DesertRain2

At McCain’s Cincinnati rally last night, the warmup speakers impugned Barack Obama’s integrity with unprecedented vitriolic attacks.

A local prosecutor kicked it off by mocking Obama’s lack of military service and his optimistic messages. He was followed by a local radio personality, Bill Cunningham, who putdown Barack Hussein Obama as a terrorist sympathizer and worse. Last, was former congressman and Bush staffer, Rob Portman, who characterized Cunningham as an "extremely important" part of McCain's campaign.

Fast forward to the post-rally news conference: McCain said, “Whatever suggestion that was made that was any way disparaging to the integrity, character, honesty of either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton was wrong, I condemn it, and if I have any responsibility, I will take the responsibility, and I apologize for it.”

“I absolutely repudiate such comments,” McCain said. “It will never happen again.”

This morning, the MSM is uniformly extolling McCain for doing the right thing. However, some bloggers suggest a darker, manipulative script: while the RNC explores the limits of acceptable gender and racial smears, character assassins will rev up the crowds, stand-up guy McCain will follow his speeches with even more apologies and the media will continue to applaud.

Has the national Swiftboating begun? Who knows? Only time will tell.

I take McCain at face value and admire him for his words.  I can only hope that VoA flourishes as a forum for thoughtful debate and the exchange of ideas rather than degenerating into a Swiftboating melee in the name of the First Amendment like the Cincinnati circus.

Only time will tell - and it’s a long time until November so let‘s be careful out here!

RIP Bill Buckley.