John McCain's military service record has led many to believe that he is a hero. Personally, in many ways, I believe he is. However, so is John Kerry and that didn't stop the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth from slandering him with lies, half-truths and propaganda. Most of the information herein can be found here. I have summarized some of the relevant points but there are many more in the article. After reading this, make up your own mind on Barack Obama's character. He could have easily let the far left run ads on what I'm about to summarize for you. Obama takes the high road. He doesn't allow such character attacks on McCain's military career, no matter how horrific some of the details are.
Former General Wesley Clark made an attempt to set the record straight about John McCain's military service, but was met with harsh criticism from the conservatively biased media. Apparently, John Kerry's military record is up for scrutiny but John McCain's isn't.
The facts remain that none of the people imprisoned with John McCain are out on the trail campaigning for him. Has anyone ever asked themselves why? Have you ever wondered why none of his crew mates from the USS Forrestal are campaigning with him? Well I did, and what I found will surprise you and perhaps even cause you to question his record yourself.
McCain - Man of Honor?
In the spring of 1974, Navy commander John McCain has returned home from his horrific experience in Hanoi. While on the grounds of the Fort McNair military base, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam.
However, there is a difference between these two men even though they shared a similar experience in North Vietnam. Some call it an "honor gap." Understandably, John McCain cracked under the torturous conditions as many before him had. He offered a "confession" to his North Vietnamese captors. Mr. Dramesi, on the other hand, not only attempted two daring escapes but he never uttered a single solitary disloyal word. Dramesi was tortured daily for over a month with sessions that nearly killed him. In fact, for his heroism, Dramesi received two Air Force Crosses, on of the branch's highest distinctions. Even McCain calls him "one of the toughest guys I've ever met." This, in my opinion, proves Dramesi's an honorable man who, when given a chance, will tell it like it is.
That's unfortunate for McCain, as Dramesi recalls a conversation he had with McCain while discussing a trip abroad that each of their college's sponsored. Here is the conversation:
"I'm going to the Middle East," Dramesi says. "Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran."
"Why are you going to the Middle East?" McCain asks, dismissively.
"It's a place we're probably going to have some problems," Dramesi says.
"Why? Where are you go.ing to, John?"
"Oh, I'm going to Rio," said McCain
"What the hell are you going to Rio for?"
McCain, a married father of three, shrugs and says, "I got a better chance of getting laid."
You'd think that Dramesi would have been shocked by his chauvinistic banter, but he wasn't. Dramesi had this to say about the comment made by McCain.
"McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man," Dramesi said recently. "But he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in."
So, as we can see, an adulterous nature has been established by a fellow servicemen. Could he be lying? Sure he could...but unlike the Swift Boat Veteran's for Truth attacks (SBVT) on John Kerry, Dramesi was actually where he claimed to be. Many in the ads by the SBVT were not even in the area of John Kerry while claiming the moronic stories they did. Once one piece of their ads or the book Unfit for Command come out, it is difficult to trust anything else that is said by the same source. Unfortunately for Kerry, the American people just heard the headlines...not the evidence of outright falsehoods that came after.
Educating John McCain:
John McCain III was the son and grandson of high level military. His grandfather, John Sidney "Slew" McCain was a 4 star Admiral and commanded a U.S. carrier force in World War II. His father, "Junior" McCain was also a 4 star Admiral. It is perhaps in this revelation, that McCain's anger and frustration took root. Always feeling the pressure of his father and grandfather's accomplishments, but not quite having the brainpower to match them. McCain was a lousy student, barely passing classes, at times.
His sophomore year was his first recorded temper tantrum. When McCain tried picking up a pair of women while cruising with a friend, he was laughed at by the ladies, obviously not interested. McCain yelled and cursed them so fouly that he found himself in court on a profanity charge. Throughout his educational career he would drink until hammered and treat girls as poorly as any drunk you've met in your lifetime. Had McCain's parents not intervened he would have been expelled from Annapolis for excessive demerits.
McCain's First Airplane Crash:
Let's all not forget that Mr. McCain was a pilot. He wasn't a commercial airline pilot, either. He was a bonafied "Maverick" from Top Gun. At least according to him. Unfortunately, he's the only one who thinks so highly of his flight career.
