Dowd: McCain "Cheapening" POW Experience

NY Times:

My mom did not approve of men who cheated on their wives. She called them "long-tailed rats."

During the 2000 race, she listened to news reports about John McCain confessing to dalliances that caused his first marriage to fall apart after he came back from his stint as a P.O.W. in Vietnam.

I figured, given her stringent moral standards, that her great affection for McCain would be dimmed.

"So," I asked her, "what do you think of that?"

"A man who lives in a box for five years can do whatever he wants," she replied matter-of-factly.

I was startled, but it brought home to me what a powerful get-out-of-jail-free card McCain had earned by not getting out of jail free. ...

So it's hard to believe that John McCain is now in danger of exceeding his credit limit on the equivalent of an American Express black card. His campaign is cheapening his greatest strength -- and making a mockery of his already dubious claim that he's reticent to talk about his P.O.W. experience -- by flashing the P.O.W. card to rebut any criticism, no matter how unrelated. The captivity is already amply displayed in posters and TV advertisements.

Read the whole story: NY Times

Comments

[YesWeCanada]

John McCain has been using the POW card since his first run in 1982.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAi2cJZSLvo

[pmag88]

I feel it's fair for McCain or anyone who's served to bring that up as a valid point in their favor, and McCain, based on his experience and popularity has every right to seek the office of president.

The issue with McCain isn't his experience or service or even the campaign he's running. Quite simply, McCain doesn't offer any viable solutions to the issues that we are now facing. Arguably you could say that he knows something about fighting and winning a conventional war, but the so-called 'war on terror' is not conventional in any sense, and it's only one of many issues we are now facing.

We need to elect someone who is willing to change the status quo and McCain, by virtue of the ideas he's put forth as solutions, is NOT that person. His ideas amount to nothing more than a continuation of Bush's policies which we all agree were not right for the country.

[Optimist]

"Arguably you could say that he knows something about fighting and winning a conventional war..."

I disagree; what war has he ever fought and won?

[Phoebe917]

i agree. never won anything legitimately in his whole life.

[TKI]

Right. What war?

[TKI]

So, should his POW experience excuse his lack of viable solutions to the predicaments we face, or his lack of good judgment at the brink of war? Just what should a POW experience excuse?

[Bubba Gump]

In the military, each weapon has an effective range.
And when it comes to accountability, our soldiers have a simple response:
"The effective range of an excuse is ZERO meters!"

[poco767b]

There is no POW infallibility.

[wendynyc]

Four years ago, when John Kerry campaigned in part on his military service, McCain criticized him for it, saying he was “sick and tired of re-fighting the Vietnam War.” McCain even disparaged Kerry personally, saying his emphasis on his military record is “clearly a tactical or strategic move.”

[bmermaid]

Love it! So now McCain is enjoying refighting the Viet Nam war?
He seems to be.
Of course, those were his "glory days". Long ago now, but all he's got.

[hopefulinpa]

Well said Optimist!!!

[hopefulinpa]

McBush should get POW tattooed on his forehead.

[S1m0n]

Is there anyone who might see it that doesn't already know?

[hmmmmmer]

Republican convention theme "POW", the answer to everything­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!

[Phoebe917]

i cannot for the life of me figure out what this man has to offer this country. he's stupid, he lies, he manipulates, has absolutely no moral compass and he could give a rats a** about anyone than himself. somebody PLEASE explain it to me.

[Optimist]

He's a "straight shooter" who has reversed himself on dozens of issues to placate the far right of his party. He's a "decent man" who has hired Rovian political advisors to run his campaign and slime his opponent. He's a "foreign policy expert" who doesn't know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites, or when the Anbar Awakening began, or what countries border Iraq.

John McCain: a complicated man for a complicated time.

[Phoebe917]

okay, i forgot all that. as someone who just blogged has said; "all aboard the crazy train"!!!!

[Bubba Gump]

"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (James 1:8)

[liz]

I can't explain it, but I do say Amen!

[TKI]

He looks like one of us?

