SOS! It's McCain's POW Card Waterloo
By Bill W. Sunday Aug 24, 2008 12:00pm
Since it's no longer taboo to point out John McCain's ridiculous and offensive attempts to use of his experience as a POW as if it's somehow an excuse for everything from his extramarital affairs to his rule-breaking to his having more pieces of real estate than he can keep track of, and so on, we would be remiss if we didn't point this one out too.
When CNN's Walter Isaacson confronted John McCain about his professed love of the band of ABBA, which of course was a lame attempt to cater to "disaffected Hillary supporters" as his blogger Michael Goldfarb made clear, McCain (you guessed it) whipped out the trusty ol' POW card to explain:
“What were you thinking?,” Isaacson asked him, looking incredulous.
“If there is anything I am lacking in, I’ve got to tell you, it is taste in music and art and other great things in life,” McCain joked. “I’ve got to say that a lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane and never caught up again.”
But, as Spencer Ackerman was quick to point out:
What? McCain was shot down in 1967. ABBA began making music in 1972. Don't try this sh** on me, McCain! Your POW experience has nothing to do with your Partridgey musical taste.
Cue the mockery... Nicole thinks maybe we should just put out a distress signal for McSame instead
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Could it be any more obvious that McDepends is as empty , useless and IQ-challenged(and older) than his GOP predecessor ?
What, no Fortunate Son? I know that's W's song, but at least it is from the Vietnam Era for f%%% sake.
I see "veterans" all the time using their "service" to act like they are somehow deserving of special treatment. They put signs on their cars, clothing, and houses to brag about that. They act as if somehow killing for "your country" is superior to a life dedicated to peace and antiwar activities. I find this sickening and disgusting on their parts. McCain is just doing the same. His dedication to war and death is typical of these traitors to human life and dignity.
A noun and a verb and "I was a POW"
You know, every time Sen. McCain mentions the portion of his life as a POW, whether as an excuse or just to remind everyone about it, it does a disservice to the other POW's alive and POW/MIA's no longer with us. No doubt, the experience gave him some insights but it surprises me that insight into what "torture" is and isn't wasn't one of them. However, maybe he thinks every person in this country doesn't know that Sen. McCain was a POW; is that why he keeps bringing it up? Kinda' like that percentage of people in America who think Sen. Obama is a muslim.
Why couldn't he just say it's a familial relationship - "Dancing Queen" and "Flip-flop King"?
Methinks this fits mcgramps current situation as regards to his POW status:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpUz5zXywhY
Man I feel stupid I was listening to ABBA Gold while I read this. But never been in the armed services what can I blame my weird taste in music on?
Come On, Get Happy?
3 Underground Pirate
Nothing like trying to pass cowardice and selfishness as a virtue.
"Real heroes don’t go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about their own heroism"
"The heroes I remember were every bit the hero John McCain is – but they didn’t spend all their time for years afterward tooting their own horns and trying to trade on their status for personal political gain. In fact, that kind of immodesty used to be seen as inappropriate and unseemly, if not ridiculous."
3 Underground pirate
I take exception at your statement about veterans. Perhaps some but certainly not all. War is horrible and something to be considered carefully before engaging but to just brand our military as "killers" is unfair, incorrect and uncalled for. It is politicians who make these calls not the troops. You can call out the politicians for having to send our sons and daughters to war but do not criticize their efforts.
Funny thing is how my conservative associates react when they find out I'm a Cold War (as opposed to Hot War) veteran, while they're no kind.
But then I tell them, when it's potentially your own ass on the line your view tends to change.
Additionally, when you enlist at 18, generally you're not thinking for yourself yet, but how you were raised.
How many times will McCain's POW status be referred to at the Republican convention? That will be their biggest opportunity to milk every last ounce of symbolism out of it.
I won't be surprised to see the stripes of the American flag morph into prison bars.
"Yes, I realize that the economy is bad and people are losing their homes. But, when I was a POW I didn't have a home".
"Yes, I appreciate that food prices are climbing. When I was a POW I didn't have the bountiful foods that we have in America."
"Yes, I understand that Americans can't find work. When I was in the military, I was willing to do anything."
And on and on and on and on.
OhKay @ 14:
haha you could make a drinking game out of it.
Never mind water boarding:2 hours of ABBA would force me to turn over my entire family to the authorities.
Funny thing though, is most war veterans don't talk to others about their experiences, outside of small groups of those who share the same experiences.
The "Greatest Generation" is more likely to do so now, because of the news coverage of them.
The rest more often than not who go around looking for free passes, have all the stickers on their cars etc., are wannabes. VA organizations have been complaining about them for years.
Funny thing, is how mcgramps did serve in a police action, probably as a volunteer, unlike the rest, but then spends the next 35 years or more acting like a wannabe.
I fell in love with Bjorn eons before Metrosexuals were the "thing".
Imagine what Corsi would say if Obama had lost five planes.
Underground Pirate @ 3:
I agree.But all veterans do not do that. My husband was a medic in Korea and Vietnam. He would never dream of bragging about it.
His brother, on the other hand, has a hat I swear he must wear to bed that says he won the purple heart. Big deal.
Just announced.
Just prior to McCain's acceptance speech at the GOP Convention...an illegal immigrant will be waterboarded while the CIA taps his cellphone.
"You know, that might be the answer - to act boastfully about something we ought to be ashamed of. That's a trick that never seems to fail." - Joseph Heller, Catch 22
Only about 1% of America can afford to donate more than spare change to these rich jerks.
and Dancing Queen is a good song McCain needs to man up and admits this rather than blame his taste on being a POW.
