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

[booksnmore4you]

SNIP

> While McCain’s experience was heroic, did it create a worldview incapable of
> anticipating the limits to U.S. military power in Iraq? Did he fail to absorb the
> lessons of Vietnam, so that he is doomed to always want to refight it? Did his
> captivity inform a search-and-destroy, shoot-firs­t-ask-ques­tions-late­r, “We are
> all Georgians,” mentality?

/SNIP

Wait a minute. Dowd is actually asking this...as a question?

But the matter of which she asks is already long plain as day.

[darthdarcy]

Why not tell the truth about the USS Forrestal fire that killed 132 seamen McCain started fooling around being the cocky wiseguy he's always been..!

Not swift boat but burning boat...!

[BerrSD]

What happened on the Forrestal?

[authoritarianbootlicker]

Maureen, I'm in love with you.

[SoCalNick]

Mr McNounVerbPOW will have taken that title from Mr. NounVerb911 by November for sure. I personally am SICK of hearing about it and NOTHING ELSE. He is looking more like AL BUNDY talking about his 4 touchdowns in a single game......­..........­...in HIGHSCHOOL everyday.

Grow - up McCain your shortcomings are showing.

[dct1999]

LMAO, great Al Bundy reference!!!!

[Avembe]

is there a way to spread this, to make people around Obama, the journalits talk about it BUT not Obama himself because that could be dangerous for him to address that
Really good article by the way...
May be Sen. KERRY could do that but i guess that on that subject ,Vets may have a kind of code ,non aggression pact ...

[frappe]

He's using his POW status like some special kind of dispensation whenever he screws up during the campaign -- like we're supposed to automatically forgive him for his mistakes that he makes 40 years later simply because he was a POW at one time. He's been going to that well far too often. We all remember Joe Biden's quip about Giuliani when he was running in the Republican primaries when he said that Giuliani's campaign can be summed up in just three words: "a noun, a verb, and 9/11". Well, McCain risks the same kind of response -- "a noun, a verb, and POW".

[andvoodoo2]

And if (God help us) he is elected POTUS, he will use his POW status to give himself some "special kind of dispensation whenever he screws up". I can see it now, he sends our missiles to N. Korea or Russia or China and then sputters "Oops. My bad. POW."

[Johnnn]

My question to Ms. Dowd: Did you enjoy being part of the effort to sink Hillary?

[JenMI]

Yes, thank you.

[Johnnn]

I thought so! That's why I'm voting for McCain!

[JimR]

Hillary didn't need any help to sink her campaign.

[Avembe]

Sink Hillary???­???!!!!!Da­mn!!!!Dowd did that??????
i thought she sank by herself...­.
Oh man

[Freesia2]

Oh no. It's always somebody else's fault.

She's a Clinton. It's in in her contract.

[FdeBear]

Irrelevant.

[DAVESEAN]

powpowpowp­ow........­.get off my white house lawn

[LexLuthier]

That one made me laugh so hard the wife had to come see what was going on.

[mredder4]

Democratic veterans who get questioned by the GOP should be able to turn around now and say things like "Well, I didn't spend 5 years in prison, but does that make my service less in some way? If John McCain's service is unassailable, why is mine? Because I am a Democrat?"

[SheriChardonnay]

Biden has no problem attacking mccain for politicizing pow...

[aubrey8]

MoDo could use a little make-up. that mug would have a hard time launching a raft.

[yellowdoggie]

I guess I missed the part where she claimed to be Helen of Troy.

[aubrey8]

you must not read her much.

[authoritarianbootlicker]

That's the best you can do?

[emmaspeaks]

So what about all the other POW's Should they be president? And what about the veterans? What has McCain done to help his fellow man. Since he knows how hard it is, why isn't he there for them?

[loper2008]

Maureen Dowd got this one right. Republicans have no problem attacking other veterans but their own John POW McCain is untouchable. They are such hypocrites, but even the braindead traditional media is starting to notice.

[Egalitare]

"While McCain’s experience was heroic, did it create a worldview incapable of anticipating the limits to U.S. military power in Iraq? Did he fail to absorb the lessons of Vietnam, so that he is doomed to always want to refight it? Did his captivity inform a search-and-destroy, shoot-firs­t-ask-ques­tions-late­r, “We are all Georgians,” mentality? "

Expect Joe Biden to explore this thesis in great depth over the next few weeks

[bygollymissmolly]

Maureen Dowd got this one right.
----------­----------­--------
As they say, a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[TKI]

A working clock is wrong all the time?

[Avembe]

"Maureen Dowd got this one right. Republicans have no problem attacking other veterans but their own John POW McCain is untouchable. They are such hypocrites, but even the braindead traditional media is starting to notice."
Matter of fact, this could be a commercial­...