"Straight Talk" generally has a rather positive connotation with most people. It's usually equated with Truth, an attribute rarely associated with politicians.

But when does "Straight Talk" cross the boundary and become "Shoot from the Hip" dangerous talk?

McCain is coming perilously close to crossing that boundary. His foray into courting televangelists whose support McCain sought, obtained, and ultimately had to disavow is symptomatic of a person who speaks and acts before doing adequate research.

But the most disconcerting remark McCain has made lately came during his wistful State of the Union-2013 speech about a week ago. Therein he promised to subject himself, much as the British Prime Minister does, to regular questioning by members of Congress.

This off-hand remark disturbed me. The United States is not Great Britain. The US has 3 separate but equal branches of government. And with the sole exception of Gerald Ford testifying before Congress after the Nixon debacle, the president--EVERY president--has maintained the independence of that office from Congressional subjugation, whether for good or evil.

McCain, in one or two thoughtless sentences, could undo a Constitutional principle under which the country has operated throughout its history.

His recent displays include misidentifying Putin, the confusion he's evinced between Sunni al Qaeda and Shiite Iran, his denial of positive remarks he made about HRC in
a speech delivered only days or hours before....

Each individual falsehood and blunder is not earth-shaking news. But taken together, a pattern is emerging. It's a pattern of sloppiness of thought, ignorance or confusion, forgetfulness or lying.

It's not a pattern that serves well as a foundation for a presidential candidacy. It's out there for the voters to see and hear. The question is: When will this pattern reach the critical mass necessary to become a central issue in the campaign?

In short, I have deep concerns that McCain may lack the necessary judiciousness and commitment to staffing-through and/or thinking through his remarks prior to uttering them. Such a lack could be disastrous to the county's interests.

As a Navy man, John McCain learned long ago that, "loose lips sink ships;" they could just as easily sink a Presidential Campaign.

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I've seen an interview where McCain was confronted with his own words and clearly he had no recollection of having had that opinion.

On several occasions he has said "I never said that" and then been contradicted by recordings of exactly what he did say.

I'm 55 and know better than to trust my memory on all things....like where my car keys are. McCain is past his prime and shouldn't be president.

Past his prime, or intentionally misleading? It is equally possible that McCain has always had a short fuse and might conveniently "forget " the comments he made when his fuse blew.
For all this talk about age, a real easy way to determine if McCain is suffering from the effects of age would be to conduct a CDR (Clinical Dementia Rating) interview.
Numerous studies have been using CDR to accurately assess the probability of significant cognitive decline within the next 5 years. It is both highly reliable and valid, and a simple score (from 0-3) would tell us the likelihood of McCain developing dementia within the next 5 years.

Naturally McCain would never present such an unequivocal result to the public, as he is a politician. So practically speaking, this would never happen.

I heard that Senator McCain had an appointment for a CDR interview, but he forgot to go.

Eh? Did you hear sumpthin? Dang hearin' aids...

Hmpf....you know how you get hearin' aids?

From listenin' to too many assholes....heh, heh.