And Yet Again ... Moar Politics

[rhiannonmr]

I've been pretty outspoken on my political views here.  Like most Americans I am watching our economy go down the tubes and watching the bastards in DC try yet another attempt at armed robbery.  I remember 1988 and the S&L crisis that happened.  As it is, I lost money because I had a savings acct in an S&L that ended up going under.  Oh yeah FDIC insured it, and I got the principal back less interest.  But yeah we ALL paid for that one.  And now they want another bail out, with a bill written well in advance that they want to ram down our throats ASAP!   With no bloody oversight whatsoever?  They don't want to take away the excessive executive compensation or assist the common guy out there who worries about making that ARM(adjustable rate mortgage) payment.  Umm and they want us, the normal people to pony up money through our hard work and tax dollars on our flattened salaries to support these rich white guys? One question ... why?

I mean it.  Why should we pay for the mistakes of the incompetent? Or the thieves?  Why should we mortgage our grandchildren's future for them to take home their 'golden parachutes'?  We've already sold out our children here.  What does it take for people to say this is so far gone wrong that you're not to be trusted? 

McCain never met a deregulation bill he didn't like.  And he wants us to put him in the White House to preside over the failure of his party's dream, with nothing new to bring to the table except more of the same.  This is a man whos behavior this past week has made me wonder if he's all there mentally.  He's flailed just about as hard as our economy.  Do I want him in charge? 

What really set me off is something I found on the Internet and read recently about him.  John McCain has made his POW experience a central part of his campaign.  His speech at the Republican convention told the story of his capture.  What it did not tell was the lengths he has gone to hide certain things about it.  McCain broke. He broke under torture, and he 'confessed' to 'war crimes' in writing and broadcast for the North Vietnamese.  I can't and won't judge that.  I've never been tortured.  Now this is a man who is third generation military, he grew up with it, he lived in it all his life.  And if he'd never been captured by the North Vietnamese, he'd have probably retired as an Admiral, like his father and grandfather before him.  Instead, he suffered the 'kindness' and 'hospitality' of a country that damaged him physically and I believe mentally.  He never expected to break like he did, and when he did he had to live with the knowledge that he'd given up information that perhaps in the long run meant little or nothing, but to him it was information he should not give according to the Geneva Convention.  A playbook the Vietnamese DID NOT play by. 

This had to have an affect on him emotionally.   Such things have meaning to those in the military, and McCain was raised with the ideal of, duty, honor, country.  Sidney Schanberg has documented what McCain has done since in office concerning the release of any information concerning POW/MIAs from the Viet Nam era.  It's not a pretty story and in many ways I find it terribly dishonorable.  McCain has along with past administrations effectively buried the information that yes, we DID leave men behind and yes we KNEW they were there.  Hollywood and Rambo had it right.  I believe he feels to this day, shame and guilt that he 'confessed' in the POW camp.  I believe such feelings have influenced how he behaved when he got into office and was on a committee to investigate POW/MIA issues in the early 90s.  I believe with that behavior he has in fact behaved dishonorably.  I do not feel he behaved dishonorably while in captivity.  What happened to our men in Viet Nam was beyond the scope of how they were trained to behave as POWs.  I believe he feels dishonor because of it, and that dishonor has informed later behavior.  I believe he's never come to terms with what happened in Hanoi and in a very real way he's still there.  I believe the mental scarring, and physical effects haunt him to this very day, 35yrs after he's come home.  And I believe he is NOT fit to be president because of it.  

Link to Schanberg's article:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/schanberg

Comments

[ginmar.livejournal.com]

I was going to write about this. I don't think McCain was ever raised with the idea of duty, honor, country; he's always been a dishonorable scumbag. Some officers are honorable; others are power mad. McCain was last in his class at the Academy, and gained a reputation as having a bad temper and a bad character. Even before being captured, he would never have made Admiral; his subsequent early retirement was the result of his not mending his ways.

He abandoned one wife when he couldn't give her the loyalty she'd shown him. He's cheated on both his wives. Most of all, he's sold his soul to the people who insulted his daughter in 2000. He's never been honorable. He never will be.

FWIW, the military now says that if captured, soldiers, sailors, Air Force and Marines are to resist as much as they can, and to offer up inconsequential information if they break. Everyone has their limits. You are to keep faith with your fellow soldiers, aid and support one another, resist in every way you can, and never forget you are a member of the United States Armed Forces.

[rhiannonmr.livejournal.com]

I think he was, but it didn't take. Hell he grew up with the 'privilege' of being a high ranking officer's kid. I suspect he felt entitled to behave badly and did so. I've known officer's kids who wore daddy's rank as much as daddy did, and I've known some who were genuinely nice kids. I suspect McCain was one of the first kind. He probably skated on that at Annapolis too.

Viet Nam I think was a major crucible as for him. I think it really stripped through the bullshit he thought of himself and exposed what he really is and he couldn't handle it.

But yeah he's scum. It shows in a lot of things. His behavior towards his wives is despicable. That he employs the same assholes who played him in 2000 with those rumors about his daughter just shows how nakedly ambitious he is, and how far he'll go to win. He's foul, and we don't need him.

Aside from his dishonorable behavior, I question his mental stability. He chose someone so unqualified for the number two spot, she makes Dan Quayle sound like a brilliant choice. The possibility of his dying in office are good to excellent considering his health issues. And he thinks Sarah Palin can do the job should he die? I mean seriously, she's so ignorant they hide her from the media because they know if she opens her mouth, she'll prove the ignorance.

I am glad the military has gone away from the idea of 'name, rank & serial number'. I barely remember what I was told back in the 70s but it was recognised then that yes, you could break, and if you did it would be understandable.

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. And then some.