McCain doesn't know anything, does he?

Today, McCain said that if he's elected, he'll fire SEC chairman Christopher Cox -- probably because his campaign figures he has to say something about the train wreck that is the economy, and also because the GOP loves its scapegoats. One problem with that plan, as ABC reports, is the not insignificant fact that the president doesn't have the power to fire the chairman of the SEC. Oh well.

And that's not the only problem. Steve Benen points out that "the SEC did allow all kinds of short selling, but that's legal under the federal regulatory system that John McCain -- and his advisor, Phil Gramm -- helped put in place. After more than a quarter of a century in Congress, has McCain ever proposed changing these laws and imposing stricter regulations? No. Has he ever, before today, criticized Cox's oversight of existing trading rules? Not as far as I can tell." And besides, "I'm not an expert, but I'm fairly certain short selling is not the underlying cause of the current crisis. The sub-prime mortgage fiasco and over-leveraged banks are."

It's almost like McCain is trying to see how much bullshit he can get away with. The way I see it, it's the same kind of recklessness that caused him to crash five planes is his career as a Navy flyer.