John McCain must be losing it completely -- or is he?

I just finished watching John McCain make a fool out of himself again on NBC news. A few days ago, if you didn’t catch it, Saint John declared on CNN he could walk in many neighborhoods in Baghdad, pushing the Bush talking point that we aren’t getting the real news, the good news, from a jaundiced press. Wolf Blitzer then interviewed a local reporter who said McCain is living in Neverland if he believes that, defying him to name one neighborhood where an American would be safe for more than a few minutes.

So McCain tried it again, this time from Baghdad. He was taken to a market across the river from the Green Zone – where a bombing about a month ago claimed 88 lives – and stayed there (in his flak jacket) for about an hour. He tried the same line again about the “real” good news that he could be safe in a Baghdad neighborhood – somehow pretending that he was not protected not only by his flak jacket, but also by 100 U.S. soldiers, several armored Humvees and a couple of Blackhawk copters overhead. Thanks to NBC News for a change for actually reporting this.

Who does McCain think is stupid enough to buy this? It's hard to take anything at face value these days. This is so off-the-wall that you have to wonder: is this actually a carefully contrived strategic move: abasing himself by denying reality, even reality staring everyone in the face, as an ultimate act of loyalty to Bush – the first step towards a primary victory?