This has to be a new low in coverage of John McCain.

Sen. John McCain has long said he is in robust health and is strong enough to hike the Grand Canyon, but he also is receiving what his staff Monday termed a "disability pension" from the Navy.

When McCain released his tax return for 2007 on Friday, he separately disclosed that he received a pension of $58,358 that was not listed as income on his return.

On Monday, McCain's staff identified the retirement benefit as a "disability pension" and said that McCain "was retired as disabled because of his limited body movements due to injuries as a POW."

McCain campaign strategist Mark Salter said Monday night that McCain was technically disabled. "Tortured for his country -- that is how he acquired his disability," Salter said.

Certain types of military and veterans pensions are either partially or completely tax-exempt, depending on the seriousness of the disability. In McCain's case, the exemption is 100%.

But the LA Times (sister to the NY Times) is able to turn what is a pretty sick attack about taxes (McCain is following the law as passed by Congress before he was ever elected to office) on a pension received due to the horrific injuries he received while serving his country into something even more disgusting.

The fact that he is legally designated with a disability pension may raise further questions.

"It is a legitimate question to ask about the commander in chief: Is he fit to serve," said Robert Schriebman, a senior Pentagon tax advisor and tax attorney who recently retired as a judge advocate for a unit of the California National Guard.

So now we are getting an attack on the disabled -- especially disabled veterans. So much for supporting the troops.

And so much for the memory of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who led this country through the Depression and WWII in steel leg braces and a wheel chair. After all, neither he nor McCain has a disability that impacts the most essential part of the anatomy necessary to serve as president -- the brain.

Democrats have already begun a series of low-blow attacks upon John McCain and his military service. Now the press has done so as well. It strikes me as incumbent upon Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- not to mention every patriotic American -- to denounce these shameful efforts and instead honor John McCain for his service and dedication to this country.

A PERSONAL ASIDE: Growing up as a Navy brat, I had the good fortune to know one of the heroes who shared a cell with John McCain in Vietnam. I've heard some of the stories, and read others in the book written about his experiences. I've seen the scars that got shown in public, and heard about the ones that didn't from his sons. This hero of my youth is backing John McCain for President, as are an overwhelming number of their fellow POWs. It's testimonial enough for me.

H/T Hot Air

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