John McCain's Biography Tour To Show How War Dominates His World View

AP writes about McCain's biography tour:

Republican Sen. John McCain opened a new chapter in his presidential campaign on Monday, casting himself as an "imperfect servant of my country," descended from a family of U.S. warriors devoted to honor, courage and duty.

In remarks both personal and philosophical, McCain recalled ancestors buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and mused about "the honor we earn and the love we give when we work and sacrifice with others for a cause greater than our self-interest."

Bloomberg says the tour will "underscore how war dominates his world view":

John McCain's weeklong "biography tour" to showcase his half-century of public service will underscore how war dominates his world view.

"McCain's record of noble service is almost a singular asset in his campaign," said David Gergen, a professor of public service at Harvard University who advised four presidents. "The question is whether he can convince people that he will not only keep us safe but also be cautious in using military power."

Comments

[pjwertz]

How does being captured by the enemy during a war make you a war expert? Didn't McBush miss most of the Vietnam conflict? I think all it does is make you want revenge. What do we actually know about his stay in Hanoi?

[JinnRikki]

If McSame were a Democrat I can read the headlines now "McCain gets expensive aircraft shot out from beneath him, hides out the remainder of war in a posh hotel!"

[JinnRikki]

Excuse the double post but I waited for 10 minutes before posting the 2nd one. Get on the ball censors!

[JinnRikki]

If McSame were a Democrat I can read the headlines now "McCain has expensive aircraft shot from beneath him, spends remainder of war in a posh hotel!"

[NoSillyName]

A world view dominated by war. That's supposed to be a good thing? Probably to many voters who have been conditioned by the amBush years to live in fear.

[robeson]

Will McCain take the nation to the Rapture?

[lornejl]

Rupture.

[UncleKnuckleFunk]

LOL!

[lornejl]

Some people are posting with invisible ink, the posts are disappearing.

[laylahb]

The War Hero image may work for some Republican hawks, but but how does it work for the ovewhelming majority that wants this war over and done with. Many just want their kids home, not on a fifth tour of duty in a war that can't be won. They definitely don't want American troops there for 100 years.

Most of the soldiers who were drafted into the Vietnam War are now in their 60's probably stil have a bad taste in their mouths. The poor kids who volunteered for the two Gulf Wars have probably had enough of war, too.

[neocon43]

The poor kids.What a joke you are.Most all enlist again and again.A lot of the soldiers from Vietnam have a bad taste in their mouth because they did not have a chance to finish their duty and save the slaughter of 3,000,000 people.The war hero is a great American tradition and will fit our next president Mccain well!

[oneeyedodin]

Only the image of a war hero is an American tradition. John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone etc.
You and your Jonnie Mac Insane ( a doorman at the Hotel Hanoi) are full of shite.

[Dap]

Oh the romance of war. That's what it's good for, inflating ones ego. Your a Man my son.

[NickOhio]

I have serious issues with someone who place such a serious emphasis on war. His edification of it is glorifying war beyond belief. War is not the answer to differences, just as slugging it out with your neighbor who cuts down a tree in your yard, is not the answer. While it may be important to have a standing military for defense purposes, it cannot be moral to enjoy war, as we may be led to believe from McCain's focus.

The 2008 campaign is about more than the war in Iraq. However, that is McCain's sole reason for being in the campaign. To use a single issue as your reason for running for President is foolish beyond belief.

Some people use history to improve the future, while others remain in the past and thus cannot control the future to be anything but an extension of the past. McCain is the latter.

[VSamuels]

Hidden within Wright's words was a plea to examine and discuss war and America's foreign policy. However, Wright was spun as anti-white and thus his words took on a life of its own and delved into another one of these false so-called racial debates. Wright was perhaps not the person to lead this discussion but he carries with him a general frustation of the continuing conflict of living in a nation that implies that God is blessing it, as it goes about glorifying war.

McCain would send a very troubling signal to the world's community that we are a myopic, stupid nation possessing more nuclear weapons than any other nation, but at the same time producing leaders like McCain who sees an enemy in every pot. We are further led to believe that it is other's who are out to destroy us, when we continue to be the ones who are waging 'shock and awe' campaigns on people around the world.

[GarsLuber]

President Too-Little-Too-Late is getting a little panicky about his failed presidency

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080331/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fed_overhaul

[MizLiz]

God, that's the very reason we can't let the Republicans win. War inflates their poor little manhood, war is the ultimate football game, where "winning" and "losing" are the oltimate reason for waging it in the first place.

[lornejl]

It does seem to be some macho inadequacy thing.

[VSamuels]

Not quite.

It is a resources game, and in order for the US to be competitive in the long term, as these neo-cons perceive it, the US must have a uninhibited path to oil in a world where China and India will be increasingly competitive for this same commodity. The evil is not simply in the way the US desires oil, but in the way it seeks to create false nationalism and faux patriotism to advance a narrative that we must just so happen to be in the Middle East to broker peace, the same place where much of the known oil reserves lie.

[rcampbell]

Is the fact that war dominates McCain's world view somehow supposed to make me feel good about him? Sorry, but preoccupation with war, weapons, killing and such nonsense as missle defense are the LAST things on my list of criteria for President. McCain's world view reminds me of an old adage that goes something like: When all you have is a hammer, all the world looks like a nail. Get a better toolkit, Senator McCain, and then come back and talk to us.

[JulieSA]

I can see you were misled by that idiotic headline.

[lornejl]

Was McBomb in F-Troop , or Gilligan's Island ?

[oneeyedodin]

McHale's Navy.

[OETKB]

Sen McCain's experience of war was from the inside of a prison camp . He was not an eyewitness to the absolute brutality that was at ground level during the Vietnam War. His strong words are those of an undercurrent of revenge and it took him some time to accept that relations were going to be normalized between the US and Vietnam. However he still carries a glorified picture of the warrior and sees it as a principal tactic to promote peace. This has been wrong in almost every instance it has been tried. Too often conflicts are labeled "good wars," but no such thing exists. The test is asking the invader in a war after its conclusion whether they had a "good war."

It is not the military that protects our freedom but our belief in representative democracy and strong protection of civil and individual rights and a supported government to enforce these principles. Sen McCain's time should be done and those who will have to live under upcoming laws or societal challenges should be given a chance to set a different course.

[JulieSA]

"He was not an eyewitness to the absolute brutality that was at ground level during the Vietnam War."

No, he experienced it first hand. You should read one of the books about what happened to his cellmate Colonel Bud Day, for example, but only if you have a strong stomach.

[OETKB]

You have missed my point. I was referring to the totality of war. His treatment was only one side of the equation of that horrible conflict.

[JohnBarleycorn]

Duh.

McCain is an old, battle damaged, veteran whose pysche is still in Vietnam. (As well it would be for most who spent 99.9% of their in country time at the Hanoi Hilton.)

So, we have a broken man (John) and a child (Barack), neither of whom are suitable to sit in the Oval Office.

Guess that means Hillary is the last man standing, huh?

[Rockwell]

Nice photo of McCain. He looks like a 3 year old clutching his blankee.

[NineteenEightyFour]

Yeah, there are alot of people who have a proud military lineage. A cause greater than our self-interest like WW2 maybe, but a gawd-damned oil war conveniently designed for rich Repub. corparations like Haliburton to take full advantage of? Nope, count me out of that one. My Marine great-grandfather would be ashamed of what we are doing and fighting tooth and nail to get our sons and daughters HOME, not expanding this oil resource war.