Is McCain Lifting Passages From Solzhenitsyn?

Taegan Goddard's Political Insider:

Last week, a speech by Sen. John McCain had phrases that were likely lifted directly from Wikipedia.

Now it seems McCain may have lifted another story last night at megachurch pastor Rick Warren's Faith Forum. According to a very persuasive Daily Kos diary, the anecdote McCain told about a North Vietnamese prison guard making a cross in the dirt as a sign of solidarity -- or as he said, "just two Christians worshiping together" -- is very similar to a story about Alexander Solzhenitsyn and his times in the Soviet Gulags.

Read the whole story: Taegan Goddard's Political Insider

Comments

[newworldman777]

You gotta give the man credit for trying. Hey...whatever it takes to get elected, okay? Desperate times call for desperate measures. It's all about seizing power to implement nefarious and aggressive policies that will create more wars for America, costing us a fortune in treasury and blood, and further undermining our reputation and world standing. But like McCain, said, the way to deal with evil is to "defeat it." Brilliant! So simple, yet so powerful. Now why didn't anybody else think of that before?

[SCG2]

" Why I Will Not Vote for John McCain" By Phillip Butler March 27, 2008

"As some of you might know, John McCain is a long-time acquaintance of mine that goes way back to our time together at the U.S. Naval Academy and as Prisoners of War in Vietnam. He is a man I respect and admire in some ways. But there are a number of reasons why I will not vote for him for President of the United States."

continues: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html

[lee4]

I still want to know why McCain's military records are sealed.

[Crog63]

To protect national security, that's their excuse for everything.

[SpectCon]

Just a distraction. Who cares if this story is a lie or not.

Whether he eff'd a lobbyist and then did favors for her client...now that would be a story.

I say "would be," because this is all fake, the story is real, it just won't be investigated.

This is a horserace. Tight. Never been so close. etc etc etc

The media will keep this close no matter what.

[Americanwhiner]

So right, SpectCon. Olberman said the McCain camp is condemning Andrea Mitchell, MSNBC and NBC because they are not kow-towing to them as much as they demand. Make no mistake, August was the Rethuglican's media surge: The numerous outrageous ad-attacks, the Corsi book, the "pretend president" coverage of McCain on Georgia and Russia, etc. The Rethugs need to keep hammering the "it's close" theme so that they can rig the election process just like they did with Gore. It's important they hammer that home with America so it will look plausible to us when they try to steal the election. It's so transparent. The scary part is they know it and don't care! They think the White House is theirs with little effort. They have no respect for the American people and treat us like idiots.

[gage]

"So I called Orson Swindle, a fellow POW who is campaigning for McCain, to ask him about it.

"I recall John telling that story when we first got together in 1971, when were talking about every conceivable thing that had ever happened to us when we were in prison" Swindle told me a few minutes ago. "Most of us had been kept apart or in small groups. Then, in 1970, they moved us into the big cell. And when we all got to see each other and talk to each other directly, instead of tapping through walls, we had 24 hours a day, seven days a week to talk to each other, and we shared stories. I vaguely recall that story being told, among other stories."

"I remember it from prison," Swindle continued. "There were several stories similar to that in which guards — a very few, I might add — showed compassion to the prisoners. It was rare, and I never met one, but some of the guys did."

As for the people who are questioning McCain's account, Swindle said, "That's garbage. These people are desperate."

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OGZiOGI3OTQ3YWMxYzFhM2UyYTk3NzJiYTM4MGNiY2U=

[AnnieinOR]

Orson Swindle the Abramnoff money launderer? That Orson Swindle?

[NYC07]

You know AnnieinOR your right !!! Here's what Wikipieda has to say about Swindle:

Orson Swindle is also on the board of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), an independent political advocacy group that seeks to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government. Throughout its history, CAGW has been accused of fronting lobbying efforts of corporations to give them the appearance of "grassroots" support.[3] In part, this is because CAGW has accepted donations from Phillip Morris, the Olin Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, Microsoft, Merrill-Lynch, and Exxon-Mobil. CAGW also has ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.[4] While CAGW describes itself as non-partisan, it has endorsed John McCain[5] for president and donated $11,000 to his campaign or groups controlled by him.

[S1m0n]

Man, CHARLES flipping DICKENS couldn't have come up with a better name for a conman/lobbyist/PR flack working the outer shoals of power and influence in DC.

Orson Swindle is perfect!

[cbates]

The crucifix has more to do with Catholics than any other denomination. The story John McCain is telling is a lie.

The media continues to give this guy a pass. Mr. Obama should just call it in or throw his faith under the bus if he wants to win at all cost. Mr. McCain will lie on his on mother to win this thing.

