Look, we like the fact that presumptive GOP nominee John McCain is an opponent of pork projects in the Senate, and as one of five senators not to include any earmarks in bills least year, he can actually walk the walk. But McCain really needs to cut back on the grizzly bear rhetoric.

In an effort to brandish his fiscal conservancy, McCain has taken to the airwaves to let Americans know that he is serious about cutting frivolous government spending. In a new campaign ad, he promises that when president, he won't allow your tax dollars to be spent on wasteful projects.

He lists several infamous federal misappropriations, such as the 'Bridge to Nowhere' in Alaska, Hillary Clinton's million dollar earmark for a Woodstock Museum, and, of course, a project to study the DNA of grizzly bears. McCain uses the example at many of his events, always with the same joke: "I don't know if it was a paternity issue or criminal, but it was a waste of money."

Lost in the chuckles is that McCain continues to overlook one very important fact. The grizzly bear is listed as a threatened species, and under the Endangered Species Act, measures are required to be taken to ensure its survival.

Congress has allocated a total of $4.8 million to be spent on grizzly research. Projects being performed include a US Geological Survey project to capture grizzlies' hair, so that the samples can be used to establish a DNA fingerprint of the animals, and scientists can better track the animals left in the wild. With only 3 percent of the animal's historic population left in the lower 48 states, these bears need all the help they can get. Not surprisingly, scientists who study the bears are irked with the rhetoric.

Ironically, McCain names Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt as his hero, who acquired his nickname when he couldn't shoot and kill a bear while on a hunting trip. Although he isn't attacking these bears with anything as lethal as a gun, McCain's refusal to see the importance of funding a threatened species is the antithesis of what Roosevelt accomplished. Such nearsightedness deserves its own nickname, similar to that of his hero. How about "Grizzly" John McCain?