My take on McCain.....he folded under physical pressure in Viet Nam....

[Gin]

(I never held that against him) but... he also folded under political pressure during the elections...he was coerced by shrub and company (maybe threatened) and sucked up to keep his job and the power he has. Pathetic, obvious, behavior, Mr. McCain.

Taking the whole picture of his behavior into account, his true colors were revealed. (IMHO)

[tk2kewl]

1. Live to fight another day?

[Gyre]

4. The problem with that philosophy

is that it can easily shift to, "Live in servitude (because of blackmail) to pretend to fight another day." Probably John's case.

Too bad, because he is probably the only repube I'm aware of who doesn't prance around in high-heels and stockings after hours.

Gyre

[prodigal_green]

6. what about Olympia Snowe or Libby Dole?

They probably prance around in high-heels during office hours.

[Cronus Protagonist]

19. True. No stockings for McCain

I think he's more the leather, whips, sling and foreign objects kind of guy.

Show your support for the president, wear a FUCK BUSH button!

http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13
(We usually ship same or next business day by first class mail)

[skylarmae]

5. What I want to know, how do you fight for principles one day

and then fight FOR the 'unprincipled' ass you called out as a liar the previous year. Georgie Porgie's dad did the same thing with
Ronald Reagan. Called reagan's economic plan 'voodoo economics', lost the primary and then immediately sang the praises when the repuke party told him to be v.p. and then he could assent to pres.

They all roll over faster than a starving whore with one pair of good hose left!

[Crunchy Frog]

11. Yes, but Poppy's only interest was power

so his behavior was entirely understandable. McCain has been thought my many to actually have some principles.

My guess is that he got Stockholm syndrome to some degree while in Nam and it has carried over to his relationship with his party. That would allow for an expanation that allows you to continue believing that he does have principles while also allowing for his displays of pusillanimity.

Or he may just be an unprincipled opportunist. One can't really say with any certainty.

[Doctor_J]

2. it was really sad

watching him campaign for a man who he must loathe with every fiber of his being. Pathetic that a man who gave so much for his country spends his golden years whoring for a lying, cowardly drunk.

[American Tragedy]

3. He would have done well to study his predecessor

who at several points in his career was courageous enough to publicly reject the party line and even his President.

[Ardee]

7. ever been a POW?

Your comments re: McCains military service and his actions while in captivity is not relevent and is mean spirited and just plain wrong....

Other than that he made a choice ,imo, to remain a force in his party, instead of a maverick...his choice, his reasons.

[cali]

9. Agree 100% n/t

[driver8]

18. POW

The original post really pissed me off. I love how people find it so easy to criticize vets while sitting comfortably at home...especially a guy who was a POW for over 5 years.

You may not agree with McCain regarding his political actions, but there is certainly no grounds on which to criticize his military service. I didn't know we had and "swifties for truth" on this board.

My father had three friends who were on the USS Pueblo when it was captured; the stories these guys tell would turn your stomach. The Pueblo guys were POW's for a year or so -- McCain endured it for over 5 years.

Find another angle -- this one won't fly.

[Ardee]

25. Amen

I dont agree with his politics but I salute him for his military service and we owe him and every other veteran a debt we cannot repay.

[retread]

8. '...he folded under physical pressure in Viet Nam..." What an offensive

thing to say. How are you any better than a swift boat liar? You should be ashamed of yourself!!

[LittleClarkie]

23. Worse than Swift Vet Liars, he sounds like Ted Sampley

Sampley coughed up that sort of thing for McCain's 2000 run, calling him a traitor, and suggesting he is the Manchurian Candidate, brainwashed.

I guess that's the only way Sampley can reconcile the friendship of McCain and Kerry. Why would a POW be friends with Scary Kerry. It just doesn't compute in that tiny little mind of his.

I'm a bit disappointed at McCain's shilling for Bush, but I'll be damned if I stand for this kind of talk. It's just about as heinous in my eyes as what's been said about Kerry's service.

I'd ike to see what some of us would do under the same circumstances McCain had to live through. We have no idea. We have no idea at all. And we should hope we never will.

[Leilani]

10. "He folded under physical pressure in Viet Nam"

The only people who used to accuse him of that were the Freepers.

That is just as despicable as people who wore purple heart bandaids at the RNC.

