McCain To Hold Fundraiser With Swift Boater

To what depths is John McCain willing to go to bring money into a presidential campaign that is to a large extent based on the perception of him as a man of honor and integrity?

On Tuesday, McCain will attend a $1,000-per-person fundraiser hosted by one of the solid citizens who participated in the despicable swift-boat smear campaign against his "good friend" John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign -- that's how low he's willing to go.

The Arizona Senator will be gobbling sausage and eggs tomorrow morning at a campaign breakfast hosted by none other than Paul Galanti, a Vietnam Veteran who never served with Kerry but didn’t hesitate to surface in 2004 to call the highly-decorated Veteran a "traitor" and appear in the television commercials of those who stooped to questioning the seriousness of Kerry's war wounds.

Despite having been discredited over and over again, the Swift Boat Liars kept coming and had a demonstrable impact on the last presidential election and, by extension, every lousy thing the Bush administration has done to our country since.

And the delusional Galanti even went so far as to say that the young Kerry was personally responsible for the extended length of the Vietnam war, saying on Hannity & Colmes in 2004 that Kerry's post-Vietnam statements against the war were "…for political reasons, but because of all the stuff he did, we stayed in North Vietnam for an extra couple of years."

But then, this was also the guy who favorable compared the service record of noted Chickenhawk George W. Bush with Kerry -- who received the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts in combat -- saying that "…the only difference is President Bush didn't commit treason when he was serving."

And McCain, not wanting to anger his masters in the White House, spoke up only weakly in defense of Kerry in 2004, but said the following:

"I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable. As it is none of these individuals served on the boat (Kerry) commanded. Many of his crewmates have testified to his courage under fire. I think John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam."

So, as is so often the case with John McCain, more and more questions arise about who he really is, what he really stands for and what the word 'integrity' actually means to him.

Is John Kerry his friend or his enemy? Did the Massachusetts Senator serve as honorably as the record shows -- and as Senator McCain himself says Kerry did -- or was he a "traitor" who single-handedly extended the Vietnam war by coming home and telling the truth?

And finally, is there a shred of the courage and character that allowed him to survive those long years in a Vietnamese POW camp left in John McCain? Or is he just another cynical office-seeker, with no moral compass, who will do absolutely anything for a buck?