[imfedup]

But, but, but . . .

He looks like a guy we'd wanna have a BEER WITH.

[Phoebe917]

a budweiser no less. did you read the blog about cindy mccains family having a big-a** ceramic clydesdale on their front lawn. unbelievable.

[Xander]

McCain's problem is he hired TV writers to be campaign spokesmen. When they can't think of an idea or can't come up with something new, they reach into the "old standby" in order to meet a deadline and justify their paychecks. In Star Trek, it was a rift in the space-time continuum. In Stargate, it was a parallel universe. In Camp McCain, it was his time in a box.

[johjac]

As Mr. Spock would say... "quite logical."

[Bubba Gump]

Isn't that a sign of stale, stagnant thinking?
Is that what America needs in the next president?

[mairs]

Because he brings it up so much means that he is insecure about his own credentials. I know a person who is always maligning the intelligence of others, it's a constant theme with him. In a private moment he disclosed to me his own fear of not being intelligent "enough". Like Giuliani's fears of not being taken seriously made him compulsive about his 911 credentials.

This overdone chest pounding is simply to cover inadequacy. I don't think McCain felt this way before, but now the more he mentions his POW experience, you can be sure the more insecure he is feeling about his suitability to be president, his viability. I would even feel sorry for him at this point if all this wasn't so serious.

[nellie]

I'm not so sure this is new. A lot of McCain's image does not match up with his record or personal history.

[richardwb]

A healthy human being with a conscience will feel regret over misdeeds.
McCain bombed villages and cities in Viet Nam, repeatedly, until these crimes led to his imprisonment. The people of Viet Nam showed incredibly merciful restraint in alowing him to live.
Whether McCain is a war hero or war criminal depends on which side of reality we are on.
Best Wishes,
World Peace.
(Salinas, California, usa)

[Optimist]

Sitting in a box for four years does not excuse questionable behavior and false statements. It does not indicate leadership ability. It does not prove wisdom, intelligence or judgment. In short, it does not qualify you for the office of president.
Attempting to parlay this unfortunate experience into political capital does, however, demonstrate oportunism and dishonesty.

[liz]

He did -- not just attempt to--parlay his POW status into a full time career, and a very successful one at that. It seems he used his return to California to get in with the Reagan Republicans, who ran the state at the time. When he realized that he had used all his Daddy's capital with the Navy and would not bet another undeserved propmotion or position, he resigned. He alienated the California Republicans with his sleazy womanizing and divorce, but by then he had picked up a wealthy father-in-law who would do anything it might take to make his little girl happy, including funding political campaigns and getting his friends to do the same.
He is a bundle of obvious defense mechanisms. In addition to proving his worthiness to Daddy as a POW to cover his shame for what really happened in his own eyes, his whole "clean political financing" and "anti-lobbyist" facades are flimsy covers for what he is really doing. I don't know if he is blind or just thinks the rest of us are. Apparently 90% of the so called journalists and media are demonstratably so., since they act like paid political announcements for him 23/6.

[TKI]

Shouldn't it also excuse questionable judgment at the Presidency?

[hopefulinpa]

McBush uses his POW because he has nothing else. When he can't answer a question from the audience at Town Halls he throws it in. It is just pathetic that he has to use that as a crutch. I am wondering what other crutches he uses. Flat out.. he is not qualified to be president.

[TKI]

You gotta use what you got.

[DFutureIsNow]

I will go further than Ms. Dowd McCain is cheapening what it trully means to be a veteran. Its a sad day in America and John McCain is a very sad person.

[TKI]

Indeed.

[ottomatic]

Rudy: noun-verb-9/11
McCain: noun-verb-POW

[fedupwithhypocrisy]

Maverick surge p.o.w.

[Actionmac]

you hit it...

I said a surge, a house, and POW

Someone else wrote POW, SURGE, DRILL

let's keep using them and make them stick.

[hilts]

John McCain's staff has POW Tourette's Syndrome. Will they use this as an excuse after Obama wipes the floor with McCain in the debates?