Don't forget the house issue, he lived in a bamboo house for 5 1/2 years. NEVER FORGET!!1!

Steve: if you had been a POW, you would understand how it makes one repeat himself. And repeat the words of others as your own. And marry beer hieresses. It is a sickness: McCain's Dementia. Not sure what the ICD-9 codes is for it, but probably between 4 and 8.

Don't forget, McCain dumped his crippled first wife for a rich, elitist trophy, but that is irrelevant because it happened OVER 30 YEARS AGO.

As did his time as Hanoi McCain...

Just saying.

Well, he's reluctant to talk about his time as a P.O.W because....
He spent 5 1/2 years as a P.O.W.!

Think of purple band-aids.

They must be starting to sweat at McCain Campaign HQ. The mockery thing is wearing thin, they have no idea how to handle the question of McCain's vast property holdings and the P.O.W. schtick is totally running out of gas.

What to do, what to do?

If asked about this issue he or a spokesperson will proclaim it isn't fair to pick on a former POW for talking about the fact he's a former POW. Pretty soon trying to talk to or about McCain will be like entering a carnival sideshow House of Mirrors.

And let's not forget what David Hackworth had to say about McCain's time as a POW:

McCain's Silver Star narrative for the period 27 October 1967 the day after he was shot down to 8 December 1968 reads: "His captors… subjected him to extreme mental and physical cruelties in an attempt to obtain military information and false confessions for propaganda purposes. Through his resistance to those brutalities, he contributed significantly towards the eventual abandonment…" of such harsh treatment by the North Vietnamese.

Yet in McCain's own words just four days after being captured, he admits he violated the U.S. Code of Conduct by telling his captors "O.K, I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital."

A Vietnam vet detractor says, "He received the nation's third highest award, the Silver Star, for treason. He provided aid and comfort to the enemy!"

The rest of his valor awards issued automatically every year while he was a POW read much like the Silver Star. More boilerplate often repeating the exact same words. An example: "By his heroic endeavors, exceptional skill, and devotion to duty, he reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Naval Service and the United States Armed Forces."

Yet McCain's conduct while a POW negates these glowing comments. The facts are that he signed a confession and declared himself a "black criminal who performed deeds of an air pirate." This statement and other interviews he gave to the Communist press press were used as propaganda to fan the flames of the antiwar movement.

Accounts by McCain and other writers tell of the horror he endured: relentlessly beatings, torture, broken limbs. All inflicted during savage interrogations. Yet no other POW was a witness to these accounts.
A former POW says "No man witnessed another man during interrogations… We relied on each other to tell the truth when a man was returned to his cell."

The U.S. Navy says two eyewitnesses are required for any award of heroism. But for the valor awards McCain received, there are no eyewitnesses, less himself and his captors. And they're not talking.

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_hacker_2.htm

Brandon at VetVoice has a good post on this today and how maybe POW McCain could open up some of his uncountable homes to actually homeless Vietnam vets who somehow didn't collect their sail-through-life-free ticket when they returned stateside.

The problem with mockery is it works both ways. The only defense John "Zinger" McC*nt has against mockery is to proclaim his ex-POW status. Since he's such a target for mockery (and appropriately so) he has to throw up that defense time and again. Yes, it is getting a little worn.

Orange

I say this without a trace of snark: If he's lost Howard Fineman, he's in big trouble.

I think the inportant thing to note is how the POW experience really /didn't/ change him. He went over there as a brash punk who slid by on his family's brass coattails, and when he got out of the 5-year stint as a POW he returned to America and settled in... as a brash 40 yr old who screwed around on his wife. If the POW card is such a great thing to play, tell us how it changed the brash punk into someone who was of value. Tell us how he became a better person for having survived it. He really can't do that, so the whole thing rings really hollow and I hope people realize that if you put a jerk into an abusive prison and torture them for five years, you don't necessarily get a good person when you let them out. In fact I'd bet the odds of him having anger management issues because of the POW stint are WAY higher than any of his followers will ever admit.

