Hot temper or just hot air?

Who says John McCain doesn't have the temperament to be president?

By Arianna Huffington

Nov 8, 1999 | In its never-ending search for issues that don't matter, the media created a firestorm last week over the weighty question of whether Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has "the temperament" to be president, given his "fiery temper" and propensity to call people he disagrees with "liars" and "idiots."

The press coverage sounded less like political analysis and more like a nursery-school report card: "Johnny is smart, honest and is good with scissors, but lacks self-control and doesn't play well with others. Not sure he has the temperament to be bathroom monitor."

"Do I insult anybody or fly off the handle or anything like that?" said McCain. "No, I don't." Now, I have too much respect for the senator as a man of deeply and passionately held convictions to believe that. Personally, I could never trust a man who does not occasionally see red.

Unfortunately, by denying the charges instead of laughing at them, McCain legitimized this line of questioning. Haven't we had enough of politicians falling into the trap of answering questions about their private lives by issuing fake denials or splitting hairs? Are we now going to have to endure finger-wagging declarations: "I did not get pissed at that woman!?"

Thank goodness the media has put aside its silly obsession with finding out where the presidential candidates stand on the issues of the day and are placing the focus squarely where it belongs: on the candidates' personal peccadilloes. Wondering who to vote for? Ask Miss Manners.

It takes a real lack of knowledge of history to claim that a temper is a disqualifier for high office. Even the revered George Washington was known to blow a gasket now and then. One Washington biography describes a time during the Battle of Monmouth when he lashed out at Gen. Charles Lee so furiously that "the leaves shook on the trees."

Just as we were getting used to the media's fixation on whether our politicians are adulterers, it now appears they're out to uncover whether a candidate is the kind of guy you'd want to go on a date with. It's as if they're trying less to educate us about the candidates than fix us up with them.

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