A full week after it happened, John McCain finally found time to apologize to the black reporter, Stephen Price, who was thrown out of the press area during a McCain stop in Florida. And while the candidate maintained the incident was the fault of the Secret Service, not his campaign, he went out of his way to explain that he isn’t a racist, according to the story Price wrote about their conversation. For proof, he dragged out his reversal on supporting the Martin Luther King birthday holiday, and his capture as a prisoner of war.

Wait a minute. “His capture as a prisoner of war?” How is that relevant?

When pressed to answer why he first voted against the King holiday, McCain said, “That was back in 1983. I was wrong and I have stated I was wrong, sir. … I’m very proud of my record I’m not saying it is perfect.

“I know what it is like to be deprived of your rights. I know what it’s like to be in confinement. I know what it’s like to be beaten. I know what it’s like. So I think I have a special appreciation that maybe a lot of people don’t have for what it’s like to be deprived of your rights. … We all improve over the years and we learn and we grow.”

Um, is that not the most convoluted and self-serving explanation you’ve ever heard for why someone voted against the King holiday? And total crap besides?

Price also asked McCain what his campaign is doing about voter registration in Florida, where the most recent numbers (new ones will be out soon) show 106,508 new voters registering as Democrats compared to only 16,686 new Republicans.

“I don’t get into those type of details,” McCain said. “Obviously, we want voter registration all over America. … We’ll do everything we can to get maximum turnout.”

Wow, what an inspiration McCain must be to Republican volunteers.