Negotiations are underway to have a special edition of the Miss Buffalo Chip Pageant held during the GOP convention.
Evangelicals are in agreement, so long as the contestants wear bathing suits made from American Flags.
It's too late. The "McCain POW war hero maverick" mythology should have been exposed and destroyed last year. The McCain camp buys it, the Media buys it and many voters buy it. The McCain camp has carefully created the POW-war hero mythology about this guy such that the Media is loathe to even appear to be questioning it. The rightwingers are brilliant at pushing a pumped up story which also emasculates the other side from responding to it honestly. They understand that a particularly American hubris and hyper-patriotism won't allow it.
And it's going to get their guy elected. Once the Media jumps on Obama's "friendship" with a '60s radical terrorist, it will be all but over. The right knows they have to make it clear to the voters (in a foggy sort of way!) that the choice will be between a POW-war hero-maverick and a black, elitist, terrorist-loving "muslim".
And the Meda will help convey that message, as they have in the past.
Money,money money,
always sunny
in a rich man's world.
Will the McCain film at the Convention include video of him signing confessions when he was a POW?
Will the McCain film at the convention include video of him "wet starting" a jet that caused a rocket to fire, killing many men on board the Forestal?
How can there be a democracy when only .9% of the Americans have a say on who they want for a president? Is it fair to say that the rest of the money primarily come from corporation?
Pundents are now talking about how disconnected the candidate from the public when they criticize John McCain for not knowing how many houses he own. The question ought to ask how many corporation owns the candidate?
Hi, i'm john McCain. I got shot down in 1967 and lived for 5 years as a POW. My life pretty much stopped at that point. I know there is a lot that other people learn in life, and some like to call it "growth" like emotional maturity and stuff like that. Well my friends, in all honesty, and I'm honest because i was a POW, all of that stopped for me before most of you were ever born. So in a way because my growth was stunted some 40 years ago, i'm really the younger guy in this race. I have the mentality of a 30 year old, really a twenty-something. And i don't mean your average 30 year old, no not me. I was a spoiled, wild and crazy 20 something, so I'm the guy you want, experienced and young! If you like the stunted dry-drunk we've now got in the White House, you'll love me and love my wife too -- talk about wild and crazy. Don't get me started on Cindy.
Underground Pirate @ 3:
I don't know what you see or what you don't see. But I don't see the same thing you say you do.
I see vets, service members and their families with unit insignia on their cars and such. They want people to know that they served because they're proud of it. A lot of people do things that they're proud of and don't mind letting other people know about it.
I've yet to hear one person say they deserve anything extra because they're a vet. I'm talking about in civilian life. I can see a service member saying he deserves medical care to take care of a service-related injury but would not put that under the unreasonable entitlement category.
I'm a vet and have never asked for anything - including the disability income I am entitled to. In fact, it's been much more the other way around. When I left the service I had three different interviews where I was told that they were concerned about hiring vets because (in their opinion) being in the service means that we can't think for ourselves because we're trained to follow orders and not to think independently. Of course these folks had never been in the service and probably never lived anywhere near a base so their information came from war movies or comic books or something.
New, just in, that the McSame Store:
http://www.bgladd.com/McSameStore/CarrierCrash.jpg
How does a guy who graduated at the bottom of the class get his own plane? That's kind of scary to think about who gets the multi million dollar machine to play with.
Here's the catch. If McCain has done all these ill-advised, unethical and illegal things as a result of being a POW then when did he get better?
If he didn't get better then why do we want a person with a broken moral compass as president? Try asking his little monkeys that question.
The DNC needed to run ads with other former POW's expressing their disgust at McCain's use of his POW status as a shield from questions and an arrogant excuse for practically everything.
paranoia @ 34:
He wrecked a lot of naval aviation hardware in his day.
I vehemently oppose the negative references aimed at Veterans in some of these posts. Whatever YOU believe in, these people either believed in service to their country and sacrificed part of their lives for that OR were poor and had no other viable employment options or choices. Same as today.
Shame on you. Is this how you support the troops.
I agree with the post above, real heroes don't brag about, use or manipulate their military service for political gain.
And before I'm attacked, I'm an avid Obama supporter; you don't have to be a troll to feel embarrassed, angered and ashamed of these posts.
Aren`t those folks from Denmark or somewhere like that.They don`t even have an accent.
Glad I never listened to the words.
If he loses the election, will he say it was because he was a POW?
Perhaps they can suspend MC Same from the ceiling at convention in a tiger cage and hire little asian kids to poke him with pointy sticks as he delivers his speech.
If I have offended, CMINCA. I apologize.
I have great respect for veterans and POWs. It is John McCain that I have no respect for.
BobbyG @ 33:
I don't know the history behind McCain's plane crashes but I don't think it's funny to make fun of them. Pappy Boyington was shot down a few times and crashed some planes on his own as well. Ok, he was a drunken asshole so maybe he's a bad example.
Bottom line is Vietnam is history even if McCain wants to make it live forever. That's fine for him and his life but for our lives and future generations we need to concentrate on what he's going to do and why we can't let him do it and not take cheap shots that probably aren't even warranted.
I vehemently oppose the negative references aimed at Veterans in some of these posts. Whatever YOU believe in, these people either believed in service to their country and sacrificed part of their lives for that OR were poor and had no other viable employment options or choices. Same as today.
