Sullivan, who has been a mensch on McCain-Palin, calls the ad "dishonorable."

His Atlantic colleague Ross Douhat calls it "Gloves, Off."

In both their cases, the hell it is.

McCain has crossed over into territory where the dark stuff of politics seethes and boils. He is shouting "terrorist" in a crowded theater, and juicing things up with creepy racist touches (notice one of the images of Obama in the...