Wash. Post confirms 2006 McCain-Renzi battle first reported in Cliff Schecter's book while McCain says his temper problems ended long ago

You might remember reading this passage just last Tuesday here on AMERICAblog in Cliff's Corner:

So, in any case, here is what U.S News & World Report had to say about the book:

A new book by liberal writer and political consultant Cliff Schecter lays out a detailed blueprint for how Dems can mine presumed GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's political and personal past—including already well-documented incidents of his temper—to defeat him in the fall.

Not too shabby, for a thirty-something, suburban dad like me. The problem is that on a few stories I broke, where McCain referred to his wife as something that rhymes with "runt," and let out his inner pugilist by punching Rick Renzi (in his defense, it was Rick Renzi), I did that crazy thing that right-wing bloggers and the MSM never do! I relied upon thoroughly vetted, 100% credible, yet anonymous sources.

Today, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article about McCain's volatile temper (any article that honestly examines McCain's temper requires a very lengthy article), including this tidbit:

Reports recently surfaced of Rep. Rick Renzi, an Arizona Republican, taking offense when McCain called him "boy" once too often during a 2006 meeting, a story that McCain aides confirm while playing down its importance. "Renzi flared and he was prickly," McCain strategist Mark Salter said. "But there were no punches thrown or anything."

So, the McCain staffer admitted that this incident happened. Today, on "This Week" McCain lied about his temper. It was disturbing to watch McCain fake a smile as he discussed his own volatility. McCain tried to dismiss the incidents of his temper flaring as though they were all in his distant past -- 15, 20 even 25 years ago:

Asked how he could insure voters that his temper was under control, Mr. McCain responded, “Look at my record. Look at my conduct on the campaign. Look at — I mean, look, I am very happy to be a passionate man. I love this country. I love what we stand for and believe in, and many times I deal passionately when I find things that are not in the best interests of the American people. And so, look, 20, 25 years ago, 15 years ago, that’s fine, and those stories here are either totally untrue or grossly exaggerated.’’

The now confirmed incident with Renzi was in 2006. McCain has a temper problem that hasn't gone away -- and he's not being honest about it. Unlike most of the issues that cause a media frenzy, the stability of the potential president seems important to the safety of our nation -- especially when a lot of the concern comes not from McCain's political opponents, but people who are on his side of the aisle.

I really am beginning to think that one reason the media is so gentle on McCain isn't that they like him (some do and they like riding on the bus with him). I think most of them are afraid of him. He's crazy.