John McCain has no honor anymore

In the beginning, I took John McCain's word that he would run a respectful campaign, having known firsthand what it's like to have your honorable name and personality slandered and vilified in a campaign. I believed he would conduct himself with class and integrity.

As the election season has taken it's course, it turns out that I was wrong to have taken McCain's word to heart.

This article by the Huffington Post is only a final conformation on the John McCain of 2008: he has no honor anymore.

In his efforts to attack Barack Obama, John McCain appears to have turned to the same political consulting firm that was responsible for spreading vicious smears about the Senator during the 2000 South Carolina GOP primary.

In recent days, the Huffington Post and other outlets have reported on the McCain-funded nationwide robocall campaign charging that Barack Obama "worked closely with" former 60s radical William Ayers. Another RNC/McCain campaign call states that Obama is a "celebrity" politician who was fundraising in Hollywood during the financial crisis.

On Friday, a recipient of one of those calls, Chris Shoff of Minnesota, said that he had tied the origins of the campaign to the St. Paul-based firm FLS-Connect, run by prominent GOP figure Jeff Larson.

This past week, Shoff, a Freeborn, Minnesota Democratic County Commissioner, received the Hollywood call while at work. Because state law dictates that any such calls be made by an actual human, Shoff demanded that he be connected to the supervisor. That official, who worked at the robocall shop King TeleServices in Brooklyn, New York, said that they had been contracted out by FLS-Connect.

Officials with King TeleServices did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Asked about the connection to King TeleServices, a receptionist for FLS relayed a message from her supervisors that implicitly acknowledged that they have been working on behalf of the Arizona Republican: "If it is having to do with the McCain campaign or the RNC, you will have to direct your question to them."

According to campaign finance reports, the RNC has paid the firm more than $8 million this cycle. On Friday, Minnesota Democrats stated in a press release that FLS-Connect "may be behind the [RNC/McCain phone campaign]."

Any tie between the McCain campaign and FLS represents an ironic twist of fate and a reflection of just how far the Arizona Republican has moved politically in the last eight years. During the 2000 election, FLS and Larson helped then-presidential candidate George W. Bush smear McCain during the now-infamous South Carolina primary.

To quote Joseph Welch: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

John McCain, whatever honor and integrity you claimed to have had, you have sold it away like a cheap whore sells her body for money, but in this situation, the prize was the highest office in the land.

You ought to be deeply ashamed of yourself for stooping this low to try and chase what has almost become for you, a lost cause. There are 18 days left until Nov. 4. For your own sake, go out with a little self-respect and integrity, goddammit.