Why did McDodo cross the road?

He was a POW.

The only way to blunt this weapon is to start a list of all the times he and his campaign have used it as a rebuttal to legitimate criticism. Once presented with the list, the absurdity will become impossible to ignore. Remember, it doesn't just cheapen McCain's heroic past, but that of all the other men and women who have also endured the same horrendous experience.

McCain Campaign List of Rebuttals involving POW Past

Don't forget the house issue, he lived in a bamboo house for 5 1/2 years. -leigh

You're obviously just trying to boost McCain's environmental credentials by reminding everyone about his love of renewable materials.

It's understandable that McCain would prefer to talk about his years as a POW rather than talk about his decades in the Senate as the obedient, bought-and-paid-for tool of the corporate lobbyists who are now running and staffing his presidential campaign.

Theres a good chance McCain suffers from PTSD

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

McCain was a POW.

Prediction: we're about to see a lot more of Rev. Wright. (Not that the McCain campaign has stayed away from the Scary Black Man meme in the past, but as desperation sets in it's going to become the only thing they have left.)

"By the time they get to the convention in St. Paul, there might not be much of it left to use."

This point is critical. Imagine what their convention will be like now that they've officially made the POW thing into a joke. Good times.

*

"Prediction: we're about to see a lot more of Rev. Wright."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hah! Wright is for wussies. Next up, Obama screwed WHITE WOMEN!! in college! He banged your wife and daughter! He has a pentangle tattooed on his ass! Oh, he doesn't? He had it removed! He and Tony Rezko were secretly lovers! He masturbates to Iranian military marching songs! Go ahead, pick one yourself. They're all coming.......

I experience vicarious embarassment and Senator McPOW (R-Hanoi Hilton) is starting to make me squirm. It's like listening to your senile old granny repeat the same nonsensical thing over and over again. You want her to stop. You try to change the subject but she's fixated on whatever. I tell you this, the debates are going to be just plain odd:

"My friends, when I was a prisoner of war I learned that life is precious. That's why I support an end to Roe v. Wade."

"My friends, when I was shot down over Vietnam and taken prisoner, I was flying a jet powered by petroleum based fuel. That's why I support off-shore drilling."

"My friends, when I spent five years as a prisoner of war, I was forced to live in close proximity to other men. That's why homosexuals can't be allowed to serve in our armed forces."

Obama's challenge: Don't crack up.

This part of that quote:

And I think he wisely for many years stayed away from it as a political tool, he really did.

Is flat out wrong. Sullivan has posted today a 1982 ad from McCain's first ever political campaign that...you guessed it...focuses on his POW experience.

Unless by "for many years stayed away from it" the speaker meant that McCain used it as a lever to get into political office, then backed off as he became the incumbent and Arizonans had heard it all before, and has now dusted it off again as he seeks to "introduce" himself to a wider audience.

The Captive just never lets you forget about his captivity over 40 years ago. Of course, since the rest of his life story is that he was a neer-do-well poor student who crashed 5 jets, has anger management issues, doesn't go to church, has poor relationships with his children and dumped his first wife to marry a liquor heiress, I guess I would emphasize my captivity too!

"Don't forget, McCain dumped his crippled first wife for a rich, elitist trophy, but that is irrelevant because it happened OVER 30 YEARS AGO." - citizen_pain

Hi Pain.

You know how so many are bitching that John Edwards probably lied about when his adultary ended? How we must investigate and get to the bottom, because John may still be lying.

Have you considered that fact if John "Zinger" McC*nt claims of his adultary starting only AFTER he seperated from Cathy are lies, they are STILL LIES? Shouldn't we investigate?

Just a thought.

Orange

You're sounding pretty butch there, mhr. Personally, I won't mock what he did. Past tense. 40 years ago. But I will mock him, or anyone, for continuing to bring up something from the past that ultimately has no bearing on the qualifications for President.

