Major Article at the Washington Post

Today, there's a five page article at WashingtonPost.com entitled

McCain: A Question of Temperament

It doesn't go far enough, in my opinion, in that it doesn't use quotes that are readily available, but it does describe the man's temper in unequivocal terms. Here's a choice excerpt:

John McCain cupped a fist and began pumping it, up and down, along the side of his body. It was a gesture familiar to a participant in the closed-door meeting of the Senate committee who hoped that it merely signaled, as it sometimes had in the past, McCain's mounting frustration with one of his colleagues.

But when McCain leaned toward Charles E. Grassley and slowly said, "My friend . . ." it seemed clear that ugliness was looming: While the plural "my friends" was usually a warm salutation from McCain, "my friend" was often a prelude to his most caustic attacks. Grassley, an Iowa Republican with a reputation as an unwavering legislator, calmly held his ground. McCain became angrier, his fist pumping even faster.

It was early 1992, and the occasion was an informal gathering of a select committee investigating lingering issues about Vietnam War prisoners and those missing in action, most notably whether any American servicemen were still being held by the Vietnamese. It is unclear precisely what issue set off McCain that day. But at some point, he mocked Grassley to his face and used a profanity to describe him. Grassley stood and, according to two participants at the meeting, told McCain, "I don't have to take this. I think you should apologize."

McCain refused and stood to face Grassley. "There was some shouting and shoving between them, but no punches," recalls a spectator, who said that Nebraska Democrat Bob Kerrey helped break up the altercation.

Grassley said recently that "it was a very long period of time" before he and McCain spoke to each other again, though he declined, through a spokesman, to discuss the specifics of the incident.

The man is clearly unstable, and has been for quite a long time. The above excerpt is from the first page of five in total - click the link and read the whole thing, it's amazing! More importantly, they point out the need for aides to the President to be able to offer unfettered advice - a man with monumental temper like this is not likely to listen to dissenting opinions at critical times.

Hat tip to DrDemocrat at DKos for his diary this morning that alerted me to the WaPo story...

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