McCain Speaks to the Press, Finally

BIRMINGHAM, Mich.–At last, a press conference. Late in the afternoon, Sen. John McCain, flanked by his wife Cindy, wearing a sling after a wrist injury incurred while shaking the hand of an over-enthusiastic supporter, on his right Sens. Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham fielded questions from the local and national press. Assembled together they seemed a group ready to take on the world, or at least Russia, which is what McCain primarily did during the course of his remarks and the questions that followed. And for the record, Mrs. McCain is fine. Also, McCain refused to talk up Lieberman as a vice-presidential candidate when pressed from, well, a young reporter from Scholastic Kids Press.

And while McCain had harsh rhetoric for the Russian invasion and the thus-far unwillingness to adhere to the cease fire, the more pointed words came from Graham when talking to a television reporter from the Voice of America.

"The reality of Russia today is it’s a country that’s abandoned democratic principles under the Putin regime and even to this day," Graham said. "It’s a country that’s rolling back a free press; it’s a country that’s destroying an independent judiciary; it’s a country where if you speak too loudly, you go to jail."

Yes, McCain and others have said they don’t want to restart the Cold War. However, these recent developments have made me reconsider building the statue of Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer in my backyard in lieu of a bomb shelter. This could also serve as a place to block out contact from the outside world during baseball season, which as a person who bleeds Cincinnati Red has become a six-month descent into the depths of a new form of hell.