Sooo good, with their dirty, dirty tricks. As I reported yesterday, John McCain maintains his scathing denunciation of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, yet he employs one of them on his newly formed "Truth Squad," formed to respond to comments by Wesley Clark.

Now, USA Today is reporting that McCain's embrace of the Swift Boat Vets extends well beyond that:

Republican John McCain, who four years ago condemned independent ads challenging Democrat John Kerry's military record, has accepted nearly $70,000 for his presidential campaign from the top donors of the group behind the attack ads and their relatives, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said in an e-mail that McCain accepted the money because the donors are "interested in supporting (his) agenda of reform, prosperity and peace."

Wow, when is he going to unveil that agenda? It sounds good!

John McCain's embrace of this group might be his biggest act of political whoredom to date, and his most idiotic. Even Republicans have to be shaking their heads at this latest, Bill Buckner-esque blunder. Instead of letting the media start the fireworks, he tried to set off his own display, and it blew up in his face.