Has public discourse really been reduced to this level? "The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous," Ms. Wallace said.

I'm afraid I know the answer to my own question. I don't have any reason to believe McCain "cheated," but I hope we don't get into a situation where any criticism of McCain is reduced to "attacking a former prisoner of war" (and, for that matter, than any criticism of Obama is reduced to "attacking the first African American presidential hopeful").

UPDATE: Too bad Edwards isn't a "former prisoner of war." Maybe he could have quashed the initial Enquirer investigations by pointing out how outrageous it is to suspect a former prisoner of war of cheating. Somehow, the insinuation that a multi-millionaire trial lawyer cheated doesn't sound outrageous at all.