McCain's Temper Should Be A Liability

Posted by Melissa McEwan, Shakesville at 4:19 AM on April 23, 2008.

The WaPo is the latest media outlet to notice (or drag themselves reluctantly to finally cover) what McCain watchers have been saying about him forever: He's a full-tilt asshole got a temperament problem. It's the usual litany of ugly behavior, going back to when he was a kid, although it's worth a read just to get a feel for how reprehensibly vindictive McCain is, in addition to having a hair-trigger temper.

Just one quick comment: I thought it was pretty amusing that not once but twice, recounted incidents of McCain's altercations with fellow Republicans ended with the pathetically low benchmark at least he didn't punch anyone.

It is unclear precisely what issue set off McCain that day. But at some point, he mocked Grassley to his face and used a profanity to describe him. Grassley stood and, according to two participants at the meeting, told McCain, "I don't have to take this. I think you should apologize."

McCain refused and stood to face Grassley. "There was some shouting and shoving between them, but no punches," recalls a spectator, who said that Nebraska Democrat Bob Kerrey helped break up the altercation.

...Reports recently surfaced of Rep. Rick Renzi, an Arizona Republican, taking offense when McCain called him "boy" once too often during a 2006 meeting, a story that McCain aides confirm while playing down its importance. "Renzi flared and he was prickly," McCain strategist Mark Salter said. "But there were no punches thrown or anything."

Melissa McEwan writes and edits the blog Shakespeare's Sister.