John “Maverick” McCain is surely the Greatest American Hero, but it turns out that his death-defying escape from the Helicopter Terrorists of the former Soviet republic of Georgia didn’t actually happen. MORE »

Breaking: John McCain IN DANGER! Last week… sort of… according to the Georgian Interior Ministry, and The Sun… MORE »

John “The Artist Formerly Known As Maverick” McCain got a nice big kiss from the Post magazine yesterday, with a lengthy profile that paints him, improbably, as both the inevitable “heir” to the Bush dynasty and someone who can get elected. McCain, the only man in the country besides Joe Lieberman who manages to out-hawk the President on Iraq, which is currently polling slightly less popular than RJ Reynolds’ “cigarettes for school kids” program, also portrays himself, to great effect, as the Senate’s single most gullible member: MORE »

Sens. Chuck Hagel, left, and John McCain, right. MORE »

Today’s Hotline, quoting a Club for Growth mailer: MORE »

‘08 contender Senator John McCain sees a bit of bad vibes from his 2000 run as he rides the “Maverick Express” through the midwest. MORE »

Hey, kids! Did you know that Alaska is not just an enormous wonderland of pristine wilderness and endangered species/inconvenient surface layer blocking our access to crude oil, but a real state, with a governor and senators and Republicans and everything? While we were agog at events in the lower 48 Tuesday, there was serious craziness going down at the GOP’s annual picnic (where else?). Details after the jump.

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• Israel is suspending raids on southern Lebanon for 48 hours in the wake of this weekend’s deadly bombing of Qana. Condoleezza Rice is cutting her diplomatic trip to the region short, having achieved a concession, and claiming that a cease-fire is just around the corner.. [WP, NYT, NYT, WP, AP]

• The Department of Homeland Security, attempting to make Bush appear strong on the immigration issue, is beefing up enforcement by serving more indictments of business owners who employ illegal immigrants. [NYT]
• House members skipped town for the rest of the summer, leaving a minimum wage hike and the fate of the estate tax hanging in the balance. [WP]
• “At campaign events,” Joe Lieberman “appears subdued and weary.” [WP]
• Karl Rove criticized the press this weekend. [AP]
• John “Maverick” McCain’s son Jimmy is headed to Iraq. The Senator is simply tortured about it. [Time]
• China refuses to take from us 40,000 illegal immigrants. [WSJ]

• When we said, yesterday, that we believed Joe Biden when he said that he missed a chance to stump for Joe Lieberman because he missed his train, and that we believed Biden because he never misses a chance to be in front of camera, we did not realize that he proceeded to give two interviews about his trip to Iraq. We regret the omission. [ConnecticutBLOG]

• John “Maverick” McCain: He’s just like the readers of Esquire! That is, a complete tool. [Hotline]
• Yes, Mickey, a cheap headline featuring the words “Kos” and “Coulter” can generate hits. Whattya wanna bet we get better traffic for our hed? [Kausfiles]
• Oh, god — forbear? Ick ick ick ick. [The Corner]

We got the following totally-unverified tip yesterday from a Wonkette operative:

Overheard at Tortilla Coast:
Male with really bad curly hair kinda like that 70s guy from American Idol: “I met this intern from McCain’s office, she takes sleeping pills every night”

Ditzy Girl: “Really? Wow….”

Bad hair guy: “Yeah I mean she’s a red head so she’s pale anyways but this is worse!”

At first we didn’t think much of it, because even though we like the idea of the MAVERICK senator’s interns not being able to sleep at night, our tipster kinda lost us with the punchline. But then we read Newsmax’s most recent attack piece tribute to McCain, with its hilariously self-answering headline, and we wondered if maybe everybody within a five-mile radius of the gentleman from Arizona mightn’t need to hit the ol’ Ambien. The vulgar parts, including a surprising incident in which McCain inspects a colleague’s ass, are after the jump.

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Yes, we are the only people in Washington who came in to work today. Thanks for noticing. We also have a head cold. We will be a good 30% meaner than usual for the rest of the week. MORE »