Sunday, August 10, 2008

McCain the Reader: Can This be Right?

Can this be right?
Mr. McCain hungers for information. He can regularly be seen reading newspapers from cover to cover, and aides say he embraces the briefing books given to him each night. His aides say he is especially studious when it comes to economic issues, an area in which he has admitted weakness.
--In Loose Style, McCain leads a Camp Divided, NYT (link)

I admit it; I'm one who has dismissed McCain as shallow and incurious but hey, if it says so in the New York Times, it must be so (snark). My next question would be: if he sucks all this stuff up, what does he do with it? Can you really read this much and still not know the difference between a Sunni and a Shia?

I'm even more intrigued by the next comment which actually, when you stop and think about it, has the ring of truth:
The bursts of tecmper fellow senators have endured are rarely directed at his underlings. Indeed Mr. McCain has a history of being surrounded by people who are intensely loyal to him — and remain so even after being pushed off his ship.
I'm willing to take this at face value, and I'm even willing to credit a generous impulse here. But I must say the Times indirectly makes an important, if cynical, point here: be kind to the little people because they are the ones who, given the right motive, can destroy you.

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