I don't think the poster was questioning someone's beliefs for fighting as much as how some may unfairly capitalize on their service, and we can see McCain shamelessly doing just that.
pissed off patricia @ 40:
I'm thinking he'll say it's because he's black.
Yeah, I know you're talking about McCain. :)
43 CafeenMan
Google..."John McCain, USS Forrestal"
Then make up your own mind.
theWalrus @ 44:
OK, I stand corrected. I said I hadn't seen anyone do that. I wasn't counting politicians. I was thinking about regular people doing regular things.
CafeenMan @ 43:
I disagree. All shots, cheap or not, are warranted. McCain is the enemy.
Liberal AND Proud @ 46:
I might do that some time but it's irrelevant as far as this election is concerned. What is relevant is that McCain has given away his most important possession - his integrity. He's the last thing this country needs right now.
If he loses the election, will he say it was because he was a POW?
LOL! Good one.
Sadly, he's not going to lose. Amuricans ain't gonna vote in a black, elitist, terrorist-lovin' mooslim over a white POW war hero.
Liberal and Proud
It wasn't you at all, it was post #3.
24 someguy
mcgramps announced Dancing Queen as his running mate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IrE6FMpai8
He's right about his tastes. Why does anyone want someone with atrocious tastes? Haven't we had enough of morons? Look at those garish homes he owns ... most definitely not fabulous. If I were a rich asshole, I could do a lot better.
I would rather spend 7 years being waterboarded ever day at gittmo than listen to 2 seconds of Mama Mia.
"Sir, could you recite a few lines from your favorite ABBA tune?"
"Ummmm ... ahhhh...my staff will get back to you my friend..."
Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosden that is just horrid .
Did ABBA do"How Much Is That Doggy In The Window"?And the "FUGS" did How Much Is The Dog Shi.t
CafeenMan @ 43:
Boyington was cooler than McCain can ever hope to be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappy_Boyington
Today seems to be national bash Obama day on the cable news channels. Jesus, it started with Morning Joe and of course Fox and CNN. If this is going to be what they talk about all week, I can't take it. On MSNBC they showed the tape of Michelle Obama saying it was the first time she was proud of America or whatever it was. This was the one where it is real obvious that the word "real" had been edited out, and no one mentioned that but instead continued to criticize her. It's so fu*king frustrating!
McCain couldn't in a million years afford to pay for the free advertising time and space he has gotten from all the cable news shows today alone. He doesn't need to cry foul and I was a POW, the media is taking care of him and his reputation.
the Walrus @ 44
Read #3 again "killing for your country" is what really got me.
49 CafeenMan
Aaah. But it is relevant. It speaks of his judgement, his character.
And if you feel that it should be written off to youth...well...John Kerry was not given that consideration by his opponents, nor have others who campaign against the GOP.
Jo @ 48:
Means to an end? I have different states of mind and in some of them I agree with you. This election is very important and there's nothing we shouldn't do to ensure republicans lose power.
But right now I'm not thinking that way probably because I don't think we need to do that. I think slamming McCain on all his flip-flops in ad after ad and showing him to be Bush Reborn will lose the election for him by a comfortable margin. Too early to tell though.
In any case, crashing planes in a war isn't going to sway very many voters so even if I agree or disagree with the ethics of it, it's diminished returns. Lots of energy for little result.
ysbaddaden @ 52:
I'm not sure who I think would make the funner VP to campaign against Mittens or Rudy.
POP, the MSM is trying and trying to tear down Obama. As I wrote in another thread, Hillary was their choice because she was the "establishment" candidate, as McCain is.
The only thing standing in Obama's way is Diebold.
CafeenMan @ 43:
I don't think it's funny to fuck up repeatedly and get repeated passes owing to family brass juice, and to now tout yourself as some War Hero immune from any criticism. Sorry.
When McSame and his people quit taking their relentless, egregious cheap shots at Obama, I'll stop.
Mccain is a pussy. i spent 5 years in the military and i wasnt fighting some back water hick country like Viet Nam. I was in the COLD WAR baby. two super powers flinging insults back and forth like a cong fire fight. many said all we did was drink and carouse but we had to drink that much because for all we knew we would wake up the next morning in a full fledged world war. those women who gave us the clap were as necessary and as important to the effort as Clara Barton. We longed for POW status but instead had to spend long, excruciating hours walking up and down the pier guarding our Aircraft carriers with nothing but a stick hangover and bad attitude.
Oh how i wish i had time at the hanoi hilton. where's MY parade?
This is a little off of the point of the post, but remember back a few months ago when during the primaries everyone kept saying that a long, drawn out, and hard fought primary would be beneficial to the Democratic Party? Well it's looking like now, not so much. I really don't know why these Clinton supporters would even consider voting for McSame. John McCain has found an opening just wide enough to stick his $500 shoe through and now with the help of the RNC he's widening it.
These people need to consider all of the nasty things that Republicans have said about and done to the Clintons. We cannot allow them another 4 years running this country. Look at any of John McCain's policies and see if they're in line with what Hillary was proposing.
As far as the POW excuse, as long as the media let's McCain and his cronies get by with it , they will use it.
I am just saying that if McCain wants to use his war experience as his ticket for presidency, then I question how someone who graduated at the bottom of his class get a cushy air job away from the front line? Although statistically he had a safer job, but still manage to get shot down. Isn't this the same as Bush getting a free pass in the military while also graduating at the bottom of the class?
