The HuffPo:

This is the week that should have effectively ended John McCain’s efforts to become the next president of the United States. But you wouldn’t know it if you watched any of the mainstream media outlets or followed political reporting in the major newspapers. During this past week: McCain called the most important entitlement program in the U.S. a disgrace, his top economic adviser called the American people whiners, McCain released an economic plan that no one thought was serious, he flip flopped on Iraq, joked about the deaths of Iranian citizens, and denied making comments that he clearly made — TWICE. All this and it is not even Friday! Yet watching and reading the mainstream press you would think McCain was having a pretty decent political week, I mean at least Jesse Jackson didn’t say anything about him.

And that isn’t even all of it. Here is Carly Fiorina caught dead to rights trying to lie about McCain’s position on issues important to women, here is McCain flubbing a reporter’s question about Fiorina’s comments (video of the tragic encounter found here), and as a Steeler fan, my personal favorite McCain moment:

And then McCain told a rather moving story about his time as a P.O.W. “When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the pressures, physical pressures on me, I named the starting lineup, defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron mates.” “Did you really?” asked the reporter. “Yes,” McCain said. “In your POW camp?” asked the reporter. “Yes,” McCain said. “Could you do it today?” asked the reporter. “No, unfortunately,” McCain said. Here’s one reason he likely couldn’t do it today — the Steelers aren’t the team whose defensive line McCain named for his Vietnamese tormentors. The Green Bay Packers are. At least according to every previous time McCain has told this story. And the McCain campaign just told ABC News that the senator made a mistake — it was, indeed, the Packers.

Liar.

What is most amazing about all this is that he keeps getting away with it, and the media refuses to hold him responsible for the things he says. Imagine if Obama had done all these things this week- they would be doing post-mortems on the failed Obama candidacy on the Sunday shows. Compare the reaction to the whiners comment and the Obama bitter remarks. Those seats on the new Straight Talk Express must be really hard to earn.

Two quick side notes. I don’t want to be unfair, but it is my general impression that Carly Fiorina’s crowning achievement in business is to destroy the reputation of Hewlett-Packard. I wouldn’t even consider buying one, and haven’t for years. Am I wrong about this impression? If not, why on earth is she considered such an asset for McCain?

Second, I know I have turned fiercely partisan for the Democrats recently, but I honestly do not remember McCain being this bad. I never much cared for him and, in fact, supported Bush over McCain in 2000 (awesome judgment there, I might add), but I don’t remember him being this bad. Am I imagining things? Or is he far worse a candidate and aperson than he was ten years ago?