The John McCain press infatuation has got to stop. Check out this “straight talk,” which was reported breathlessly by the New York Observer:

For all the national attention surrounding John McCain’s two highly anticipated, protest-ridden commencement speeches in New York last week, the Senator actually saved some of his best material for the crowd that gathered on Friday behind closed doors in the back of the Regency Hotel.
 

In a small, mirror-paneled room guarded by a Secret Service agent and packed with some of the city’s wealthiest and most influential political donors, Mr. McCain got right to the point.
 

“One of the things I would do if I were President would be to sit the Shiites and the Sunnis down and say, ‘Stop the bullshit,’” said Mr. McCain, according to Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, an invitee, and two other guests.

So honest! So bold! What an innovative diplomatic concept! If only John McCain were president, we’d have peace in Iraq!

Blech.

Update 5/24 3:33 PM: Among the many links to this post, Shakespeare’s Sister definitely gets off the best line:

I have the best informants in all of the blogosphere, and one of them has gotten me a copy of McCain’s entire plan. If you thought “Phase One: Stop the Bullshit” was outstanding, wait until you get a load of “Phase Two: No, Seriously — I Mean It.”