I wonder how much of this flip-flopping is McCain's fecklessness, and how much is a power struggle between him and his neo-con "handlers"?

Not only his neo-con handlers but his buddies at ATT as well.

McCain strikes me as a tragic figure. One gets the sense that he really does have decent instincts (which of course is why he's so popular among reporters) but he's sold his soul to the Dark side of the Republican agenda in order to reach his real goal which is simply command of the US armed forces.

But he did stand out among the 3 candidates left standing.

(Chris Dodd remains a stronger advocate)

http://phd9.blogspot.com/2008/01/full-text-from-obama-campaign-retelecom.html

Refering to the Bush/Cheney/Yoo theories of the omnipotent executive leaves out the important role of David Addington in formulating and pressing those theories.

From Wikipedia:

He was described by U.S. News and World Report as "the most powerful man you've never heard of".[2]

Unlike many of the other notable reversals in McCain's past, this one doesn't involve a verbal slip OR a vote that fails to correspond to his rhetoric. In this case both positions are clearly laid out in writing.

I'd also like tyo point out this additional spot of coverage.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9960493-38.html

As I said when I posted that link over at Swampland:

So at least, in this instance, we can't be referring to a senior moment or jumping on inadvertant misstatments.

The candidate has two opposing positions, both clearly stated in writing. Since they touch directly on the Constitutional limits of the office he is seeking, it's pretty important.

File under: "That's gort to be deliberate"

http://www.kxmb.com/News/245490.asp

On McCain's immunity flip-flop here:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9960493-38.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-secret-plan-to-keep-iraq-under-us-control-840512.html

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWJu9bbzrJZ7uNHjvMn0BuTGqHQD913IHEG0

Either the Independent article is overblown or the AP article is seriously understated but in either event, it's clear that there's another BushCo power grab in progress as we speak.

We already know how McCain feels about permanent basing in Iraq, but he needs to clarify his interpretaion of article II war powers. It is vitally important that we determine which, if any of the candidates feel that the president is above the law.

Glenn's current post.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/mccain-id-spy-o.html

This is handy if there's someone you feel needs to read about this who goes into shutdown mode if the source is Glenn.

A very compelling video of McCain flip-flops could be put together. This is a nice example though, a complete and utter reversal in less than two weeks.

(I still think we should push the diving anaology - a double reverse flip-flop with a half twist.)

In this particular instance, I think McCain is counting on the lack of attention to his initial position. The Globe article is now filed under ancient history, who reads Wired? and the WaPo article was on A6 on a Thursday.

And like it or not, the telecom issue doesn't resonate with the public in quite the same way that torture or attacking Iran does.

Maybe I was engaging in hyperbole BUT.....

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=clearchannel+war&btnG=Google+Search

To date, the main threat from this quarter hasn't been that the so-called MIC would create enemies or get us into wars, it's that they would sell us stuff we don't want, don't need or can't use.

I disagree that the MIC isn't a significant part of our current difficulties. First off, there was a strong incentive to rely expensive technological approaches to intelligence gathering rather than 'boots on the ground' that led to our underestimating the capabilities of Al Qaeda. Secondly, Glenn has thoroughly documented the symbiotic relationship that exists between the Pentagon, Private Military vendors and the Cable networks.

The GE/NBC connection is the most obvious example but I'm sure that the boardrooms of all those related industries have a bit of an incestuous feel to them. The efforts by ClearChannel to support the depletion of armament inventories is also well documented.

We agree that large expenditures on non-useful weapon systems is a big problem, the overall push to inflate threats, misidentify their sources and use the confusion to widen the target zone is proceeding across numerous channels.

just because I personally don't feel comfortable acting that way. But I will gleefully shout obscenities and anyone who suggests that doing so is 'over the top', 'hateful' or is anything but a rational response to his conduct in office.