Cindy McCain on Today: high comedy

This morning, I saw Cindy McCain, the wife if John McSame, on NBC's Today Show, and the interview, quite frankly, was stunning in many aspects.

I find it totally outrageous that Cindy refuses to release her tax returns. And she was pretty defiant about it, too. Considering how big of a deal both of the Clintons' tax returns were in 1992 AND this year, there's no way Cindy McCain should get away with this. The huge question here is, will the press let her get away with it? I'd bet my bile duct that the mainstream media will collectively yawn, and then proceed to chase down more important stories, like whether Barack Obama is wearing a lapel pin.

The reason that Mrs. McCain, who, according to reports, is worth in excess of $100 million, doesn't want to release her tax returns should be obvious - John McCain is learning heavily on her wealth. She can talk about "separate tax returns" all she wants, but no one can convince me that he doesn't benefit from her wealth in a multitude of ways.

If the press doesn't hold the McCains to the same standards that it's been holding the Clintons to for the past 16+ years, or that it held the Kerrys to in 2004, (and I'm predicting it won't) - the Democratic nominee had better ROAST the McCains over it, period. I seem to remember the Kerrys being called "elitists" by the media because of their wealth at just about every opportunity in '04, and not just by the blowhards on the far right - the mainstream media picked that up and ran with it on numerous occasions.

Equally as amusing was Cindy's assertion that her husband will not indulge in negative campaigning: "it will not come from our side." That one doesn't even pass the smell test. A few weeks ago, the North Carolina Republican Party ran a particularly cutting ad about Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright in that state, and McCain went out of his way to "condemn" it. In the process, the ad was rerun over and over on cable news channels. My favorite part was how he expressed his outrage - he sent a letter via snail mail. Wow, talk about urgency in the Information Age. I guess his cell phone was dead and he didn't have Internet access on the Straight Talk Express.

I can't write about this "interview" without commenting about Mrs. McCain's comments about Myanmar in the aftermath of last weekend's devastating typhoon, especially when she said, "I want to be there." Here's a thought - what's stopping you? You're worth tens of millions of dollars - get on a plane if you feel that strongly about it and stop the pseudo sympathy. Better yet, get out your checkbook. And her outrage about the Myanmar government's response is pretty amusing, considering the Bush administration's track record in "responding" to natural disasters in this country. She's "shocked, appalled and angry." Yea, I'm sure you are. In a week, when it fades from the front pages of newspapers and television coverage, Myanmar will be as relevant to Cindy McCain as global warming is to President Bush. Where was her outrage over the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina? I know where - hidden away, just like her tax returns.

What's our oil doing under their soil?

I do have to give the McCains credit and credibility for their thoughts about being concerned parents when their son was in Iraq. I can't possibly know what that feels like, nor will I pretend to. But, to me, that doesn't make McSame's opinions on Iraq any less misguided and myopic. Her assertion that an American life is worth Iraqis' "freedom" (a word she repeats about 10 times in 5 seconds, a pace that would make our asinine president proud) is beyond absurd. Our government wouldn't care one iota about Iraqis' freedom if they didn't have all of that oil. Oh, and by the way, a lot of good this War for Oil is doing us - what's gas going for these days? Only an administration this incompetent could invade a country with the second largest oil reserves in the world, resulting in gas prices doubling in the United States. Nice going, George - the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer die in Iraq. Over 4,000 American lives, $2 trillion (in the end, or probably more) and our gas prices double. Stupefying.

Anyway, most people may brush off and dismiss Cindy McCain's comments, and my response is simply this: You can't have it both ways. If Hillary Clinton's tax returns and political opinions were so relevant in the 1990s (and Bill Clinton's and Michelle Obama's this year), then Cindy McCain must be held to the same standard.

It isn't going to happen, but it should be, and I sure hope voters remember it in November, and I hope the Democratic nominee remembers it come campaign time.