It kind of reminds me of people's expectations that the French be so f**king grateful all the time because we saved their ass in WW2. I mean -- at some point, that's over too. Hey thanks -- but that was 60 years ago. The statute of perpetual gratitude has run out.

Personally, I think it's beautiful that he met his second wife while still married to his disfigured first while he was on a taxpayer-financed Navy junket in Hawaii.

It's the perfect storm of class and maverickism.

A priest a rabbi and a POW walk into a bar...

I'm thinking at the Republican convention they'll build a bamboo hut on stage and have McCain pop out of it like a girl in a cake at just the right moment.

Dale

did mccain think the steeler mention, as bogus as it is, really would translate to votes? if so, he might want to consult with lynn swann, an ex-steeler and a member of the hall of fame who ed rendell crushed when he ran for governor a couple of years back. btw can anyone actually remember the steelers' front four back when mccain got shot down?

Three candidates walk into a bar, Nader, Obama, and McCain. Bartender asks Nader what he wants, and he orders a beer. He asks Obama what he wants, and he orders a glass of wine. Then he turns to McCain and asks what he will have, and waits and waits and waits and finally says "Hey, buddy, ya gonna order or what?"

"How dare you talk to me like that! I'll have you know that I was a POW for 5 1/2 years. Show some respect!"

"Well, so what'll ya have?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

A bamboo hut? All this time I thought they had him locked up in bricks, concrete and steel bars. How resourceful is this guy if he can't escape from a bamboo hut given 5 years to try? That's why the repub-likkins really should have nominated ze gubernator Ahhnuld. He could break out of a bamboo hut in a matter of seconds. If it only weren't for that pesky thing about being born in Austria.

Thanks to poster The Other Ed on Carpetbagger today, I did "the google" on James Hensley and found these articles:

Haunted by Spirits
John McCain derived his wealth from his marriage to Cindy Hensley McCain, whose father started his road to riches as a bootlegger. As a politician, the senator has remained beholden to the liquor industry and the family business (2000)
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/content/printVersion/167059

Postmodern John McCain: the presidential candidate some Arizonans know — and loathe (2008)
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/content/printVersion/848709

An Endowed Chair
Senator John McCain's push for campaign-finance reform has helped make him a presidential contender. Donations from special interests that appear before his Senate Commerce Committee haven't hurt, either (1999)
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/content/printVersion/166757

Opiate for the Mrs. When laws are broken, somebody's got to be punished. In the case of Cindy McCain, that somebody is Tom Gosinski
(1994)
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1994-09-08/news/opiate-for-the-mrs/

Sen. McCain Wants To Be President
Check-out his unpresidential credentials (1997)
http://www.usvetdsp.com/story22.htm

Comments?

-- How many John McCain's does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

-- How dare you! John McCain didn't even have a lightbulb when he was a POW!

Isn't it relevant here that McCain is one of approximately 600 former military POWs in Vietnam?

Isn't McCain dishonoring the sacrifices of his peers by trivializing their POW experiences? How many of them use "But, I'm a POW" on a nearly daily basis to claim immunity from accountability?

McCain trotting out his POW experience is nothing at all new. He basically started his political career with it.

When faced with charges of being a carpet-bagger very early in his career (in Arizona), he replied something to the effect of "Well, the longest place I've lived is a bamboo hut for 5 & 1/2 years".

Reluctant to bring it up? He's been using for most of his political life. What a disingenuous putz.

I find it hard to pity the privileged among us.

George W. Bush had every advantage and has squandered every opportunity to do good. On top of that he's vile, despicable and incompetent.

John McCain probably shouldn't have made it through the Naval Academy, but the advantages of having connections (admirals in the family) gave him opportunities. That he was shot down and held as a POW for years is sad, but he's used that ever since to build and maintain a career. I don't pity him.

Even Senator Obama is NOT to be pitied. He has an interesting story to tell about his life and how he's succeeded. But, as we all know, being dark skinned has it's problems in America. But, he was educated at Columbia and Harvard and has risen in the political world rather amazingly. I don't pity his difficulties.

