What the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam?

This, too, is going to get old very quickly:

Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

One half expects him to admit to having "dabbled in liberalism... not in 'Nam, of course."

Issue is this: Walter here can only ride the POW thing so far. He's used it in political ads, of course. But he's also used 'Nam as a proof of his economic bona fides:

HOOK: I want to start with Senator McCain.

There's been a lot of discussion lately about the importance of leadership and management experience. What makes you more qualified than Mitt Romney, a successful CEO and businessman, to manage our economy?

MCCAIN: Because I know how to lead. I know how to lead.

I led the largest squadron in the United States Navy. And I did it out of patriotism, not for profit.

And I can hire lots of managers, but leadership is a quality that people look for.

And I have the vision and the knowledge and the background to take on the transcendent issue of the 21st century, which is radical Islamic extremism. I've been involved in every single major national security crisis since -- in the last 20 years. I'm proud to have played a role in those, and I'm proud to have played a role in making sure that we didn't raise the white flag and surrender in Iraq, as the Democrats wanted us to do and we would have done if we had set timetables for a withdrawal.

So, the fact is -- so the fact is that I have the qualifications and the knowledge and the background and the judgment. I don't need any on-the-job training.

MCCAIN: I had the great honor of serving this country in uniform for 22 years.

I had the great honor of being inspired while I was in the prison camps of North Vietnam by the news of a governor and his wife who cared very much about those of us who were in captivity.

And when I came home, I was inspired by him, and I voted for him, and I supported him, and I was proud to be a leader in the Reagan revolution -- I mean, a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution, as we fought these wars together with unshakable courage and principle. And I'm prepared to follow in his tradition and in his footsteps.

Quoted at length to demonstrate the painfulness of the moment, since the video's a bit harder to come by. That was a ramble of at least a minute, maybe two. Not only does he bring in 'Nam to talk about the economy, but he doesn't even answer the question. Seeing it live was cringe-inducing. Seeing it happen again during the debates will be even worse.

Back to 'Nam, though. This is going to be Saturday Night Live fodder by October, because they won't stop pushing it. That quote at the beginning is indicative of the way it's going to go. It's just the thing he and his campaign most naturally fall back upon.

More later...