Comments on Maverick Moment of the Day

McCain totally ripped off the whole cross-in-the-dust BS, but honestly I think it was a pretty shrewd political move. It's the kind of feel-good "taking a stand for your faith" story that will creep into thousands of sermons nationwide, and before you know it Christian conservative leaders will be comparing him to the apostle Paul.

What's the Jesus perspective on LYING TO GET AHEAD?

At least he reads books....

Nobody holds a copyright on stories of crosses in the dirt. It's a very probable coincidence.

maybe he stole it... but yeah... a cross in the dirt is probably the first thing anyone would think of... next to an arc representing half a fish.

Nobody holds a copyright on stories of crosses in the dirt. It's a very probable coincidence.

I think you are confusing the words "probable" and "possible." It is, of course, possible that McCain did not just plagiarize this inspirational story from a source that most of his audience would be unfamiliar with. It is, however, exceedingly probable that he did exactly that.

The tradition of candidates making up appealing anecdotes in order to illustrate their own exemplary characters has a long and storied history. Hell, Reagan was the acknowledged master, in certain cases referencing movies he had acted in as though they were real events. So it certainly is not beyond reason to consider every campaign trail inspirational story, no matter who is telling it, as suspect.

Of course, since we weren't there, we'll never know for sure, a fact McCain exploits with great alacrity every time he produces another gem of tough-as-nails patriotism in the face of unspeakable cruelty. We just have to take his word for it, and never for a second question any of the details or the story's relevance to his qualification for office.

@5,

Or maybe your man is as much of a liar and a hypocrite as you are.

This reminds me of the episode where McCain told a Pittsburgh TV station the story of how he would recite the great Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line of the mid-'70s while he was a POW in the early '70s.

Now, you might say this is proof McCain is either a liar or prone to senior moments, or some weird combination of the two.

And to that I say, that's just typical of you secular-humanist non-believers. It's truly a miracle that McCain was able to know the names of those players before the fact. If this is not evidence that John McCain was anointed by God to be our next president, I don't know what is.

@8, he's also changed teams in that story. That's not a senior moment, that's creative storytelling.

nice, kesh. what'd i ever do to you?

first, not that it makes a difference, but i'm not a mccain supporter (as evidenced by plenty of posts on this stie).

second, i was raised christian, and, yes, those christian types will likely eat this up. since you cannot prove it was made up, it does not good to suggest that it likely was. it seems petty at best.

finally, while i don't know about mccain specific upbringing, not the sincerity of his faith, we were told countless stories of drawing half a fish or half a cross in the dirt as a way of "secretly" communicating our faith to others.

but mainly, i think you are an ass for calling me a hypocrite... i can't even figure out how i'm supposed to be hypocritical here.

I'm with infrequent on this one. Maybe he stole the story, maybe at least two prisoners in the history of every have marked little crosses in the dirt. Shut the hell up, keshmeshi; you have no idea what you're talking about.

thanks... i guess i got a bit defensive about being called a closet mccain supporter. i don't think being a POW makes you above reproach: i'm certainly in favor of calling him on his bs... of which this might be another example.

i'm surprised at how well mccain is doing. i seriously thought obama would score a blow-out victory in the general. now i'm starting to get a little nervous.

i know obama can rise to the occasion. i want that to be based on better policy, not bickering about what was probably or possibly drawn in the dirt.

No, the story is BULLSHIT and is intended to dramatize his Christian faith for the purposes of vote-getting, which is REPULSIVE.

I can't wait for when McCain comes to campaign in Seattle and tells the story of how, while he was being tortured in Viet Nam, he recited the names of that great Seahawks defense of Easily, Robinson, Nash...

Fnarf @ 13 -- Why is the story BULLSHIT? Leaving aside Soviet gulag (Christian prisoner) and Hanoi Hilton (Christian guard) stories, accounts from the Inquisition to Dachau to Gitmo are chock full of anecdotes involving covert kindnesses by camp personnel, with and without overt expression of religious motivation.

Best we can say here is that the story is unconfirmed, and convenient. Unusual or improbable? No.

"But he's lying... He's lying!!!"

eh, he might be lying, he might not. i'm not sure this can be made into a good campaign issue. that's just my opinion, that i don't feel that strongly about.

i would like to point out that i took offense to being called a hypocrite and a mccain supporter; i take no offense in someone suggesting my opinion isn't gospel.