Last week I said that McCain could only recover from his campaign disaster by firing his long-time aide John Weaver. Little did I know that he would do not only that, but also evidently tell campaign manager Terry Nelson to take a walk. The most surprising news is that the bloodbath has also claimed Mark Salter, a wonderful writer who has served as McCain’s literary alter ego. I don’t know what this means for McCain, but for Salter it could mean finally emerging from the shadows of ghostdom to some writerly accomplishment entirely his own.