Seems to me this military career that McCain is more of the same of Bush career. Being pass up in spite of poor performance, because of wealth, and powerful ties to the govt.
Liberal AND Proud @ 61:
Ok, well if we're going to be just like the GOP then I have no reason to vote. I thought we wanted dems to be elected because they're better than repugs.
the Walrus @ 44
Read #3 again “killing for your country” is what really got me.
I understand, but there are pacifists out there and I respect their beliefs also. Don't let words make you a smaller person. I know you're bigger than that.
My late father was as the battles Guam and Iwo Jima, both to which he was awarded a battle star and the latter the Purple Heart (multiple shrapnel, some of which he carried to his grave and a broken back). I've always considered that a "big deal" - maybe some would prefer the US had become a part of the Third Reich or the Empire of the Sun. He was extremely proud of his service although he didn't speak of it often. Rarely, actually. If a "war movie" came on television, he would tell us to change it. My uncle Clarence never got over the war, becoming an alcoholic and finally committing suicide in 1972. In his retired years dad raised and lowered the American flag in the front yard every day. He liked to meet with with other local WWII veterans in town for coffee. The only apparel I ever saw was a "Disabled American Veterans" cap, which I now have and treasure along with his Marine dress uniform and medals, which he never put on again once returning home. The military honors at his funeral were incredible - I was so proud. When those Marines handed that flag to my mom - I still get choked up just thinking about it. It was a big deal to me, and still is. As to being a killer, he told my uncle and brother is a rare catharsis "I did what my country asked me to do, and I hope God forgives me." Please, don't let McCain's hyperbolic touting of his military service for personal gain tarnish others, who served most honorably both during wartime and after the uniform came off.
paranoia @ 68:
Being a fortunate son does count in my book only if the person never earned anything on his own merit. You can't blame a guy for being born into luxury but you can blame him if, like Bush, he kept fucking up and his parents never let him suffer the consequences which had the consequence of him never growing as a person.
I think McCain has it all over Bush in that regard but then Obama has it all over McCain too.
56 jeff Says: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosden that is just horrid
pierce brosnan. I hated him as James Bond. My favorites were Sean Connery and Timothy Dalton.
Here's an interesting clip from a Bond movie that was not only very good, but largely forgotten.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxDRVE-UfHk
CafeenMan @ 72:
Watch it, bud. Bush single handedly kept the No Fly Zone above the TANG golf course and NCO Club utterly free of Vietcong heavy fighter-bombers during 'nam. HOOOOO-ahh!!!
http://www.bgladd.com/McSameStore/The_Disgracer_in_Chief.jpg
Two points:
1) Yes, the Republicans will continue ad nauseum with McCain's war hero bullshit, because the Vietnam War has never really ended in this country. The hostilities between those who were Cold War pro-war enthusiasts and those who were anti-war or active in the peace movement will not end until every baby boomer is in his or her grave. Thowing John McCain's POW status in our faces is there to remind us that he was part of the establishment in the 60's, a masculine, heroic John Wayne type, with those kinds of ethics and morals. John McCain's POW status promises a "kinder-gentler" time, (appealling to the Evangelicals' dream of a return to an Eisenhower Era America). In essence, John McCain's POW status promises us a a return to Pleasantville.
2) The MSM backed Hillary because it would have been better TV. Think of the 8 years of footage of the Clintons. Their lazy asses (the MSM) would barely have to budge to put together scandal and utter mayhem. The Republicans wanted this too. Anyone who doesn't remember what attack dogs they were during the Clinton Era does not remember the whole "Vince Foster was murdered by the Clintons" muckraking.
Noun---verb---POW!!.... Don@4 beat me to it, but it bares repeating... It's Rudy's gameplan modified.... If Gramps is going to beat it into the ground, we all, who are fed up with hearing it, might as well beat into the ground what it all amounts to....i.e. BULLSHIT!
I agree with other posters who state most vets don't play that 'I'm a vet ooo rah' shit.... whether they be cold or hot war types. That kind of phony war hero shit is usually used as a front to hide something or deflect attention from something. As for those who do like to play that card for fun and fame... Fuckem, they are pathetic idiots... Wars, gettin caught up in one, and being forced to endure it, just trying to do what you're ordered to do by those with higher rank... Killing strangers from other countries who are just as often as not, caught up in this thing unwillingly same as you, is not really something to beat ones chest about. The memories of the things saw and done under those conditions can stay with a person sometimes tearing them up inside the rest of their lives. People don't generally go around bragging about wrapping five cars around trees do they?? Look folks, I ain't a hot war vet but I don't have to be to know, war is evil, not something to trumpet. Wars essentially are failures of mankind to deal with a problem.....
That's all I got to say about war, and gramps pathetic record in his, except to remind everyone that those who give the grunts in these things shit is basically no better than those people who shoot messengers because they don't like the message they're getting... Here's an odd idea... IF you don't like wars and killin, then take that complaint to the people who start this kind of shit...(hint:, it ain't the kid down the street who will end up drafted, or conned with some kind of patriotic marketing bullshit into putting their life on the line for the next one)....JD
Didn't JR's sister-in-law kill Vince Foster?
71 LockeNessMonster
Beautifully said, and I don't think you have any worries. Your father and his generation are greatly appreciated and remembered, as are the men and women tossed into unpopular conflicts such as Viet Nam and Iraq. I think Americans have shown that they are capable of understanding that soldiers don't choose to kill. They are simply doing their jobs.
