Yeah, Right, The Old "Straight Talk Express"

Ask "maverick" Presidential candidate John McCain a simple question, get a non-answer:

Then came a question McCain was not expecting. Would he support taxpayer funding for contraception in Africa to prevent the spread of AIDS?

Initially he said he would support a program that provided abstinence education, while providing contraception in those places where abstinence was not being followed. He said his major counselor on the subject was Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, a conservative doctor who has taken a particular interest in sexually transmitted diseases and has frequently opposed contraception distribution.

The conversation moved on. But a couple of minutes later, McCain grew concerned. He turned to the Salon reporter who asked the question and said he may want to revise his answer. "Let me think about it a little bit. I had not ...," he trailed off. "I don't know if I would use taxpayers' money"

Suddenly the straight talk became halting and confused. "We are on the Straight Talk Express," he admitted, before equivocating. "I'm not informed enough on it. Let me find out ... I'm sure I have taken a position on it in the past ... I have to find out my position on it ... I am sure I am opposed to government funding. I am sure I support the president's policy on it."

"I have to find out my position on it." Yeah, that's some real straight talk. I used to have some respect for McCain, even though we disagree on many subjects, and I felt bad for the guy when Bush and Rove engineered that smear campaign against him during the 2000 election when they spread the rumor among conservative voters that McCain had an illegitimate African-American daughter. However, instead of telling Bush to go fuck himself, McCain, in a sad attempt at kissing up to the Republican base, has since been an avid verbal supporter of the President and his obviously incompetent administration. He also, like Newt Gingrich, voted to impeach President Clinton for lying about an extramarital affair, even though McCain himself cheated on his wife and eventually left her (after her disfiguring accident) to marry a younger woman.

To be fair, McCain's bullshit answer is no less straight than those Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama individually gave when they were asked if they agreed with General Pace's assertion that homosexuality was "immoral." Instead of firmly delivering the correct answer of "hell, no," both Democratic candidates gave weak non-answers, but later followed up with carefully crafted written statements that they did not share Pace's view.