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It's a profound mistake to attribute "madness" or mental dysfunction to someone you disagree with.

McCain and the neocons are very dangerous because they embrace a flawed ideology and are quite willing to use violence against others in pursuing it. They're wrong, not 'mad'.

Casually dismissing political opponents as crazy or dumb is a dangerous under-estimation of their potential.

A person can be both "wrong" and "mad". Sometimes they are wrong because they are mad -- their madness interferes with rational thought and leads them to believe things that are untrue. To identify someone as insane doesn't minimize their dangerous potential; it just explains (sometimes) the cause. Of course, it is a mistake to throw around "mental illness" labels willy-nilly. But this performance, especially viewed in light of others, do make me question McCain's sanity. It's not just what he says, it's the way that he says it.

The 'madness' was in respect to treating such a serious issue in this way, not to mention doing it in public, in front of a camera. Not in any way 'Presidential'.

I predicted once that McCain would be undone by youTube, but this isn't what I was expecting.