Straight Talk Express Derailed

John McCain has publicly stated that he doesn't question Barack Obama's patriotism, but McCain's campaign attacks on Obama over Obama's cancellation of a troop hospital visit in Germany aims to do just that. McCain alleged on Larry King Live (7/28) that "I know that, according to reports, that he [Obama] wanted to bring media people and cameras and his campaign staffers...."

That charge is untrue. In fact, Obama cancelled the hospital visit because the U.S. military at the hospital told Obama that the visit would be viewed as a political visit, and Obama didn't want the visit to have that perception. What has not been widely reported is that Obama visited wounded troops in Iraq.

The Republicans, and McCain's campaign are doing their best to portray the cancellation of the hospital visit as a big character issue that shows Obama to be nothing but a political animal, that is, he won't do anything if it isn't on camera. John McCain is leading the charge, making the public lie in spite of the facts.

The real question here is who is telling the truth, and who is the political animal? The facts refute John McCain's charges, but he keeps lying to the American people, and questioning Barack Obama's character. John McCain's Straight Talk Express is off the tracks and in the mud. His attempts at character assassination are the worst kind of mudslinging. He's attacking Barack Obama's character because he's losing on the issues that really matter to the American people: the economy, medical care, and Iraq.