It is up to the those of us not in the military to ensure that the missions we send them on are just and absolutely necessary.
Cherish your memories of both your father and your uncle. Honor what they fought for.
I've been suspecting all along that mcgramps is trying to pull an Eisenhower. He was the last military figure to hold the presidency. He was a comforting father/grandfather figure to conservatives. And even Liberals seem impressed by his prescience, and quote him often with credit as the source of the whole military-industrial complex argument.
My guess, is mcgramps would simply work for the complex, hence his 100 year war.
ABBA's not Danish, silly – they're Swedish.
It's a shame McCain doesn't want to import any other great Swedish institutions, like national health insurance or the ban on advertising to toddlers.
Let's hope that this election is his Waterloo. Couldn't escape if he wanted to.
the Walrus @ 70:
-------------
the Walrus @ 44
Read #3 again “killing for your country” is what really got me.
I understand, but there are pacifists out there and I respect their beliefs also. Don’t let words make you a smaller person. I know you’re bigger than that.
---------------------
Thanks for taking the time to put things into perspective. Much appreciated.
I should say that Eisenhower was the last high-ranking military figure. Kennedy, Carter, George HW Bush all served, but without making that a key reason to vote for them.
I'm not sure if Johnson or Nixon served or not. As for ronnie ray gun he served
In the USO (propaganda movies.)
I surely have no experience in the military. Having said that, if I had experienced something as awful as McCain said he experienced, I sure as hell wouldn't want to bring it up over and over in my daily life. Also I wouldn't want to go through my life asking people to feel sorry for me and excuse everything I did wrong, because to my past experiences. If I did that I would be admitting that it had a permanent effect on my actions and my thinking. I would be admitting something was wrong with me that I had no control over.
Personally I would want to overcome my past and prove to the world that I had left the past behind and moved on. Also if I was a guy and had Abba on my Ipod, I would wonder what the hell was wrong with me.
ABBA? What -- isn't AMERICAN disco good enough for Senator Fancy-pants?
Smells like elitism. I bet he's a latte-sipper.
Senator McCain, how do you explain not knowing how many houses you own?
McCain: Because when that surface to air missile hit my plane I lost my memory.
But you got those house after you were shot down.
McCain: Says you!
pissed off patricia @ 83:
You mean McCain's "iPod"?
http://tinyurl.com/5gv9gy
every townhall meeting or speech mccain reminds people of his prior service and POW status.....we all what it is.........branding and disarming. he sets the the emotional tone in his favor.
secondly this brand seems to be a free pass to the white house with certain voters.....i believe this demographic is NOT knowledgable of issues such as
taxation,energy transition and future foreign conflicts.
being a veteran i noticed this early on and realized it was over the top. i say
reveal his Real u.s.veteran voting record. the numbers don't lie. i'm not
interested in mccain's awards but his Real voting record.
third the draft......this should be talked about.
Hold it. If McCain's musical taste went to pot AFTER he was shot down in 1967, then that DOES explain his poor choice in picking ABBA as his favorite musical group....
So bottom line, everything McCain has done since he was set free was a result of being a POW? It caused him to cheat on his wife, leave his family, to marry a millionairess, to get involved in Keating 5, to get real chummy with lobbyist, and to have ABBA on his Ipod. Also it seems to have made him tell lies. Would it cause him to bomb some country on a whim too? Seems to me the guy's being a POW is his worst detractor if it caused him to do so many problematic things.
CafeenMan @ 49:
No, it's not irrelevant, it goes to show his attitude of being able to break rules and not pay for the consequences of his actions.
Had the Forrestal not flown him to another carrier for treatment, he may not have survived the wrath of his shipmates that day. Over 130 sailors died that day, because of the elitist son and grandson of Admirals.
pissed off patricia @ 89:
Y'know that lump on the side of his face?
Ahmed Chalabi implant.
McCain's campaign slogan should be: Vote for McCain, he's so pitiful!
As I said yesterday, he brags about not leaving his buddies behind when he was offered release from the prison in Vietnam, but upon his release he showed none of that same loyalty to his wife and kids when he returned home. He left them behind so that he could move on to party times, sex and a brand new woman.
NEO McCAIN:
Having heard him speak, I'm not so sure that we are likely to hear different Nouns and Verbs. Maybe
* "My Friends" a hum/haw and a Vietnam/POW/veteran reference.
* "My Friends" an eye roll and POW
I think we ought to be able to compile a decent list of variations and print McCain BINGO cards. Maybe we should make a drinking game like we did with the original Bob Newhart show. This might give the College Republicans something entertaining to do this election cycle.
The list of presidents who did not serve in the military is much, much shorter than the ones that did. I think Clinton and FDR are the two most recent who did not. Of course, Bush's Texas Air National Guard service is about one notch over Grover Cleveland's paying $150.00 for a Civil War substitute, except the latter was actually up-front and legal.
if you like where this country is right now vote bush.....i meant mccain
just remember your going to get the same policies.
more conflicts/war.....'bomb..bomb..'......'100yrs. no casualties'
tax breaks for the wealthy
deregulation,deunionize
drilling fossil fuels and alternative transition will be delayed
signing statements,veto.......filibuster(s) will continue
healthcare will not change
reduce constitution
k-street continues it's dominance
the country will remain divided and nothing will get done...just like corporations want
paranoia @ 34:
Daddy = Vice Admiral John S. McCain, major participant (under Nimitz) in the Battle Of Leyte Gulf, and I believe Coral Sea in WWII. Considered one of the greats. Thus Jr. had some of the pay paved for him.
