So Much for the Straight-Talk Express

So I open my local paper this morning to read that Sen. John McCain made a stroll through a Baghdad neighborhood and said he had never been able to do that before and it proved that progress was being made. But it turns out it was:

A market three minutes from the Green Zone. Wearing a bulletproof vest. Accompanied by over a hundred well-armed soldiers. Covered by three Blackhawk helicopters. And two Apache gunships.

And after the visit in which no locals were able to move about freely while the Senator and his entourage made their stroll, it was back to the Green Zone for a press conference to talk about the wonderful progress.