Greg, possible to post the rest of McCain's quote? If not fear, then what drives his opposition to unconditional meetings?

Waiting with baited breath.

rather it is my clear understanding that such a course will fail to eliminate the threat posed by these rogue regimes.

riiiight. cause NOT talking to them has worked soooo well.

...rather it is my clear understanding that such a course will fail to eliminate the threat posed by these rogue regimes. I don't fear to negotiate. Instead I have the knowledge and experience to understand the dangerous consequences of a naive approach to Presidential summits based entirely on emotion.

Bush of Putin: "I was able to get a sense of his soul."

McCain won't negotiate because he knows the future with complete certainty. That future is called 2013 and he gave a speech about it the other day.

"The question before the American people is which candidate is best able to secure the peace for the next generation of Americans, a peace that will keep our nation safe, prosperous and free."

The other important question is which candidate wants to secure peace more. To suggest that McCain is that candidate is laughable at best.

And after his press conference, McCain said...

"I have to go, I poopied my pants".

Sad, really.

I have news for Senator Obama: I have met some very bad people before in my life. ...

Why's he referencing Charles Keating?

First off Mr McCain, I’m not your friend. So any time you start a sentence with “My friends,” I will assume you are not speaking to me. I also love the literary device of “I have some news for you”

Really?!?!?

So, here's some red meat for Webb watchers. He was on Morning Joe this morning:

Rather, Webb -- whose previous book Born Fighting explores the effect of Scotch-Irish culture on America's formation -- argued that Scotch-Irish voters' unwillingness to support Obama is less about the candidate himself, than about a sense of injustice among the community manifested by the government assistance afforded to minorities in the post-Civil Rights Era:

"This isn't Selma, 1965. This is a result of how affirmative action, which was basically a justifiable concept when it applied to African Americans, expanded to every single ethnic group in America that was not white, and these were the people who had not received benefits and were not getting anything out of it. And their basically saying let's pay attention to what has happened to this cultural group in terms of opportunities."

Webb even drew a parallel between this bloc and African Americans, suggesting that their grievances with and needs from the federal government are remarkably similar.

"Black America and Scotch-Irish America are like tortured siblings. They both have long history and they both missed the boat when it came to the larger benefits that a lot of other people were able to receive. There's a saying in the Appalachian mountains that they say to one another, and it's, "if you're poor and white, you're out of sight." ...

If this cultural group could get at the same table as black America you could rechange populist American politics. Because they have so much in common in terms of what they need out of government."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/21/jim-webb-speaks-out-on-ra_n_102915.html

I just want the debates to start.

I don't know why I leave my verbs out so often. I'm sure a psychologist could have a good time with that quirk.

I was just watching a McCain clip - I know I am biased but there is just something about his delivery on all of this stuff that just strikes me as very manufactured. I can't quite put my finger on it but everything that comes out of his mouth just seems like mock-outrage or trumped up enthousiasm. Maybe it is just his bad speech-giving or he is just stiff at the podium but really - how can anyone take this man seriously??

"Senator Obama has consistently offered his judgment on Iraq, and he has been consistently wrong."

ummm...except for opposing the war right from the beginning...

McBush is going to be a failure in the debates if Obama can keep pinning on him.."Your positions are just like Bush". This connection will take a while to sink in with the under informed voter!

It's great for Obama to keep this feud going by any means. Every additional round where McCain talks about how bad it is to talk to any "bad people" just reminds everyone how he's exactly like Bush. No other modern president espoused such an insane policy, and even Bush hasn't actually followed it consistently (though he talks about it all the time.)

With respect to Cuba, it is not America that needs to make unilateral concessions to the Castros -- a 'gesture of good faith' as Senator Obama said yesterday -- it is the Castro brothers who must allow the freedom they have so long denied to the Cuban people. Free the political prisoners, open the media, allow people to worship, schedule free and fair elections, and the United States will be happy to meet and talk. Until then, we cannot compromise our principles.

1. McCain equates talking with making a concession.
-This is as false as the claim that negotiating is a concession. It's amazing that someone who finds honor so central to his own belief system cannot see how people negotiate their own surrenders all the time, they just request the honor of being able to negotiate. Seriously talk to any professional negotiator, and they will tell you thinking of negotiation as mutual concession making is a massive misunderstanding.
-This logic explains what it is that McCain is afraid of. He is afraid of being worked. That the other side will get something he did not intend to give.

2. McCain believes being unwilling to talk unless they basically give up power will change their behavior.

-Empirically this is simply untrue, especially as a it relates to Cuba. Isolating Cuba arguably made Castro stronger, and harmed the Cuban people. We've pursued this policy for 50 years and it has been an utter failure.
-Refusing to talk is a form of punishment and disrespect. Maybe children respond to this because they want attention more than anything else, but many adversaries will respond with intransigence. Disputes will perpetuate because of this dynamic.
-It is a matter of honor. If I concede without a chance to negotiate it is a form of dishonor and people will suffer a great deal to avoid dishonoring themselves. As a POW who maintained his honor McCain understands this. He just doesn't seem to understand how many country's view us a the bully rather than the victim.
-Do we have any historical examples of when this worked.

3. McCain believes Cuba is worse than China or the Soviet Union. It was fine to talk to them without sacrificing our principles, but talking o the leader of Cuba crosses the line.
-Somehow rinky dink little Cuba threatens our way of life? Could anything be more absurd.
-And how do most of our allies in the middle east such as Egypt or Saudi Arabia stack up on the political prisoner, free press, free election, free worship metric. Not so good I imagine, but who cares so long as they are our allies. We ahve always maintained relations with
-Appeal to high principles is a little dangerous here since we all know this is the required pandering to the right-wing Cubans in Miami and New Jersey of a particular generation. Younger Cubans are apt to see the naked hypocrisy, as are Americans of any origin.

Eithe McCain honestly believes teh willingness to negotiate is a sign of weakness or this whole thing is for political effect. Paint Obama as weak, no matter what he wants to do. Chuck hagel was quoted yesterday as suspecting the latter as do I. Although it appears that he respects the use of force to a much greater extent than he does the use of diplomacy.

A last thought. What were the conditions of McCain's ultimate release from POW status? Was it because of the end of conflict, or was it negotiated prior to that? Certainly it was not a matter of North Vietnam simply capitulating to our demands.