Do you know what was done to him? How he was singled out because his Dad was CINCPAC? How he almost died several times? How he walks with a limp today? How he can't move his arms very high?

And that he "folded"...he's the one who told the story of being broken.

How brave have you been through 5 1/2 years of torture?

Did he fold on the Forrestal during the fire?

Get a fucking clue!

[JI7]

14. agree

sadly it's not only a freeper talking point but also used by some who are supposed to represent the opposite of freepers.

[neohippie]

12. seems like you are still holding that against him

I like McCain, I wish he would come back from the dark side.

[Mira]

13. I can't judge him for his support of Bush

because I don't know the reasons. They must be powerful. But I do reject him now and no longer think of him as heroic at this juncture in his life. I feel the same way about Powell.

[Cocoa]

15. pretty dumb take

imho.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

16. McCain has lost all credibility IMHO

I will separate McCain into two people. The one who went to Viet Nam and bravely served his country. I will always admire his ability to face horrible treatment by the Viet Cong and come out a true American hero. I can not begin to believe or hope that I would have had his courage and fortitude to survive under such circumstances. He proved to me and countless millions of other Americans that mankind is stronger than the worst evil. I thought of him as a deeply principled person.

And that is why I will never respect the man again after the 2004 elections. McCain, better than most (certainly more than Bush, Cheney, Rove), knows the horrors of Viet Nam and to passively stand by and let Shrub and Dickhead smear Kerry, to turn his head - or worse - give lame and weak condemnation and ignore the Swift Boat Liars without coming down like the wrath of God on their miserable heads is inexcusable. For McCain to support and campaign for this administration while pretending that Bush isn't using and abusing our military for corporate and financial gain is beyond political - it was indecent and evil. McCain ignoring this administration's plans to wreck our economy, trash our environment, erode our freedoms, skew the Constitution and to put our country's future at risk to cover his ass for political consideration is beyond redemption in my book. At a time when America desperately needed another hero he did not report for duty and worse, he went to work for the enemy that has so abused him in the past. He is no longer principled. I now know he has feet of clay.

Not sure what has intervened in this election cycle to see a returning war hero like McCain morph into a shell of a soldier, politician or American citizen but the change is total and complete. I will never admire the man again. We now know what he is, all that is left is the wondering what the American citizens' final cost will be for his favors to BoyGeorge and Co. and what McCain is getting in return. I hope he finds it satisfying, it has come at a high price.

[journalist3072]

17. John McCain

John McCain puzzles me. Look at what happened to me at the hands of Karl Rove and Bush during the 2000 primary. The Bushies made calls to predominantly White households in South Carolina, trashing John McCain's wife Cindy, and asking South Carolinian voters "Did you know John McCain has a black baby."

Now, most politicans will take the attitude "I chose a life in politics. I am fair game. But leave my family alone." Yet John McCain has chosen to be an advid supporter of Bush, despite what they did to him.

He's a spineless jerk, as far as I'm concerned.

[ArtVandaley]

20. Inappropriate

And completely out of line. That complete lack of respect for veterans sounds like something Bush and his supporters would say. Or the swift boat jackasses. You should clarify your comments or apologize.

But, I did lose some respect for him after he rolled over for Bush. Yet I cna't hate a guy who acted so bravely in combat.

[geek tragedy]

21. Disgusting low blow. Attack the man's sucking up to Bush, not his service

[WilliamPitt]

22. Stinking, unadulterated bullshit

Bullshit of the purest ray serene. Bullshit so dense it bends light.

The guy was a broken-bodied prisoner of war for several years. In a jungle. After getting blasted out of a jet by a missile. I don't know what kind of moxy you have, but I doubt it would be enough to pull you through what McCain pulled himself through. I know I couldn't do it.

Dislike the man and his politics, as is your right. But this is some of the dumbest spew I've ever read on this forum, and god damn but that's saying a lot.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. The Military Also Changed It's Policy...

You have the right to stop resisting when your resistance will likely result in your demise...


I would hope I had the strength not to compromise other troops but I would tell my captors whatever I thought they wanted to hear...

[FULL_METAL_HAT]

24. Maybe he's the "inside man" in a "sting" operation ... n/t

[mtnester]

27. He definitely left his spine somewhere

he needs to find it pronto or he will be permanently bent over with his ass sticking right up there to be kicked by anyone and everyone who comes by.