Amid the cries of “Hail, Caesar!” coming from Congress in response to General Petraeus’s appointment as front man for George W. Bush, and the snarls of outrage over the Moveon.org “Petraeus-Betray us” ad in the New York Times, a reality check brought to you by Centcom chief Admiral William Fallon, as reported by Gareth Porter over at IPS:

“In sharp contrast to the lionisation of Gen. David Petraeus by members of the U.S. Congress during his testimony this week, Petraeus’s superior, Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM), derided Petraeus as a sycophant during their first meeting in Baghdad last March, according to Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting.

“Fallon told Petraeus that he considered him to be ‘an ass-kissing little chickenshit’ and added, ‘I hate people like that,’ the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior.”

Mad John McCain, in his characteristically hyperbolic style, has demanded that Moveon.org be “thrown out of the country” for having dissed Petraeus, which raises the question: does McCain have Alzheimer’s? He appears to have forgotten about the First Amendment, not to mention the rest of the Constitution, but I’m sure that won’t bother his (remaining) supporters. I have to wonder, though, in light of the above-cited remarks, if McCain would also call for throwing out Admiral Fallon.