Students at the New School are organizing a protest for Senator John McCain’s planned commencement speech on May 19th. The New York Times reports:

Brittany Charlton, the vice chairwoman of the University Student Senate, said Mr. Kerrey’s choice of speaker had left many graduates with unpalatable choices of boycotting commencement or attending and protesting.

“It is extremely distasteful and hypocritical to allow McCain, someone who does not value the ideals we have consistently been taught in our education, to speak at the ceremony that represents the culmination of our experience with this university,” she said.

Thank goodness these students are not duped by McCain phony Maverick PR machine. McCain’s voting record proves that he is an extreme conservative. His actions of late confirm that he is willing to sell his soul to become President.

I’ve been looking around for some of the more outrageous statements made by Jerry Falwell, founder and President of Liberty University where Senator John McCain is set to give the commencement speech.  Here is the worst one so far:

AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh’s charioteers . . . AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.

This from the man McCain says it will be an “honor” to have host him for commencement.

Does Senator John McCain believe AIDS is God’s punishment for homosexuality?

President Bush’s obedient lapdog, Senator John McCain, trotted out today to defend his master’s appointment of General Michael Hayden to be the next chief of the CIA:

Hayden has his defenders on Capitol Hill. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he hopes he could be confirmed.

‘In all due respect to my colleagues - and I obviously respect their views - General Hayden is really more of an intelligence person than he is an Air Force officer,’ McCain said on ‘Face the Nation’ on CBS.

By supporting President Bush’s appointment, McCain is again displaying his lack of concern about domestic spying.  General Hayden was previously Director of the NSA which is the government agency that is spying on American citizens without a warrant or judicial oversight.

If McCain was truly a maverick, he would oppose General Hayden’s appointment and call for immediate investigations into the domestic spying scandal.  By refusing to do so he once again proves he is no maverick.

Over the past few weeks, more than a few eyebrows were raised about Senator John McCain’s acceptence of an invitation to speak at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. Falwell, known for being an outspoken and sometimes over the top Christian Conservative, had previously clashed with McCain following the 2000 GOP presidential primaries.

In Sunday’s New York Times, Falwell attempts to explain the invitation:

Many in the news media have portrayed my invitation to the senator as an effort to repair a relationship damaged during the 2000 Republican primary. Nothing could be farther from the truth… I have always admired Mr. McCain and nothing said or done in the 2000 campaign changed this opinion.

The decision to ask him to speak to our graduates was a reflection of our agreement on many important issues facing our nation, but it did not mean our positions were in perfect harmony. For example, both of us agree that the traditional family needs to be protected, but we disagree on how it should be done. I support the Federal Marriage Amendment while Mr. McCain favors protections passed by individual states.

These differences, however, do not separate us as friends. As we continue to prosecute the war on terrorism — a war that I have argued is just — I could not think of a better example for our students than Mr. McCain, who knows both the civilian and military sides of a country at war.

So I wonder who was taking more heat? McCain from deluded moderates who are now dissolusioned or Falwell from frothing-at-the-mouth extremists convinced McCain is the next Ted Kennedy? Who caved and decided this op-ed needed to be written?

My money would land on McCain. He is a weaker man who will do anything to get a few votes.

From the Washington Post, Senator John McCain describes his voting record and political ideology:

He says liberals need to understand that he’s not a man of the left, or even the center. “I haven’t changed. My record is the same on all issues, which is that of a conservative Republican. Not a liberal Republican, not a moderate Republican.”

Time for some strategy.  This quote should be the first words out of a Democrat’s mouth whenever someone mentions McCain is a moderate.

Bob Geiger over at Democrats.com has a great post ripping apart the myth of John McCain as a maverick. Go check it out ASAP.

Seems Steven Colbert agrees with us that John McCain is no maverick.  Speaking at the Correspondent’s Dinner in Washington DC, Colbert had this to say about Senator McCain:

John McCain is here. John McCain, John McCain, what a maverick. Somebody find out what fork he used on his salad, because I guarantee you it wasn’t a salad fork. He could have used a spoon! There’s no predicting him. So wonderful to see you coming back into the Republican fold. I have a summer house in South Carolina; look me up when you go to speak at Bob Jones University. So glad you’ve seen the light.

Truth hurts.

Today’s a busy day, but I couldn’t let this go unnoticed:

The U.S. Senate — including Arizona Republicans Jon Kyl and John McCain — Wednesday voted to divert some Iraq war spending to border security…Most Democrats opposed the measure, citing worries the fund move could decrease money for U.S. troops and body armor in Iraq.

So, for McCain, the choice is clear: pay for our troops to fight the war he so vigorously supports, or help Congressional Republicans grandstand. For McCain, the choice is simple - responsibility doesn’t play well with the racist Republican base.

When our troops don’t have the equipment they need to do the job Bush, McCain, and others send them to do, you can blame Republican demagogues like McCain.