This paragraph of Alan Bock's kind review of my book jumped out at me:

It is hardly uncommon for a man of personal charm also to be personally pugnacious, and McCain's temper is legendary. We at the [Orang County] Register experienced it in an editorial board meeting some years ago when the senator blew his stack over some issue so minor we have forgotten what it was. Matt Welch illustrates with a number of examples that McCain is most likely to explode when a criticism can be taken as a personal affront (which he does more readily than most) and, most significantly, contains a strong element of truth. He also shows that from an early age McCain was frequently looking for a fight, eager to show he was a tough guy.

That's at least the third testimonial I've seen from ed board members who recall McCain just going apeshit on them for no good reason at all (usually involving a perceived slight on his or his family's honor). Interestingly, all three were from ed boards politically right of the journalistic center.

Here's my open letter to the nation's ed boards from January.