Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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A Story McCain Hasn't Told You
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Posted by:
Amanda Carpenter at
11:28 AM
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Karl Rove writes in the Wall Street Journal about a story one of McCain's prison mates, Col. Bud Day, told him:
Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I told you I would make you a cripple." The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at "a goofy angle," as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again. But it didn't heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day's splint in place. Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complemented the treatment he'd gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again. Another story I heard over dinner with the Days involved Mr. McCain serving as one of the three chaplains for his fellow prisoners. At one point, after being shuttled among different prisons, Mr. Day had found himself as the most senior officer at the Hanoi Hilton. So he tapped Mr. McCain to help administer religious services to the other prisoners. Today, Mr. Day, a very active 83, still vividly recalls Mr. McCain's sermons. "He remembered the Episcopal liturgy," Mr. Day says, "and sounded like a bona fide preacher." One of Mr. McCain's first sermons took as its text Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21, "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's." Mr. McCain said he and his fellow prisoners shouldn't ask God to free them, but to help them become the best people they could be while serving as POWs. It was Caesar who put them in prison and Caesar who would get them out. Their task was to act with honor.
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There are many who have a faith in God which they received by believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amd there are many who think they are Christians because they have, like Obama, agreed intellectually with a theology which has many titles. Obama describes in his book how he was given the principles which the church followed. They were about values not virtues. He seems to have missed the point. His belief in "black liberation theology" is the old "social gospel" from the early 20th century. And it has made its way into many congregations. But it is a theology based on earning our salvation. If anyone listens carefully to Rev. Wright or to Obama they will find that neither of them call for unity. Rev. Wright calls for his congregation to blame America for all the pain and suffering "they" have suffered. Obama declares that things are not good because change is needed. But the purpose of change should be to return our nation to its foundation-our Constitution and its unifying principles.
The "religion" which they espouse is not anything John McCain can identify with. And he is reticent to inject "religion" into the campaign. His faith in God was certainly made real during all the suffering he endured. None of which Rev. Wright or Obama have ever experienced. The media has ridiculed him for his call to North Carolina to not run the Wright video clips. It shows something about his integrity. I definitely want a president who has faith in the true gospel of Jesus Christ, not a "religion". There are many voters who are of the "silent majority". |
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Hemrick,
Calm down, friend.
I'm sorry I angered you so easily, but since you were snidely saying, "eat your heart out, P.O.W. John McCain," I was merely stating that I am under the impression that Cleland's injuries did not take place in combat, rather, they were a result of an accident. From what I understand, the helicopter was dropping Cleland and a couple other soldiers off at an encampment when one of the other soldiers inadvertently dislodged a grenade from his own jacket and onto the ground where Cleland was standing.
Is that inaccurate ?
Nonetheless, Cleland bravely served his country, and I'm sorry for his injuries.
However, his service does not qualify him to be Senator from Georgia, despite how much you hate the residents of Georgia.
And the fact that he, Kerry, Murtha, et al, all served, does not exclude them from criticism from Republicans on foreign policy issues.
As far as Reverend Wright goes, you had clearly stated that Wright was a combat vet when you wrote; "Kerry, Murtha, Rev Wright and Max Cleland are all combat vets..."
I was not aware that Wright had served in combat.
But that is admirable that he spent several years in the Marine Corps.
It's not admirable, however, that he said, "G-d damn America" and that he equates the USA to Al-Qaeda.
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No one here or elsewhere has ever failed to give McCain his due for his service in Vietnam. However, he chose to enter politics and seems to expect loyalty where none is ever returned. He IS an opportunist who should be judged by his 25-year record in Congress where he has proven to be a lousy senator and terrible Republican. No one gets a free pass in politics. General Stockdale got no respect when he was selected by Perot as his running mate in 1992. Despite being having also been tortured during his several years in the Hanoi Hilton, he was unfairly ridiculed because he was not a very effective speaker ("Who am I? Why am I here?"). In my opinion, Stockdale was a class act and a much better man than McCain and didn't deserve to go out that way. So my assessment of McCain has been that as a politician, he has consistently frustrated the efforts of my team. It's not personal. It's just politics. |
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Read the title of the post. It's "A Story McCain Hasn't Told You"
Unlike Kerry, McCain doesn't feel the need to frame every single issue around his "time spent in Vietnam."
