What I am about to do is so heinous I can expect no forgiveness. It is the unpardonable sin. I am going to make the outrageous claim that being a POW neither qualifies one for the Oval Office nor excuses being a liar.
That may be too harsh. Maybe being a POW somehow causes someone to constantly tell lies against their will. I am also confused about the Republican position. Are all POWs automatically qualified for president or is John McCain the only remaining POW?
There are so many places to start. How do I choose? Let’s start with his interview with KDKA in Pittsburgh. He said that when he was ordered to name his squadron he reeled off the names of the Steelers’ defensive line, the Steel Curtain. McCain was shot down in 1967. The Steel Curtain came about in 1972. Did the Vietnamese provide him with the DirecTV NFL Special Package? I don’t think Comcast got to Hanoi until 1974.
Of course, this contradicts his own 1999 book, [amazonify]978-1400067923::text::::Faith of Our Fathers[/amazonify]. There he claims he recited Green Bay’s offensive line. That’s more plausible but just as likely untrue. Watch for him to claim he named all of the 1972 Dolphins when he visits Miami or the 2001 Tennessee Titans when he stops by Nashville.
McCain says that he never gave his captors any information. He wrote, however, that on his fourth day of captivity he offered to tell them anything if they would provide him medical aid. I probably would have done the same. I have absolutely no quarrel with cooperating in the face of such pain. But, I hope I wouldn’t have lied about it, especially after publicly telling a different story in print. Well, they say liars have trouble keeping their stories straight.
He says that he was offered early repatriation but refused it because others had been there longer. He cared about his fellow POWs. That sounds so magnanimous, so noble, so heroic. Does he tell you that military code forbids one from accepting such an offer? He could have been court-martialed had he accepted it. There are also reports that the ranking POW, who held such authority, ordered him to refuse.
McCain wants nothing to do with lobbyists. He hates them. It is therefore an overwhelming sacrifice for him to have those 70 lobbyists on his campaign staff, so he can keep an eye on these miscreants. He wants to keep them close, so he puts them in the top positions.
He told us back at the beginning that the Iraq War would be easy. In 2006 he told us that no one thought it would be easy. Wasn’t he the one who told us that General Petraeus walked around Baghdad every day without protection? Didn’t Petraeus assure us that McCain was not telling us the truth?
We are told that McCain hates earmarks (formerly known as pork barrel) and those who are involved in them. Yet, he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. Ms. Palin is against earmarks, too. Well, not exactly. Can you name a state that receives more federal largesse per capita than Alaska?
Fellow liar Palin says she was against the Bridge to Nowhere. Not exactly. She was for it. Then Congress made a fuss about it. She was afraid the federal government would make Alaska pay for it, so she opposed it. But, she took the money and the road to the bridge is being built (with federal funds) while she says she has stopped the bridge. You may have to read that a few more times. I couldn’t find a way to clarify all of her machinations.
In his acceptance speech, McCain had a couple of cute applause lines. He said that Gov. Palin got rid of the state’s jet airplane by selling it on E-Bay (applause/laugh line) for a profit (2nd applause line). That sounded so good. Too bad it was an outright lie. It was listed with a used aircraft broker. It didn’t sell for seven months. It was finally sold to an Alaskan businessman (NOT on E-Bay). One other little detail: according to the New York Times, it was sold at a loss.
Anyone who considers me too harsh or out of line please tell me how to more accurately rephrase that ‘outright lie’ line. The GOP should be used to applauding lies, after the most recent eight years.
“When I’m president, the first earmark, pork-barrel bill that comes across my desk — I will veto it! You will know their names!” As Gail Collins points out, McCain gets very exercised about earmarks but not about the economy, healthcare or any of the matters that matter day to day. Of course we already know the name of the former mayor of a little town of about 7,000 in Alaska who went after $27 million in earmarks.
Parenthetically, McCain is fortunate that the campaign contributions legislation exempts family-owned private jets. Oh, he wrote that piece of legislation? How convenient.
