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John McCain continues to hide behind POW experience to address problems in his campaign

Submitted by Chad on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 11:52am.

Be-Elected

BE-ELECTED
by Chad Rubel

A hypothetical text message exchange between Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, if McCain knew how to send text messages:

Giuliani: 9/11
McCain: POW
Giuliani: 9/11
McCain: POW
Giuliani: 9/11
McCain: POW

(repeat ad nauseam)

Joe Biden got off a great line about Rudy Giuliani about every sentence that comes out of his mouth was a "noun, verb, and 9/11."

For McCain lately, the sentence structure is slightly more advanced. "The reason for that is [POW]." But the consensus is still the same. McCain brings up his past as a way to justify a number of issues, including how many houses he has.

McCain's appearance with Jay Leno last night was the latest escapade on using his service as a crutch: "You know, could I just mention to you, Jay, and a moment of seriousness. I spent five and a half years in a prison cell, without-I didn't have a house, I didn't have a kitchen table, I didn't have a table, I didn't have a chair. And I spent those five and a half years, because-not because I wanted to get a house when I got out."

His service to his country is to be commended, but it has very little to do with why he wants to be president, who he'll be as president, and what kind of job he will do in the Oval Office.

The last president who got into office based on his military credentials was Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. In recent times, military experience in a commander-in-chief hasn't been a big deal. Ronald Reagan never saw any combat time and George W. Bush, well we know that story. Bill Clinton also didn't serve as well.

When Giuliani tried to get past 9/11, he had great difficulty, and that was one of the reasons why his candidacy didn't take off. McCain has had a few more breaks in his candidacy. After all, if it weren't for Mike Huckabee splitting off the conservative vote with Mitt Romney, we'd be talking about Romney and not talking about military service (The Mormon church obtained Vietnam draft deferrals for Romney, by 1970, Romney drew a high enough number in the draft lottery where he wouldn't be drafted).

And the MSM has been hesistant to follow up on McCain's overblown antics since they don't want to seem "unpatriotic." Yet they continue to let McCain slide through unprovoked.

I have not served, but I can't imagine actual POWs want to see someone use their experience as an excuse for things going bad in a presidential campaign that have no relevancy to military experience.

The hope is that voters see past the MSM's blindness (once again) and ask themselves whether McCain's service record has that much relevancy on his ability to lead the United States of America.

Elect John McCain President

Submitted by HappyN on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 7:46pm.

I think it's despicable for army Colonel Earl Hopper to be ratting out John McCain for helping the North Vietnamese to set up defensive positions for future air raids and escape routes of U.S. Navy bombers. There's an unwritten, but well understood, rule amongst soldiers that "what happens in POW camps stays in POW camps," and Hopper knows this rule very well. To bring up McCain's collaboration with the enemy 35 years ago and reveal that the Vietnamese nickname for him was "Songbird", now that he's running for the Presidency, is truly playing dirty tricks Obama style. People who have never been in such a situation think that everyone can be a Jack Bauer character like on the TV show 24 and withstand all sorts of torture. John didn't want to go through all this torture and, knowing he would eventually talk, simply avoided the torture and told them what they wanted to know before hand. He's not the only one, I can assure you, and I don't think that it should disqualify him from running for the Presidency.

Look at the big picture

Submitted by exposer on Wed, 08/27/2008 - 8:16am.

Consider this: how many other former Vietnam era POWs are endorsing McCollaborator? How many other POWs are out there vetting McCollaborator's prison experiences? None. That, in itself, speaks volumes about McCain's allegedly horrendous experience. Hell, there are other POWs actually challenging the "songbird's" war hero status and prison experience. This guy is not a war hero, and to personally assign himself that title is a disgrace to those 58,000+ actual war heroes that lost their lives and the rest of our bravest who came home permanently scarred after engagaing in actual horrendous battles, such as the TET offensive. He's damn sure no war hero; is an insult to POWs and MIAs, demeans public office and doesn't have the intellect to be President. Period.

Does the number of years as a POW count?

Submitted by texas aggie on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 10:24pm.

There are a lot of POW's who spent more time in the famous tiger cages than McFlipFlop did and were brutalized a lot worse. Do they deserve better treatment than McFlipFlop? Should they have uncountable houses? Should they be allowed to forget what should be common knowledge? Should they be allowed to act like complete savages with no repercussions? And if not, why should McFlipFlop have those privileges? How about the guys who were just picked off the streets at random who have spent 6 years in Guantanamo, or who got the crap beaten out of them in Bagram or Abu Ghraib? Should they be elevated to world leaders? Don't you think that they are better qualified by their experiences than McFlipFlop is?

Ooops.

Submitted by roncypert on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 8:15pm.

That was intended to follow, "YOU CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS new Submitted by codypup on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 3:44pm."

But he can try.

Submitted by roncypert on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 8:13pm.

Just as he does (with way too much success, unfortunately) with George W. He is with him; and he is not with him.

McCain and torture

Submitted by joan1152 on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 6:33pm.

One thing (well OK many) bothers me about McCain. He spent 5 years as a POW and presumably was subjected to torture. Torture tends to escalate if the torturee doesn't comply, right? What kind of shape was he in when he got out? Further, he believes torture works, right? Does that mean it worked on HIM????? Food for thought.

Republican double standard

Submitted by revolution9 on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 5:14pm.

Why is it that Republicans (and their sycophantic media) consider McCain's prisoner status makes him impervious to criticism, yet they are allowed to ridicule the battlefield injuries of Kerry and Cleland?

Has McCain been mentally evaluated?

Submitted by anagitator on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 5:04pm.

Being a long term POW is something to be respected. But it isn't something that adds credibility to a resume for a corporate CEO or for President of the United States.

I'd suggest that it should make us very wary of McCain and his historical volatile mental demeanor. Is he stable enough mentally to be President? Has he been evaluated?

Even Republican peers in the Senate have stated that they think not. There are most certainly mental scars from his long term captivity at the hands of the Communists.

"The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine," Sen Thad Cochran (R-MS) said about McCain by phone. "He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/

By McCain's "yardbird" criteria...

Submitted by ETS on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 5:03pm.

...Sonny Barger, president emeritus of the Hell's Angels who spent four years in the federal pin in Arizona, qualifies for high public office. How 'bout the vice-presidential spot on the Republican ticket?

The media helps

Submitted by Ken duerksen on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 4:27pm.

This Sunday on "Meet the Press" the first thing out of host Tom Brokaw's mouth was an ascertion that Biden's witty "which kitchen table" crack was out of bounds because McCain had once spent five years "not knowing where his next meal was coming from". I could have puked, but was too angry. I fired off a harsh complaint down NBC's memory hole, but who knows if such things are ever even looked at. Brokaw has made it clear many times recently that he is a shameless McCain surrogate, and needs to be removed from the air.

I Have to Agree About Brokaw

Submitted by Carol Burns on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 11:09pm.

Wasn't he an anthrax target?

YOU CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS

Submitted by codypup on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 3:44pm.

if he is healthy.... then why the dumb answers and gaffes if he is damaged.... WOULD YOU PUT HIS FINGER ON THE BOMB_BOMB_BOMB_BUTTON ? pick one.... either one.... You Mr John THE BUSH REPUBLICAN McCain cannot have it both ways... ---------and how you gonna win Iowa or NH when your wifey refuses to visit either one ? ?

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