My dad was a navigator/bombardier in WWII, did his maximum missions.
My Brother was in the Phu Bai Valley for his 'Nam tour. (spelling may be off). (Leaning shithouse).
Couldn't get either one of them to talk about any of their experiences. Wish they had, might have helped them be happy people again and I might have gotten to know them better.
Key is, they just wanted to move on from it and live a different life.
CHOICE 1.... McCain was a POW, and as such was tortured etc to a point where his brain is on SLOW-GO
CHOICE 2.... McCain was a POW, but survived without his head turning to mush, so you CANT USE POW AS AN EXCUSE
YOU CANT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS....
if you can remember your houses... HOW CAN YOU BE PRESIDENT
this is NOT making fun or disrespecting his experience as a POW...
JUST PICK ONE
paranoia @ 34:
His own plane? Try this: He crashed five multi-million dollar jets. You'd think crashing four (plus finishing at the ass end of 900 students in Annapolis) would have been enough to get his pampered, over-privileged butt booted out of the pilot's seat, but being the son of an admiral made rational decisions kind of hard for Johnny's Navy commanders. Nope, it took five crashed planes, and then he stopped flying only because the Vietcong wanted to use him for Anti-American propaganda, for which Navy Lieutenant John McCain was quite cooperative. What a hero.
Side note: Supposedly John McCain is in "excellent health" forty years after his imprisonment. If that's true, then why has McCain been drawing full disability pay from the Navy for all these years? Isn't that money supposed to go to vets that are actually, really, truly disabled? Isn't John McCain already getting enough money from his wife, the government and all those rich corporate lobbyists?
By the way, "Dancing Queen" is one of the all-time great pop songs, David Schuster. It celebrates the passionate intensity and craving for romance of all seventeen year old girls, that blowtorch flame that everyone remembers and wishes they could recapture from their youth. It will continue to be a hit oldie long after nobody remembers David Schuster. So there!
Waterloo is definitely the new McCain campaign theme song.
It's a historical allusion simply too thick with meaning.
The Age of Empire is over, either accept that or continue to barrel headlong toward this country's own humiliating Waterloo.
A McCain victory assures that logic & the imperatives of history are ignored, causing the America Empire to end in a stunning collapse.
Obama, though still beholden to the ruling classes, might have the intelligence to begin a gradual process that could lead to the necessary peaceful dismantling of our empire.
"To avoid the impending Waterloo" is a reasonable slogan to add to your repertoire.
pissed off patricia @ 59:
Ditch the cable and use the internet toobs to get your info. As I've said here before, I cut the cable about three weeks ago and I'm loving it. I refuse to even incrementally contribute to the paychecks of the scumbags on the "news" networks.
Do yourself a favor - ditch the cable. Why do you think they call it a "boob tube" anyway?
God, that video shows McGramps as the cranky old sod that he truly is. He's almost as hard to watch and listen to as Wanton Boy himself.
I can't believe anybody in his or her right mind would choose that curmudgeonly fossil over Mr. Obama.
Forgive me for being an ignorant Canadian, but can someone PLEASE tell me what having been a POW have to do with running for president?
PS: Yes David Schuster, that dress DOES make you look fat!
Mike the Canuck Says: Forgive me for being an ignorant Canadian, but can someone PLEASE tell me what having been a POW have to do with running for president?
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I will try, Mike. Absolutely nothing. I would venture to say there are some of those POW who sleep under bridges and drink 40 ounce malt liquor for treats. That was forty years ago and McSame has commited many crimes since then. He nver tells us what he plans to do to fix what he and Bush have broken in the past eight years. You see, McSame voted with Boosh 95% of the time.
Abba and mccain have many things in common .
Abba carpet bombed the U.S. with mundane , pop .
McCain Vietnam .
Abba invaded a foreign countries , under the pretense of bringing happiness .
McCain Vietnam .
Abba was on the low end of music complexity and talent .
McCain graduated near the bottom of his class .
Abba, like a fart in a telephone booth ... still won't go away .
McCain thinks he can be president .
jimbo92107 @ 100:
Well said, my friend ;D. And I love Dancing Queen myself, which I first heard in 1993. On this show
I can't imagine the Republican Party wanting this candidate. McCain is just continuing his past performance at the BOTTOM of his class.
Mr McCain: Please do the U.S.A. a favor and find a shuffleboard court in Arizona, Florida, or Vietnam.
Cheers.
Mike the Canuck @ 104:
You'd think that a former POW would be more reluctant to appoint others to the same fate, wouldn't you?
BobbyG @ 91:
pissed off patricia's point is one well worth pondering & discussing at whatever opportunity you get, i'd walk it right up to the point of him being an actual Manchurian Candidate these were the evil commie masters of mind-control that had him for 5 years. Take a look at the mind-fucking skills we had developed by the early 1960s through MK/Ultra & similar programs, what the USSR bureaucratic State had perfected as early as the 1930s show trials & you get a pretty good idea of how quickly a little "enhanced interrogation" coupled with complete environment control can reduce a person's mind to some rather thin porridge or rewire a fellow's cognitive definitions of "morality" "honesty" & other such conceptual nouns to deliver hilarious or disturbing behavior.
John McCain is going to start thinking he is a chicken at 3:21 pm on February 7th 2010, we will all have egg on our faces if he is the president.
I would rather punch out my eardrums with icepicks than listen to Mama mia.
So John McCain was a POW. So he keeps reminding us.