An excerpt from his book is a good way to begin:
"I enjoyed the off-duty life of a Navy flier more than I enjoyed the actual flying," McCain writes. "I drove a Corvette, dated a lot, spent all my free hours at bars and beach parties." McCain chased a lot of tail. He hit the dog track. Developed a taste for poker and dice. He picked up models when he could, screwed a stripper when he couldn't."
I'm pretty sure that, at the time, he wasn't thinking about running for President. Back to his flight issues, according to those he flew with, McCain had issues with stalling his plane mid flight. It was at a training camp in Corpus Christi Bay that his first "crash" occurred. During a routine practice landing the plane stalled, and McCain was knocked out on impact. Thankfully, he came to, as he had landed underwater. He swam to the surface and was rescued. After the experience, instead of taking it easy and learning from his mistakes, McCain decided to still go out for the evening after a taking some painkillers.
"Crash" Number Two:
McCain's second "crash" came about due to his youthful addiction to gambling. Many of those that served with McCain would relish in their stories of Mr. McCain's gambling addiction, including himself. He was a craps player and used the term "addictive" to describe it.
One day, while flying over Spain, John McCain deviated from his designated flight path, apparently viewing the casinos from a lower perspective. According to the report, John McCain flew too low to the ground and he ended up slicing through a power line, bringing darkness to much of the surrounding area. Apparently, the military has a stricter code on what they consider a "crash." It could also have to do with his self described, "daredevil clowning" that led to the designation.
Most pilots would have lost their wings after the first crash, and almost all of them after a second crash. But thanks to the ole "family pull" he remained a pilot. Had he not been, he would never have endured the torture of a Vietnamese prison camp.
Crash Number Three:
The third crash from Mr. McCain came while flying back from Philadelphia. He was there on a date with his former model girlfriend, and soon to be wife, Carol Shepp. He was landing his plane at a refueling stop in Norfolk, Virginia when his plane stalled...again. This time, however, he managed to bail out at around 1000 feet and survived with no injury. The same could not be said for the plane, however.
This pretty much sealed the deal on his flying privileges. They were now, apparently, irrevocable.
Vietnam:
First, I cannot begin to understand the pain and suffering the John McCain suffered for our country. He did so with honor and I commend him for his decision to stay at the camp until the other prisoners were allowed to go with him. However, his decision to throw the military Code of Conduct that governed POWs was clear; "give no information. . . which might be harmful to my comrades." Under the code, POWs are bound to give only their name, rank, service number and date of birth. They are to give no statements that are disloyal to their country.
After McCain's fourth crash in Hanoi, he was captured. After what was probably a horrific period of pain and discomfort he proclaimed to his captors, "I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital." McCain now insists that he was "bluffing" the Vietnamese in order to get hospital treatment. However, according to Dramesi, who as we recall from earlier, did not give up any information, said McCain tried justifying his behavior while they were still prisoners. "I had to tell them," McCain insisted to Dramesi, "or I would have died in bed."
It is understandable that he was to give up the information, but lying to the American public about it, is not. I will end with this:
"Dramesi says he has no desire to dishonor McCain's service, but he believes that celebrating the downed pilot's behavior as heroic — "he wasn't exceptional one way or the other" — has a corrosive effect on military discipline. "This business of my country before my life?" Dramesi says. "Well, he had that opportunity and failed miserably. If it really were country first, John McCain would probably be walking around without one or two arms or legs — or he'd be dead.""
Conclusion:
Now I don't know if everything I have summarized is true. But I do believe some of it is. I believe John McCain has cheated on his wife, wasn't a very good pilot, and was not as honorable in his actions as he claims.
Any of you who have not read this article must read it now. I have only covered HALF of the article to keep this post from being too long. Please take the time, think about it objectively, and make your own decision before you cast a vote for John McCain.
We learned from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that a man's military record is not off limits. We found out it was okay to question a man's bravery, a man's purple heart and a man's entire military service. We found out it was okay to outright LIE to the American people by using veterans who were not even stationed anywhere near John Kerry. What we found out thanks to the SBVT was shameful and completely below the belt.
