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JOHN McCAIN, HOLY MAN….David Gelernter says that John McCain’s big problem is that he’s just too damn modest about his own saintliness:

Of course no candidate can advertise his own moral stature; he can use weak words like “maverick” and “I have been tested,” but can’t quite say “I stand before you as a hero of proven nobility.”

No, I guess he can’t, can he? Luckily, Gelernter does it for him: “In Hebrew he would be called a tsaddik — a man of such nobility and moral substance that he approaches holiness.” Here’s an example of McCain’s alleged holiness:

McCain is only a part-time conservative and has never inspired enthusiasm on the right; but no one doubts that each of his leftward excursions has been a matter of principle and not convenience. His outspoken, unwavering support for Israel in the face of American Jewish indifference is a perfect example of principled versus self-interested politics.

I admit that I hadn’t realized before that unwavering support for Israel was such a gutsy stand for an American politician to take. Live and learn.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

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