Being a conservative just ain't what it used to be. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was recently accused of tweeting a "racist" joke -- by another Republican. The issue arose when McCain, responding to Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remark that he'd like to be sent into space (not, I assume, by an Israeli nuke), referenced Iran's recent successful launch of a monkey into space and tweeted, "So Ahmadinejad wants to be the 1st Iranian in space -- Wasn't he just there last week?" Now, I do think McCain owes an apology. After all, the brave "simianaut" that risked his life to push back the frontiers of Persian science to 1949 Western heights should not have his reputation besmirched. Yet GOP congressman Justin Amash had a different take. Writes Seattlepi.com: Second-term Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., a second generation Palestinian-American, was not laughing. "Maybe U should wisen up & not make racist jokes," he admonished McCain, also on Twitter. Okay, now first let me say,...(Read Full Post)