What we have found out about Obama is that he refuses to allow an attack based on military service. He refuses to let the 527 groups run attacks against McCain's military record. I believe that if every voting American were to read the article I referenced, McCain would not even have a chance in this election.
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I was sent this from a friend out in Arizona and thought it would be a an interesting post.
For those of you who don't know her, Mary Kay Gamel is a Literature and Classics Professor at UCSC.
MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN
It was just before John McCain's last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child). It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune, to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week, since Turtle Island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately. He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was 'if he likes this so much, why hasn't he memorized any of this yet?' I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his 'readings' which then became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people's buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day. Unfortunately, this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chine women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn't meet up to this standard. He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight. McCain's appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David the American economist had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her. Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day, and his response was
shocking: 'Oh, that was Cindy's idea I didn't have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can't imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona. No, it wasn't my idea at all.' I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time. I was shocked when he said, 'If I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson'.Given McCain's personal experience with the horrors of war, I had expected a more balanced point of view. I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during WWII but no, he was not to be dissuaded. He went on to say that if it was up to him he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn't seem to have mellowed out his perspective, but rather had made him more aggressive and vengeful towards the world.My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island. Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when
McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn't be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight. Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment. I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He became very angry and abusive towards me, and said, 'Don't you know who I am.' I looked him in the face and said,'Yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met' and headed back to my cabin. I am happy to say that later that day when I arrived at lunch I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain's bullying.Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends,this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination, but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president,I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story. I can't imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be. If his attitudes toward women and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.
Mary-Kay Gamel
Professor
Literature and Classics
UCSC
The reason Obama isn't criticizing McCain on his military record is not because he is the last bastion of dignity and restraint in this world, it's because he would get battered and it would effect his popularity big time. The guy is a chameleon just like the rest of them, willing to change his views and principles just to get the vote. Once he is in we will find out who he really is. And let's be fair, this election was over a long time ago, just around the time Palin opened her mouth.
The VC were using the wrong torture techniques apparently, should have offered Dramesi some exposure, maybe a book deal, that would have got that tongue wagging as it did when he readily spoke out against McCain. As far as a I can tell McCain and him had one conversation in which McCain may have made a joke in bad taste (Dramesi does not strike me as a man that has much of a sense of humour). Hardly the smoking gun that proves the man is a moral degenerate, although he may be. And what is wrong with him telling people to be healthy and thin? Come on Democrats, you can do better than this. The lack of a real competition in this election has made you complacent.
How dare you redwing. how dare you speak against an american hero and our next president like that. you should be arrested by the secret service. what's next you gonna talk about assassinating him? i cant believe you would speak against his service record like that. he is one of the greatest military heros of our time and you have the nerve to say that. still a douchebag i see.
I have to disagree with you here Tom. Obama could have easily let the 527 groups run amuck and attack his service record over and over and over like in 2004 with Kerry. Obama did not allow this to happen. Obama is not a "chameleon" as you suggested. Otherwise he would have been for the Iraq War like everyone else was at the time. I believe Obama is more of a maverick that McCain. It just so happens that his voting record reflects the idiotic bills brought forth by the Republicans that he voted against. Thus his title of "most liberal in the senate."
Also, your notion that the election is already over is not accurate either. This race is closer than ever and, in my opinion, will come down to Virginia, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. If we can win those two then perhaps we've won.
Ooops, I meant those THREE. :)
The "Holiday With John McCain has been addressed at Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/mccain/vacation.asp
It was not written by Mary Kay Gamel, she was a 'forwarder' -- the actual author appears to be Dr. Anasuya Dubey of San Francisco. Snopes "has been told (but has not yet verified) that Dr. Dubey has been working with a major newspaper which has obtained verification of substantial portions of her account from at least two other people but has not yet run the story."
That at least some of this is true does not surprise me at all. McCain seems to enjoy being the center of attention, as shown by his campaign posturing ('hey! I'm in favor of change too!!')
Radiodiva, that letter is good enough to be a post of its own. Thank you for that.
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