Lyric discussion by zimmoframe 

Cover art for Teflon lyrics by Mars Volta, The

I think the "What am I without the bruises" line is referring to McCain, because a lot of people said he's just riding on the fact he spent a few years in a prisoner of war camp, and that line is talking about his battle scars, and how that is all he has.

Song Meaning

And Zimmo wins the gold medal, IMO. And most of the rest of you are correct as well. This is a much more politically charged song than The Mars Volta used to create. But the overall "sound" of their albums has changed quite a bit (especially with Octahedron), so it's little surprise that the songs' ideas become more accessible as well.