McCain is Downright McNasty

The Republicans have spent decades proclaiming their moral superiority and they crow that they're the only ones who can be trusted to uphold the sanctity of marriage, yet they're enamored with John McCain, a person who swears, throws temper tantrums and calls his wife despicable names in front of others. Did I mention he's a philanderer?

Is this the kind of person we want representing our country?

The Real McCain by Cliff Schecter, which will arrive in bookstores next month, reports an angry exchange between McCain and his wife that happened in full view of aides and reporters during a 1992 campaign stop. An advance copy of the book was obtained by RAW STORY.

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c---t." [my editing] McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.

The man who was known as "McNasty" in high school has erupted in foul-languaged tirades at political foes and congressional colleagues more-or-less throughout his career, and his quickness to anger has been an issue on the presidential campaign trail as evidence of his fury has surfaced.

Schecter isn't the first person to note McCain's character failings. The NY Times wrote this in 2000:

For a candidate running on character and biography, it is also an awkward time to remember: Mr. McCain abandoned his wife, who had reared their three children while he was in Vietnamese prisons, and he then began his political career with the resources of his new wife's family.[...]

The story began when Vietnam released Mr. McCain and other prisoners of war in March 1973. He stepped off a military transport plane on crutches, an instant war hero, and quickly had a painful shock.

His wife, Carol, a tall, slim woman who had once been a model, had nearly died in a car wreck in 1969. H. Ross Perot, the businessman and advocate of prisoners of war, had paid for her medical care, but the injuries left her four inches shorter and on crutches, and she had gained a good deal of weight.

As John McCain puzzled over his career, he also found himself sorting out his marriage.

McCain also did a little soul searching back in 1979 and lamented that he would never make admiral like his father and grandfather. The Times said "he had always dreamed of doing something great, of imprinting his name on the history books, but at age 42 he found himself with a stuttering military career and no base from which to go into politics."

That all changed in April 1979 when he met Cindy Hensely at a cocktail party in Honolulu. He spent the whole party talking to her, went out to dinner and from there he pursued her. McCain didn't divorce his first wife till the following February, which left him free to promptly marry Cindy, heiress to Hensley & Co., one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributors in the nation. It was her father's business and political contacts that helped McCain gain a foothold into Arizona politics, along with Cindy's wealth from her expired trust funds.

Nice guy, eh? He dumps his disabled wife and marries a wealthy woman in order to advance his ambitions, and then he treats her like dirt in public. I cringe to even think about what he might do to her behind closed doors.

The kind of marriage the McCain's have is their business, but the way he treats people, his violent temper and the inappropriate words he uses in public are things that should concern us. We need a cool head in the White House, not a hot head who speaks before thinking, and we definitely need someone who will bring respect back to the office. That person is not John McCain.