Mr. Obama must realize that Mr. McCain has one foot in the grave age wise and really has nothing to loose in that he, using a straight line projection, good easily meet his maker. Mr Obama has more to lose with a lot of upside in age. He is being cautious to a fault. He should take the gloves off and beat this guy to a pulp. Remember the orders gave his chosen people in the old testament, which was take no prisoners, pull up all there crops and melt down their gold. Barack it is time to do the scorched eart and maintain your belief system.

[gage]

"The story John McCain is telling is a lie. "

How do you know? Do you have any evidence for this?

[AnnieinOR]

knock, knock, hello? look around you, or remove the scales from your eyes... none so blind as he who will not see... the GOP blog Free Republic has a post from December 2005 pointing this out as well. G O P - 2005!!! Not new.

[undecidee]

I was really surprise when I heard him tell that story because I know that most Vietnamese are Buddist and only a minority are Christians. Those that are Christians would NOT be part of the army and would be the ones fleeing the country.

I sense that McCain told a lie because he needed to insert something spiritual in his answers and this is just the kind of sob story that can pull on evangelical's heart string.

I won't vote for him because I feel that he is being manipulated by the RNC, and if elected, will be a puppet president, much like the present one, but, I understand where his lie came from and the reason behind it. His campaign knows how much they need the evangelicals to vote R this election year and not D.

If only Obama had his mother's color instead of his father's color. It is hard for people who are not smart to get pass the cover!

[gage]

Nonsense. When a religion becomes outlawed, the practitioners either flee, or go covert. The 20th century is rife with stories of Christians in communist countries who worshiped covertly, or gave up all worship for fear of the re-education camps.

[mmmd]

How important is truth in your life? Would you consider being dishonest if it helps you to win?
If honesty and integrity is not important to us, why should we care if a candidate lies or cheats? In the end who we vote for is probably more about us then about the candidate.

[muffler]

Liars just lie. Period. Stop being surprised. The only way to call em is stop being mystified everytime this loser lies or cheats. It's part of their fabric.

[SEQUOIABISON]

It is incredulous that McCain tries to pass himself off as a devout Christian and this crucifix in the soil story actually resonates with true believers?

He has avoided any consequences for his callous divorce by just saying it was one of his greatest moral failings? That’s it, no follow up, like why did you dump a sick wife to marry a rich woman?

Could John Edwards stop the headlines by just saying he is sorry for his mistake?

Christianity and McCain are anathema to each other like oil and water they just do not mix especially with his un-Christian like belligerent pro war attitude and his greedy avaricious slant toward helping only the wealthiest among us.

I do not think we will see any passages from Sermon on the Mount coming from McCain's lips. He likes to quote Rush Limbaugh instead of Jesus Christ.

Obama/Clark

For a return to sanity in government.

[SEQUOIABISON]

It is incredulous that McCain tries to pass himself off as a devout Christian and this crucifix in the soil story actually resonates with true believers?

He avoids any consequences for his callous divorce by just saying it was one of his greatest moral failings? That’s it, no follow up, like why did you dump a sick wife to marry a rich woman?

Could John Edwards simply stop the headlines by just saying he is sorry for his mistake?

Christianity and McCain are anathema to each other like oil and water they just do not mix especially with his un-Christian like belligerent pro war attitude and his greedy avaricious slant toward helping only the wealthiest among us.

Obama/Clark

For a return to sanity in government.

[SEQUOIABISON]

Sorry, not sure how this response got printed twice?

[Puddin]

This is amazing to me...this is the first time in my adult life that I have been engaged in the process and I have to say this kind of dirty lowdown, lying, cheating, disgusting politics that the McCain people are engaging in is just wrong. This is the kind of "stuff" that turns people off from politics. Most people that I talk to don't believe in the process. They believe that "certain" people will do whatever it takes to win. My high school elections were conducted in a more honorable and decent manner, than this madnesS.

[BookDesigner]

Give the old man a break, people. He's proving that he's not so old, after all, by plagiarizi­ng--typica­l behavior for students, these days (though most of them, admittedly, filch their prose from the Internet).

[MeanGreenMachine]

libel.

Teachers have software that prevents this.

You are just an old crank yourself.

[SwingingFromCenter]

Maybe McCain needs to alter the "3 wisest people he knows" to include Solzhenetsyn :P

[Naithom]

Well, I give him this, it's a step up from cribbing Wikipedia.

When you read the piece, make sure you go to McCain's original interview. Yes, yes, you'll note that he doesn't mention the cross story, just mentions that one guard was a little nicer than the others. That said, while McCain may not be my vote for president because of the issues, I give the man props for what he went through.

I have to admit though that I would like to quote him as to what was done to him and then reference what's being done to the men in Gitmo...

[LAB10]

No tapes, no Watergate. . .Unless your name happens to be Obama.

[BookDesigner]

What?