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Say it!

Of course, that was in 2000.

Bush tried to smooth things over-at a South Carolina debate in early February-the result was less than promising. During a commercial break, Bush grasped McCain’s hands and made a sugary plea for less acrimony in their campaign. When McCain pointed out that Bush’s allies were savaging him in direct-mail and phone campaigns, Bush played the innocent. “Don’t give me that shit,” McCain growled, pulling away. “And take your hands off me.”

Not that a two-faced Bush liked McCain, either.

“I love you, man,” Bush said to his rival, whose skin nearly wriggled off in discomfort. Soon Bush would be saying something quite different in private. “There’s a reason all those colleagues of his in the Senate support me and not him,” Bush told a friend in January. “They think he’s sanctimonious, and they’re right.”

Crooks and Liars has more, including the big “did he or didn’t he” question. McCain either did or did not vote for George W. Bush, and clarity is not forthcoming. According to West Wing actor Richard Schiff, this all came out at a Beverly Hills party shortly after the 2000 election at the home of Candice Bergen.

“Someone asked, ‘What do you think of Bush?’ ” Mr. Schiff recalled. “My recollection, and I have to qualify this, because I’m not 100 percent sure he used this word, but my recollection is that McCain said that Bush was dangerous and he didn’t trust him. Then this person said, ‘Why did you support him?’ And McCain said, ‘It was my obligation as a Republican to support the Republican candidate.’ And the person said, ‘Did you vote for him?’ And McCain said, ‘No.’ “

Bradley Whitford tells a similar tale.

“He was going on and on about how horribly unqualified and untested Bush was, how the campaign had attacked his family,” said Whitford, a registered Democrat. “Someone said, ‘If he’s so terrible, why did you support him?’”

McCain replied that as a member of the GOP, Whitford added, he always intended to back the party’s nominee. Then, the actor said, someone asked McCain whether he had cast a vote in favor of Bush.

“He put his finger up to his lips, shook his head and mouthed, ‘No way,’” Whitford said.

Even though these stories contradict what McCain told Bill O’Reilly on Thursday, it confirms what Huffington relayed earlier in the week. McCain did have a slip of the tongue, however, when O’Reilly first asked if he voted for Bush, and the answer was “Of course not.” But then maybe he was telling the truth.

• The media are crowning Barack Obama the Democratic presidential nominee. But has Hillary really lost all hope?
• JFK’s closest adviser, Ted Sorensen, discusses his new book Counselor: A Life At The Edge of History.
• It’s the Friday Night Free-For-All!

It means you have lots of families. Like this one, that Vito Fossella’s wife and three children didn’t know about.

As the New York Times says Friday,

From the day he went to Congress after a special election in 1997, Mr. Fossella has created an image in his district of Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn as the embodiment of traditional family values.

He was critical of Clinton during the Lewinski scandal, and praised President Bush as someone who would bring “character, dignity, honor and integrity” back into the oval office.” And this paragon of virtue, who made sure the local papers knew he stayed home on New Years Eve to have quiet family time, voted for the Marriage Protection Act and the Federal Marriage Amendment because those bills would protect the sanctity of holy matrimony.

With gas up to $3.67 and oil above $12, what a wonderful message we have from Jonathan Hoenig, who runs an outfit called Capitalist Pig. He’ll be on Hannity and Colmes tonight, blaming guess who for the high price of oil. The environmentalists. Which is a cute way of saying “the liberals.” We should feel sorry for the poor oil companies who work so hard on exploration and are kept down by the coal and oil-hating Democrats, and who have such narrow profit margins that they have to struggle. Never mind that Republicans have been in power for most of the last twenty-five years controlling one branch or the other of government. If those horrible tree-huggers would just let the good-hearted capitalists do their thing, what a wonderful world it would be.

Meet Laura Fay.  Unlike Vito Fossella, she’s single.

Here is the obligatory after-getting-caught statement.

“I have had a relationship with Laura Fay, with whom I have a three year old daughter.

“My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love and I am truly sorry.

“While I understand that there will be many questions, including those about my political future, making any political decisions right now are furthest from my mind.

“Over the coming weeks and months, I will to continue to do my job and I will work hard to heal the deep wounds I have caused.”

His name is Rod Parsley, and we wrote about him back in March. Now, Think Progress has the video of John McCain and Parsely, interspercing McCain’s delight at the endorsement with some of the things Parsley has said.

• Richmond, VA Mayor Doug Wilder, who was also America’s first elected black governor, warns Sen. Obama about the politics of race.
• But Hillary can stay in the race because whites love her.
• Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY), a “family values” conservative, gets busted with a DWI and a love child! What’s going on there?

Staten Island Republican congressman Vito Fossella has more problems than being caught driving drunk. He told police he was going to see his sick daughter in suburban DC, who needed to go to the hospital. But his wife and three kids in New York don’t know anything about a sick daughter in Washington. Single mom Laura Fay is described by a Fossella spokeswoman as just “a good friend.”

He told Martha McCallum on Fox News that he could “definitely” imagine a scenario where Bush hits Iran before he leaves office, and that Israel would be “delighted”. The video is at Think Progress.

Just a few days ago he told Fox’s Jamie Colby that attacking Iran would be “the most prudent thing to do.”

Last August, former CIA agent Bob Baer told FNC that Bush would likely strike Iran in the “next six months.” And Bolton’s take on that was that Bush was “fully entitled” to do so, and that he hopes it’s true.

• After last night’s primary results, former Sen. George McGovern was the first high-profile Hillary supporter to abandon her campaign. Will others soon follow?
• Former White House Counsel Lanny Davis explains why Clinton loyalists still have faith in her ability to win.
• Presidential campaign veteran Jack Kemp, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee in 1996, assesses Hillary’s odds of saving her campaign.

Besides, I’m partial to diners and Greek coffee shops.