Why do we voters have to keep making it up to him? IOW, I think he has "written too many checks" on that account.
case closed.
Wait, McCain was a POW? I had no idea...
some post in here included the line: maybe some would prefer the US had become a part of the Third Reich or the Empire of the Sun.
How I hate the stupidity behind that. The assumption that there was 2 choices couldn't be more wrong. There were abundant ways to avoid the insanity of WWII, most of which would have been better than the war. Try reading Human Smoke, or Buchanan's The Unnecessary War.
Hey, McCain is slime, etc, and, of course, he does not even really like ABBA. But don't hate on ABBA just because McSlimebag "said" he "liked" them. Abba are one of the most inspired pop acts to ever emerge from a non-english speaking country ever. (Yes, I know english is spoken pretty widely there, it is just not the native tongue).
If any of you think ABBA sucks so bad, just try to perform any of their material live. You need to be an extremely talented group to do it anywhere near accurately. I know popular does not =good all the time, but remember, these guys were offered a billion dollar guarantee to re-unite and do a world tour. Maybe Led Zeppelin could get somewhere neat that kind of money, but I don't know who else could. BTW, I also love this
The McCain campaign keeps emphasizing that McCain was a prisoner in Vietnam, as proof of his qualification for the Presidency.
Well, so was Gary Glitter, and I'm not voting for him either.
Sorry, i know it's not the same
but i just found this joke funny.........
This POW Get out of Jail Free Card has got to stop.
The DNC has got to run an ad against McCain's use of his POW status:
What my script would look like (declaration - anyone who wants to actually make this feel free, I'm not making any reservations to it)
Cue quiet military snare drum cadence.
Image: ABBA with Dancing Queen Karaoke words underneath.
John McCain Voice-over: “If there is anything I am lacking in, I’ve got to tell you, it is taste in music....I’ve got to say that a lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane."
Image: stills of his divorce papers, first wife,the word affair and a picture of Cindy McCain, then the letters PTSD and an image of an article talking about how many POWs have affairs and marital problems.
Narrator Voice-over: John has also said that stress from being a POW caused the failure of his first marriage, something any good doctor would agree with.
Image: Famous image of McCain being carried by Vietnamese right after his capture, and then medical records highlighting how he can't raise his arms above his shoulders.
Voice-Over: We all know that John was a POW, and that he endured a lot of terrible injuries while he was there, and we honor his service. Yet he claims he's made some poor decisions because of his experience as a POW.
Image: Hugging Bush and big graphic of the % of times he's voted with Bush
VO: But do his beliefs that we should continue down the rocky road George W. Bush has lead us for the past eight years,
Image: Foreclosure signs, then John McCain's net worth quickly morphed into Average American's debt and then the back changing into McCain's seven houses
VO: Or how he's out of touch with how our lives are going out here in America
Image: another POW picture
VO: Come from his time spent as a POW
Image: Keating 5 scandal, McCain's lobbyist ties, quote about McCain's legendary temper, his vote against the Veterans, his votes against MLK holiday, video of McCain fouling up Shia/Sunni, his position in his graduating West Point class, etc.
VO: Or come from his long history of making poor decisions about important things?
Image: quick clip of the Obama celebrity ad, then a shot of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, then to the quick clip of McCain saying, "taste in music."
VO: Let's hope it's not because of his honorable service as a Veteran, but simply his poor decision making skills.
I'd love to see an ad like that. It would honor his service and at the same time slap him down for dragging his POW status through the mud whenever there's something people might not like about him. His teflon POW shield would go away.
"Wait, McCain was a POW? I had no idea…
some post in here included the line: maybe some would prefer the US had become a part of the Third Reich or the Empire of the Sun.
How I hate the stupidity behind that. The assumption that there was 2 choices couldn’t be more wrong. There were abundant ways to avoid the insanity of WWII, most of which would have been better than the war. Try reading Human Smoke, or Buchanan’s The Unnecessary War."
So, how did those soldiers on the ground have a friggin' choice, er, to make such "abundant decisions?" Sure, perhaps decisions up the ladder could have been made prior to avoid war, but, they weren't, and the United States and others were at war with Germany and Japan. And once those decisions were made, regardless of their merit and the other options prior, the ONLY option at that point was to win the war, no?
'...I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane...'
I'm not aware of the tales of 'Mr. War Hero'...but did just say he shot himself down? And if so, how the hell is this heroic?
Try reading "My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March" and all the "choices" available to Lester Tenney and his fellow soldiers.
McCain came home in 1973, so it's quite possible that hearing ABBA after so many years of deprivation got him hooked on their music.
Of course, McCain overuses the POW thing, but attacking him for his taste in music is ridiculous and petty.
So doesn't that in fact make gramps mcsame retarded?
wobbly @ 121:
God, do you know how to read?
McCain blames his music taste, his celebration, as it were, of the ABBA catalogue on the fact that he was a POW.
(setting aside, of course, that it is dubious at best that he even knows more than one of their songs)
McCain is the one who caves in to other's taste (when someone says, for whatever reason, that ABBA is not "good music") and then "admits" that he has bad music taste BUT it is all the fault of his having been a POW.
Do you understand now? Or are you still having trouble reading?
Shorter McCain: "If ONLY I hadn't been a POW, I would have been the biggest fan of Trout Mask Replica EVAR! For serious, man, like, I would love the shit out of that album... sob! But instead I am relegated to humming Dancing Queen til the end of time... double sob!!!!one!!!"
why can't I post?
