McCain again plays the POW card on an issue unrelated to national security

The corporate media used to love to say that John McCain was shy about using his POW experience for political gain. Not any more. McCain and his staff have increasingly invoked McCain's former POW status to respond to such criticism on unrelated topics as diverse as whether he cheated at the recent faith forum, and why he can't remember how many homes he owns. And McCain did it again last night on Jay Leno, again responding to the "why can't you remember how many homes you own" question.

No one disputes that McCain was a POW, and suffered while in captivity. And the McCain campaign has made clear in its advertising, and its Web site - and from the candidates own mouth - that he was a former POW. Americans pretty much know that by now. But how McCain's former POW status relates to cheating at faith forum, or not remembering that he owns 12 homes, remains unclear. The McCain campaign seems to have decided that if the heat becomes too much for McCain, if the questions become too pointed, if the candidate makes too embarrassing a gaffe, McCain will simply play the POW card in the hopes that he embarrasses the American people, and the media, from further scrutinizing his qualifications to become president. It will be interesting to see if growing numbers of reporters in the corporate media call McCain on this somewhat odd behavior.