D'oh: 'Maverick' McCain pens anti-Putin op-ed for the wrong publication

As we've noted, Arizona Sen. John McCain penned a pointed op-ed published by Russian newspaper Pravda.ru today.  There's one big problem, however -- it's not the Pravda he meant to write for.

The Pravda McCain had previously said he wanted to write his op-ed for is one of the oldest Russian newspapers.  Meaning "the truth" in Russian, the term "pravda" has also been applied to an entirely separate electronic news website founded in 1999 -- Pravda.ru.  It's this website that ran McCain's op-ed today.

Founded in 1912, McCain's *preferred* Pravda served as the official propaganda publication of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party.  At the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Pravda closed up shop.  It later reopened in 1997 as the official paper of the Russian Communist Party, albeit with a smaller circulation than during the Soviet era.

A page of the Pravda Newspaper issued on 29 May, 1919. (via Wikipedia)

Asked on Sunday which "Pravda" he would be writing for, Mavericky McCain told reporters, “I hope it's Pravda the Communist publication.”

According to CNN, the editors of that paper denied having any plans to publish a McCain op-ed:

Editor Boris Komotsky said in a statement on the Communist Party’s website that a contribution by McCain was not in the works, and that his paper would only accept an opinion piece from McCain if the senator’s “arguments on the issue was not in contradiction to the communist party’s stand on the conflict of Syria.”

He went on to say that his party believes “the war in Syria is between the legitimate government of Syria supported by the people and the international terrorist groups encouraged by the foreign governments.