCain to be a hot headed child of privilege, a womanizer (who in addition has treated women badly), a mediocre aviator, a man who despite his claims to the contrary was not changed for the better in the Hanoi Hilton ("McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man," Dramesi says today. "But he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in.") and a political opportunist. Excellent must read article.

I've read only a couple of articles about McCain that were so broad and deep in scope and impressively researched as this one. Though written with a view to prove McCain does and has long put himself ahead of country, it is hard to argue when so many facts support the claim. All voters who want a deeper, more fleshed out view of the man should carefully read this; the wealth of factual stories makes it worthwhile, whether or not one agrees with the author's conclusions.

This includes many incidents and details all in one place. Many of these I have seen reported before, and many stories are attributed to witnesses. A few new allegations could be helped with more sourcing, if the source is not intimidated by a vengeful potential president. The lifelong pattern of egocentric narcissistic prevarication, disloyalty, and intimidation is vibrantly reported. The unbranded steer undergoes a thorough inspection and the Rolling Stone provides content warnings of mad bull symptoms, supported by a scatological study of things left behind along his trail.

It's quality because it reports the facts and doesn't cross the line into suspect territory. Tempting as it must be to draw conclusions from some of the facts, the writer concludes only what is self-evident and unassailable. The article is also thorough in that every relevant point is made and they add up to a powerful agument. It may not pierce the denial of McCain admirers, but it does depict the true character of the man for those who are not enamored of him.

This is a long detailed highly critical analysis of John McCain, using a very wide variety of sources. A complete bibliography would raise the bar quite a bit.

I'd like nothing more than to forward this piece to undecided or independent voter friends, BUT since R.S. seldom supplies footnotes; and because it's reputation and putative readership has an inherent reputation, I suspect Dickinson's well-written snapshot of McCain will be rendered as propaganda.

This opinion piece has no journalistic merit. It is a tabloid attack on McCain, roughly at the level of US Weekly and the National Enquirer. The author's consuming hatred of McCain colors every paragraph and distorts every fact. A test: if Obama has any honesty he will denounce this total smear immediately.