With Kerry, you ask a question like: "How do you feel about Social Security, Mr. Kerry?" and Kerry answers: "Well, when I got back from Vietnam..."
The difference is McCain doesn't sound like an opportunist when he talks about his war record. It's just who he is. McCain would have served whether or not he knew he would go into politics. Not so much with Kerry, fair or not.
Anyways, God bless both men for their service -- as well as Murtha, Wright, McGovern, Cleland, and many others. |
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I don't recall seeing you around here before but welcome to the club. It sure didn't take you long to figure out the OHM is a liar. As to Bob Barr, if he's on my ballot, he's already got my vote. If not, I'll pick another third party candidate. I'm looking for conservatives down-ticket and urge everyone to vote third party in the presidential slot to deny whichever liberal wins a mandate. |
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He's a huge advocate for GI Bill type stuff, and a very big behind-the-scenes friend of non-partisan vet service orgs like the Iraqi and Afghanistan Vets Assoc (IAVA). If there's a vet event anywhere in GA, Cleland is usually there to support it.
He got railroaded in 04 because he didn't embrace the Patriot Act and AUMF as vigorously as GA folk thought he should have, which is fine I guess. But GA might want to give him a second look considering how well the Iraq adventure has worked out.
A true GA conservative (Cleland is a Dem, and lib for a southrun pol) who's pretty interesting is Bob Barr. I think he's a Libertarian now. |
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Medals shouldn't protect you from being a crap politician. Whether you're McCain or Cleland, Murtha, or Kerry.
But Saxby's above mentioned ads in '03/04 were ridiculous. One of the funny things about Saxby Chambliss (only in the South do we have men with names like Saxby) is that he's always using the 3rd ID as a backdrop for his support the troops BS - they have two BDEs at Ft Stewart near Savannah and a third at 'beautiful' Ft Benning. And yet he has one of the WORST records in the senate when it actually comes to supporting benefits for said troops.
Oh well... I guess rhetoric is all that's needed when you have a bunch of ignorant peanut farmers from lower GA on the dole who don't really give two shts about the war anyway, and faithful troopers like One Hot Minute who care more about W's legacy than the GI Bill. |
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The Dark Reverend Wright doesn't appear to have unleashed any fire against the Cong, so his six years of service to country and three commendations for service to LBJ don't mean squat. He's still an American Hatin' racist, and Obama is clearly unfit to be prez. Just like McCain is unfit to be prez b/c he's received an endorsement from Rev. Hagee, who blamed 9/11 on gay folk. And an endorsement from Bob Jones, which regards Catholics as the devil's spawn. |
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If you serve 25 years in Congress as a lousy senator and terrible Republican, your war medals don't save you from your shameful record in office. Get a helmet. (Who coined that phrase again? I forget.) |
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just blatantly dishonest? CPT Max Cleland lost his arm and legs after trying to get rid of a live grenade dropped by a PVT after exiting a helicopter during the battle of Khe Sanh on April 8, 1968. He was awarded the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous action in combat, including during the Battle of Khe Sanh on April 4th, 1968. While the grenade wasn't thrown by VC or NVA, this wasn't an on-base accident. But I guess it takes someone dull enough to confuse this with an on-base accident to get hoodwinked by Saxby's idiotic 2004 ads that morphed Cleland's face with Osama Bin Laden's. Hey, I know a lot of folks in GA are retarded rednecks (inbreeding and a shallow gene pool will have negative effects over time) but this is egregious even by Dirty South Redneck Standards.