McCain also has trouble remembering his position on various issues. Actually, this happens with almost every issue. He even votes against bills that he sponsored. Several pundits have already pointed out that McCain v. 2000.0 would not vote for McCain v. 2008.0. If that’s true, it would argue for some mental, emotional or moral defect connected with aging. That certainly is a possibility but it requires believing he was honest back in 2000.
Does being a POW qualify one for any office? Does being a POW excuse lying? Does a fear of challenging the Falwells and the Roves guarantee that McCain will stand up against international challengers? Does taking both sides on every issue mean that he will please everyone? In an interview back in 2002 he admitted that he had no great cause for running. He said it was simply ambition. I guess that he has since ‘got religion,’ compliments of Reverends Hagee, Falwell, Bob Jones, et alia.
Here is a candidate who physically attacks a Republican colleague on the floor of the Senate, physically attacks others in less hallowed venues, calls his wife a c*nt in front of others. This is an angry man, used to getting his way. He has traded on his being held as a prisoner until it is losing all currency. He is debasing it for all other prisoners by using it as a political gambit and as a diversion from answering questions that are uncomfortable or beyond his ken.
Whether these issues are psychological, age-related, the result of his imprisonment, an unpleasant assortment of personality disorders or some combination, this is not someone whose finger we should put on the button.
In his acceptance speech he said he liked to “pick a few fights for the fun of it.” Obama’s acceptance speech was somewhat more considered but he did pledge to speak to McCain’s temperment. That was a direct challenge, one that seemingly has gone unnoted. It is, perhaps, one of the most critical issues of this election.
Addendum
Although never a POW, I am a veteran. I also am a former elected official who never accepted a penny from anyone and never told a lie (at least in a political role – saying an ugly baby was cute doesn’t count). That was over thirty years ago. It may no longer be possible but I would like to think it is.
Why would I be so strict in my expectations of politicians? One of my grandfathers was a sheriff. Back then, in the 1920s, there was a limit of three two-year terms. After serving the limit he remained in law-enforcement. He was shot in the leg and developed blood poisoning. Over a year, a series of operations took that entire leg. Then he died. It was the only time in the history of the state that every business in a county closed for a funeral. He had been a Democrat in one of the most staunchly Republican counties in the state. How could that be?
About fifty years after his death the same county had sixteen candidates to replace a sheriff who was less than honest. I was back in that town for the first time in a couple of decades. I was there to install computers for a CPA. While talking, the CPA’s father came in. I was introduced as having been born there. The father asked if I might be the grandson of Bluch Harris (Robert Blucher Harris). When I answered yes, he bolted across the room, saying he wanted to shake my hand, as my grandfather was the only honest sheriff the county had ever had.
For someone to remember my grandfather fifty years later and be so anxious to compliment him for his honesty made a considerable impression on me. This incident happened after I had departed politics. I had heard glowing stories of him all of my life but that was from family and close friends. Still, that was the standard set for me.
My standard has and will continue to cause me a great deal of disappointment. That does not mean that I will lower it and join in the chorus of adoring sycophants for a proven liar with only occasional control of his temper.
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Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that.
While you bring up some interesting points, it was my understanding that the “70 lobbyists on his campaign staff” – as you put it – were all former lobbyists? None, as far as I know, are still working as lobbyists.
Some are currently working full time for his campaign some not. His chief foreign policy advisor maintains connections with his client Georgia. Recently, he sought to play both roles at once. Georgia, however, turned to Joe Biden for counsel.
Even when one is temporarily not active as a lobbyist, the mindset and connections remain. Lobbyists are important to McCain. They have been the backbone of his Senate staff as well.
As for the lobbyist/industry mindset, we should keep in mind this definition: “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” That comes from an expert on fascism, Benito Mussolini.
You may find corporations cuddly. I find them dangerous to our rights. That is why I do not term myself a Democrat or Republican. I consider myself a populist.
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