confession

[SOURCE] "A proven leader, and a man of integrity," the New York Post called John McCain in its editorial endorsement. "A naval aviator shot down over North Vietnam and held as a POW, McCain knew that freedom was his for the taking. All he had to do was denounce his country. He refused--and, as a consequence, suffered years of unrelenting torture."

This standard summary of McCain's five and a half years in the Hanoi Hilton, repeated in thousands of media accounts during his 2000 campaign and again this election year, is the founding myth of his political career. The tale of John McCain, War Hero prompts a lot of people turned off by his politics--liberals and traditional conservatives alike--to support him. Who cares that he "doesn't really understand economics"? He's got a great story to tell.