Apology Not Accepted

By Joe Klein | @JoeKleinTIME | September 10, 2008 | +

Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizing to journalists–including me–for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house.

Now he is responsible for one of the sleaziest ads I’ve ever seen in presidential politics, so sleazy that I won’t abet its spread by linking to it, but here’s the McClatchy fact check.

I just can’t wait for the moment when John McCain–contrite and suddenly honorable again in victory or defeat–talks about how things got a little out of control in the passion of the moment. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

Update: More, from Hilzoy. The Cub Scouts teach perversion too!

Related Topics: Uncategorized

@TIMEPolitics

Latest on Swampland

Closeup February 11, 2012

Political Pictures of the Week, Feb. 4-10

TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures of the past week from the Beltway and beyond.
From our Partners
Romney: I Was A 'Severely Conservative' GovernorHuffPost Politics

The Last, Best Hope for ConservativesSlate
Newt Claims GOP Just 'Managing The Decay'HuffPost Politics
Republican Party February 10, 2012

At CPAC, Romney Stresses Conservative Credentials

Three days after a trifecta of losses underlined lingering questions about his ability to win over the Republican Party’s base, Mitt Romney arrived at CPAC to allay skeptics’ fears. Throughout his second bid for the GOP nomination, Romney has made his business bona fides the centerpiece of his candidacy. But on Friday, before a packed room at the annual conservative confab, he sought to emphasize the record he compiled in Massachusetts. “I was a severely conservative governor,” he told the crowd. “I know conservatism, because I have lived conservatism.”

http://sportsonmymind.com/2008/11/03/what-if-sports-were-like-politics/ WHAT IF SPORTS WERE LIKE POLITICS? | Sports On My Mind

[...] is a “terrorist”, a “socialist”, “anti-American” “teaches sex to 2nd graders“, doesn’t want “sex offenders to go to jail”, [...]
http://blog.macleans.ca/?p=16636 Macleans.ca – How Obama survived the smears

[...] streak among the country’s chattering class. At one point, Time magazine’s Joe Klein described McCain’s ad accusing Obama of having supported a bill that would teach sex education to [...]
http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=5995 What Took You So Long, Joe? – Liberal Values – Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought

[...] Joe Klein wrote about the dishonesty shown by John McCain during the campaign and indicated he would not accept an apology from McCain should he show remorse for his tactics after the campaign. It would be nice if Klein at [...]
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2009/02/10/obama-s-stimulus-rope-a-dope.aspx Obama’s Stimulus Rope-a-Dope – The Plank

[...] kindergarteners and of calling Sarah Palin a pig. The press screamed bloody murder—Joe Klein labeled the former “one of the sleaziest ads I’ve ever seen;” Joy Behar of “The View” [...]