As to your acknowledgment that "their military service doesn't have anything to do with their wrong-headed policies", thank you, thank you, thank you! You're not as dense as you sound! You seem to agree with my point that McCain's military service doesn't qualify him to be CiNC. We's is gettin thar! It goin to be hard, but all y'all is goin to pick up on dis in da sunny southland eventually! Once Atlanta gets big enough anyway. |
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a doctor or a chaplain. But president? No F'n way! |
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Well, maybe I mis-read you. Except for the "eeevil Mexigrants" crack, I could have written your last comment myself. |
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Hemrick wrote;
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"Kerry, Murtha, Rev Wright and Max Cleland are all combat vets and have all been painted as America hating turncoats."
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Their military service doesn't have anything to do with their wrong-headed policies.
By the way, has it been confirmed that Wright was in combat ?
I know he is a former Marine, but I just was not aware that he saw combat.
Hemrick also wrote;
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"Example: Max Cleland (a triple amputee, eat your POW heart out McCain!) is a war hero, BUT Repugs in GA thought he was a bad candidate b/c he failed to jump on the Bush war bandwagon in 2003."
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We thought Cleland was a "bad" candidate due to his policy positions. We simply preferred Saxby Chambliss.
Is that not permissable in your eyes ?
Also, I should just clarify that Max Cleland didn't get injured in combat. Rather, he was involved in an accident on base, which resulted in the loss of his limbs. |
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here. Just a bunch of hyper-authoritarian Bushies and right wing nut jobs. Hayek, Friedman, and Goldwater were conservatives. I have no idea what the folks on this sinking ship are. That's why I usually use terms like 'clowns' and 'dummies' when posting.
If Bush likes it, it must be OK with Hugh/Fox/NRO/Weekly Standard... unless of course you're talking about the eevil weevil Mexigrants. But seriously, what's so conservative about the views here? There doesn't seem to be too many folks here that are that concerned with national security, fiscal responsibility, keeping govt small or really any policy issues of import. Just a bunch of nutters belly aching over who's preacher said what and whining about Move On Ads. |
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You can always tell the closet liberals here when they refer to conservatives as "right wingers". Are you Bill O'Reilly trying to come across as "fair and balanced" by trashing conservatives? |
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are selective about who's war time service they acknowledge and who's they ignore or attack.
Kerry, Murtha, Rev Wright and Max Cleland are all combat vets and have all been painted as America hating turncoats.
Bill Clinton is a draft dodging America hater, but draft dodgers like Bush, Cheney, Romney, and Giulliani are beyond reproach.
I can understand the point that a person's character is partly reflected in service to country during wartime, but if you're going to lambaste a political candidate or govt official for what he did or said AFTER that service, then why doesn't this apply to McCain? In other words, have some decency and exercise a little logical consistency! Example: Max Cleland (a triple amputee, eat your POW heart out McCain!) is a war hero, BUT Repugs in GA thought he was a bad candidate b/c he failed to jump on the Bush war bandwagon in 2003. Likewise, McCain is a war hero, BUT he's also a war junky and refuses to support increasing benefits for combat vets. See? It's not that hard to be logically consistent. You can acknowledge his ability to drop bombs, get shot down and captured, and to get tortured while also acknowledging that he's not really fit to be CiNC. |
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was also a war hero.
'nuff said. |
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You folks always praise his service and follow it with a BUT. When you do this you negate your first statement.
These war stories of McCain's demonstrate his character. Character is the most important factor here and McCain's stands head and shoulders above any other candidates. There are no BUT's about it. |
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Those are great peeks into the McCain character. Behaving honorably has served McCain well.
But since 2000 I fear that Sen. McCain’s loyalties do not necessarily lay with the American citizenry.
I believe that Sen. McCain is now more loyal to Big Business (via illegal slave labor), Independent (surface, uninvolved types too lazy to think about issues) voters (via publically stomping conservatives and embracing the won’t help themselves Katrina victims and the global warming nuts.) and the very liberal MSM (via Bush bashing and voting against sound tax policies).
I believe that Sen. McCain has become a panderer.
But that’s just me.
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