His Abba rant sounds like Archie Bunker!!
Does anybody wonder why John McCain, war hero, was not promoted to admiral like his dad and granddad? He turned it down. Why? It would be preceded by a vetting process during which his treasonous performance as a collaborator would be on record for others to see, a record that would preventg him from becoming an admiral. The board would have to say why it denied him the promotion, and the information would become public. He chose to become a civilian instead.
Just to point out: The POW card is not played because the McCain campaign thinks its a good response. They play it because they HAVE NO GOOD RESPONSES. So there is no point in pointing out its a terrible response. Rather focus on why he's got no other responses.
"dig in the dancing queen"? that's one of the most alarming typos in history. is it a sexual reference or an allusion to cannibalism?
Don @ #4
"A noun and a verb and 'I was a POW'"
You know, honestly, I wish Sen. Biden hadn't busted that one out on rudy 9-11. Now it's been played.
Had Sen. Biden been able to save that little nugget for the VP debates, it would have trumped the beatdown Lloyd Bentson gave Dannie Quayle in 1988 with his "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" remark.
It was great for burying rudy 9-11 but it could have been monumental in the debates.
I believe our veterans from ALL conflicts deserve respect and thanks for their service but to use it as a springboard to the presidency is appalling. Especially given the fact the man, as was Bush, a poor student and seriously, shouldn't this most important position be held by as intelligent a person possible? they tried to pin Obama with the elitist title but if ever it fit someone, its McCain. A very privileged life, too many houses to keep track of, please! This man and his prissy wife have no idea about the economy or the struggles and worries of ordinary working people, at least the Obama's (especially Michele) came from working class and became successful by being intelligent and getting an education. I think if Obama loses it will definitely be because of his color, though the cowards, will say not so!
YS@7;
Thanks for the ABBA stuff... It's a guilty pleasure... Really hooky catchy melodies... Others like to slam them as bubblegum or pop fluff but such is not really the case at all.. Besides, really, what's not to like about those two honey's.. They have great voices and harmonies... And... easy on the eyes to boot... JD
Mama mia, that looks like a shitty movie.
spickle @ 116:
I don't know if anyone here has heard it played live- but Robbie Fulks' acoustic version of "Dancing Queen" is truly inspired.
Partridgy? ok enough with the ABBA swiftboating bill w. by spreaading ackerman's nonsense you've proven you haven't a musical clue at the very least.
After winning the 1974 eurovision contest for sweden for the first time by performing waterloo live. ABBA then embarked on a musical career that spanned decades churning out tons of number one hits and multi platinum and gold albums. they composed ther own music, played their own instruments, and sang their own songs live many many times without lipsynching as so many "diva" acts today do.
in addition, many acts today still sample ABBA tunes in their own efforts for example:
ABBA's gimme, gimme, gimme (a man after midnight)
and
Madonna's Hung Up
how many acts are still relevant 40 years after their debut in any capacity?
hmmph. go after that smear merchant mccain all you want bill w. but leave ABBA alone.
ysbaddaden @ 10:
I see, it is cowardly to oppose war and work for peace. Thanks for that dumb ass.
Jo @ 21:
Yes, I agree, but I see it quite frequently in my area. A red neighborhood perhaps.
every time he brings up his pow experience, i just assume he's feeling sorry for himself, which is not very becoming of a stalwart, commanding, leader of the free world. when you want to lead the country and command its citizens to believe in themselves and their country and work to make America great again, unfortunately, it does not mean you put your misfortune and pain ahead of others. selflessness was once a requirement for public service, as JFK implored us, now we have to bottle feed and burp grown men who want to be in charge of everything. "how's that golden parachute you got there, is it large enough?!" "there, there,don't worry-some of won't need that lil' ol' pension anyway.""now, 7 houses is just not enough for you, for heaven's sake!"
Excuse me, but Dancing Queen is not lame. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the 178th greatest rock/pop song of all time. And if you ever get the chance to hear Jimmy LaFave's acoustic version, it's heart-breaking; the song is actually very elegiac. Butch Hancock also does a slow, acoustic version; also heart-rending. Even truly crappy bands occasionally do a good song; just like even the Beatles and Bob Wills did some clunkers.
We have all seen this before, the older person starts loosing some neural connections, and all of a sudden can't remember if they did or did not -- "helped to liberate the Jews from the prison camps" ( Ron Reagan ). There have been way too many of these weird slip-ups, by McCain, and he really seems sincere in his belief in each and every statement. Rather than focus on the outside perception that McCain is flip flopping for political gain, consider an internal dialogue where each and every new statement is absolutely TRUE.
Hey- I own an Ace Of Base CD and I just burned my thumb with my lighter. Can I have the presidency?
by the way did you know that the piano solo in led zepplin's "fool in the rain" is done by benny from abba when it was recorded in Polar Studios, abba's recording studio in sweden. you can hear plant clearly say "hey benny" as the piano solo starts
neener,neener,
Campaign suggestion:
McCain is the POW candidate who wants to hold the American economy POWar funding -- to his war funding.
Sen McCain was a prisoner of war 40 years ago, for 5 years.
NOW, after 5 years of a bank breaking war, he wants to hold the American economy as a prisoner of war funding for 4 more years.
McBush was given special treatment by the Viet Cong as they knew that he was the son of an American admiral.
By the way, his father was involved in the cover up of the Israeli attack on the US ship Liberty.
Alright already... Archie Bunker
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