For a man who seems to shun celebrity, John McCain certainly has been in the media a lot lately - and little of the coverage has to do with his policy or his plans for the country. The republican will now get more attention for a wholly different reason…he’s being sued.

McCain’s political strategy, thus far, has been to undermine presidential competitor Barack Obama by calling him that dirtiest of all words - a celebrity. In the ads, McCain shows clips of Obama with his adoring public while the Jackson Browne hit “Running on Empty” plays in the background. Here’s the problem: McCain never got permission to use the song.

Oops!

Browne has filed suit against McCain, and he didn’t stop there, actually including the entire Republican Party in the legal issue. Jackson Browne apparently takes exception to the fact that his song was used without his permission (that’s called copyright infringement, folks), but there’s another wrinkle. You see, Browne’s a liberal - and he does not want his song associated with the GOP in general and McCain in particular. The singer/songwriter feels that the use of his tune by McCain wrongly suggests that Browne supports McCain. This is not the case.

Browne’s lawyer had this to say on the subject: “The misappropriation of Jackson Browne’s endorsement is entirely reprehensible, and I have no doubt that a jury will agree.”

For many months, McCain has been trying to convince the country that he’s got the courage and brains to lead the way. Now, he’ll have to prove that he can very simply follow the law.

This, that, and all the other aside, let’s look at this realistically. Now that McCain (and the entire republican party) have been called on the carpet for violating a rule so very publicly, a few things are now going to happen. The name of this political maneuvering is The Blame Game. The party will now do everything possible to show that this is not McCain’s fault - let me repeat, not McCain’s fault. They’ll say he didn’t know, he didn’t create the commercials and that he’s not responsible.

There are far too many people working on the campaign, you see, all with McCain’s interests at heart. They’re just a little overzealous, that’s all. At least, that’s going to be the story. McCain’s spokesman has already started to answer the accusations, saying that yes the ad is for McCain - but it was produced by the Ohio Republican Party. Blame the whole Midwest if you please, but you simply can’t fault McCain for ads others produce…right?

“We have sued the Ohio Republican Party as well, and we have been informed and believe that McCain and his campaign were well aware of the ad,” answered Browne’s lawyer. He further went on to state that “the fact that it” -the ad- “appears on the Internet means it also reaches an audience well beyond those states,” referring to Ohio and Pennsylvania, where the TV spot ran. 

McCain was previously asked to stop using the John Mellencamp song “Pink Houses” during this same campaign, as John had a penchant for rocking the tune out at some of his events. Too bad he didn’t get permission to do that, either.

“The copyright protections are derived from the Constitution itself,” pointed out Browne’s lawyer. Come now…when has the GOP given a damn about the Constitution?

Whatever else McCain may be doing, his politicking seems sound. The contender very nearly tied Barack Obama last week for media attention, the first time McCain has won nearly as many headlines as his competitor since the start of all this political madness.