We're looking for someone to earn the trust. Someone who is competent. Someone who can sometimes lead the way. We're not looking for someone to pity.

Ask this, which candidate(s) demands your pity? Those are the ones who aren't interested in serving and in giving to America. Their only interest is in receiving compensation for all the awful things they've previously endured.

Which candidate has something to offer?

McCain also used the fact he was a POW to explain why ABBA's "Dancing Queen" is his favorite song. Apparently his appreciation of pop music stopped when he became a POW and never caught up. Alas, it was later discovered that ABBA didn't start putting out hits until after he was a POW.

Isn't it relevant here that McCain is one of approximately 600 former military POWs in Vietnam?

Man, that's a lot of people who deserve to be president....

Wonder when , of all pundit pimps, Andrea Mitchell will finally call her hero out on this ?

Mudwall--no, I can't, with good reason. The line folks remember mostly date from after McCain returned. People tend to forget that the Steelers from their founding in 1933 to the Immaculate Reception (a few months before McCain was released) were consistently somewhere between bad and awful. Of course, he originally told the story about using the Packers, which made more sense based on the timing...

Oh Dude! You ripped me off!

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16172.html

(Comment one.)

I can't get this silly form to remember my info. Comments take a long time to post too. Whine.

Orange.

"The Captive just never lets you forget about his captivity over 40 years ago. Of course, since the rest of his life story is that he was a neer-do-well poor student who crashed 5 jets, has anger management issues, doesn't go to church, has poor relationships with his children and dumped his first wife to marry a liquor heiress, I guess I would emphasize my captivity too! "

You forgot "and fired off a missile on the flight deck of his carrier killing a bunch of sailors"

just saying

I've mentioned it before, but if being a POW is a major qualification for being president of the US, what does being a prisoner in Guantanamo, Bagram, Abu Ghraib, and numerous other similar sites make you qualified for? Are the people who survive those places also qualified to be leaders of the¨"free world?"

With your permission, ladies and gentlemen of the blogosphere, please allow me to edit the title of this thread for literary accuracy:

*ahem*

A noun, a verb, and a POX.

You ever wonder why obamma has not bragged much about himself. Maybe there aint much to brag about. Lets see... going to a preppie law school, hanging out with terrorists supporters, married to a wife who says she can't buy earings with $600, a minister who hates america and thinks that this country deserved what it got on 9/11, a felon for a friend to loan him money on a shady house deal..... and you guys criticize McCain for bringing up his heroic past. Your values are typical for cool aide drinking socialists left, but still pretty sick. .....You could bet your last liberal starbucks that if obamma had something worthwhile to brag about about his past, you know he would....
Bubba said that.

God, Jesus, Moses, and a POW are playing a round of golf...

Given that McCain is the only Vietnam POW who became a POW out of stupidity - Rule #1 of Naval Attack Aviation: do not turn around and fly low and slow over the target you just bombed when they're ready and waiting (which is exactly what Johnny-boy did) - he really ought to consider dialing it back.

But then, you have to understand that without his being a POW, there would literally be no John McCain around. He had been notifed in August 1967 that he had failed for the third time to be promoted from Lieutenant Commander to Commander, which meant his naval career was over. Then in October, he got shot down. Come November - when Naval officer advancements are handed out - he was safely esconced in the "POW Rapid Promotion System," in which a POW got promoted to the next highest rank the earliest time he was eligible, so Johnny-boy got his promotion to Commander, and then on to Captain in 1972. His only problem was that when he got out and was given a Captain's assignment (commander of the Atlantic Fleet's attack squadron replacement unit), his incompetence resulted in his being pulled off it 18 months later, and his being informed that there would be no third Admiral in the McCain family.

Johnny-Boy McCain, proof positive of the old line that the first generation makes it, the second generation saves it, and the third generation loses it (just like little Georgie Bush). I guess this is the new Republican standard.

Maverick surge p.o.w.