Senator Harkin: McCain Too "Military"

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's family background as the son and grandson of admirals has given him a worldview shaped by the military, "and he has a hard time thinking beyond that," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., said Friday.

"I think he's trapped in that," Harkin said in a conference call with Iowa reporters. "Everything is looked at from his life experiences, from always having been in the military, and I think that can be pretty dangerous."

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[harvboa]

It takes real gutless scumbags to denigrate the service of a man like John McCain. You all must be so proud.

[TexasDem0]

Lust for war makes one militant, not military.

[hugs4u]

Senator Harkin is a great senator, so if he says it, you can bet the farm on it.

[DrDemon]

Ok so he was a pilot in the Navy who got shot down and was held hostage. I never knew that was a prerequisite to becoming a "war hero".

Nevertheless, he's no General Wesley Clark, U.S. Army (ret), Major General Albert Stubblebine, U.S. Army (ret) or Col. Ronald D. Ray, U.S. Marine Corps (ret). Now these guys ARE MILITARY HERO's and GENIUSES for they have led very successful military careers.

As I have said in the past, McCain has:

No Solutions. No Ideas. No Strategy. No Newness. No Memory. No Thoughts. No Clue!

It's All About The Hype!

[ROBOT8]

DON'T YOU MEAN TOO FASCIST?ten steps that "fascist, totalitarian, and other repressive leaders [employ to] seize and maintain power, especially in what were once democracies." The ten steps are:
1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens' groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law
naomi wolfe

[MajorKong]

I think Harkin is wrong here. The problem with McCain isn't that he was in the military. It's that he's so militaristic. He's enamored with military force as a foreign policy tool.

[riverhouse]

McCain is a deranged old man with retaliation fantasies from his days of captivity. And he's also totally corrupt. That's why he and Hillary are such big pals. They get paid by the same guys.

[MajorKong]

Senator Harkin, you need better talking points. Think what the Republicans would say about McCain if he were a Democrat:

"Professional Politician"
"Washington Insider"
"Never ran a business"
"Never had a real job"

[Starbux4eva]

McCain's only combat experience is 23 bombing missions he flew in Vietnam. he was shot down on his 23rd mission in 1967 (Almost the very beginning of the war)

They treated him like crap for a while, but then they found out he was a son of an important admiral and they gave him medical care and likely better conditions then other POWs.

And yet the guy is acting like he was in the jungle shooting the gooks for 5 years.

They trashed John Kerry, the guy who spent years in the jungle. And making this one to be some sort of a hero.

I agree with Sen. Harkin. McCain is waay too much of a warmonger. Dangerous, unstable character.

I read somewhere that he graduated at the bottom of his class in the Academy.

[riverhouse]

Let's not forget the five jets he crashed prior to be taken down because he ignored warning bells and continue the run. He's always been reckless and now he's unstable.

[rabprevent]

THAT LITTLE TROLL WANTS NOTHING MORE THAN TO MAINTAIN BUSH'S BS FOR ANOTHER 4 YRS SO THEY CAN REAP THE REWARDS OF RAPING AMERICANS OVER OIL. WE CAN ILL AFFORD TO HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO IS WILLING TO SACRIFICE AMERICAN LIVES FOR HIS OWN WELL BEING. WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF HOME FIRST AND THEN EVERYONE ELSE, WE SAW BUSH'S RESPONSE TO KATRINA AND WE SAW THE US RESPONSE TO THE HURRICANE AND THE EARTHQUAKE OVERSEAS AND YET WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN TREAT OUR OWN CITIZENS IN THIS FASHION.
WE CANNOT AFFORD ANYMORE BUSH/MCINSAME POLITICS, WE NEED CHANGE AND WE NEED IT NOW

[rollingdivision]

So let"s get this straight. Anyone who serves in the military is at least a little suspect, but those who volunteer should be considered warmongers, especially if they follow their father and grandfather into the service of their country. It"s one thing to have been drafted " that excuses someone from their association with the military " but to have actually volunteered? So all citizens who are current military and veterans, who participated in the all volunteer military, are all suspect and we should not support them for elective office.

[wayoutleft]

at this point- with the military implicated in falsifying evidence that supported a case for a failed war- veterans should not be supported for office. now our task is to reclaim the constitutional principle of civilian control of the military.

[MajorKong]

Only if their names are John Kerry, Paul Hackett, Tammy Duckworth, Max Cleland......

[TrueIndy08]

I couldn't agree more... my husband is active duty Marine Corps... currently serving his 3rd Iraq combat tour... he even says this!

He says with McCain as President, I can get ready to see him even less than I see him now... bc McCain is a war man, he loves it, and if he can start one of his own against another "evil" country, he will do it!!!

Being in the military doesn't mean you will make an excellent president... and if McCain's experience in foreign policy means blowing up innocent civilians in other countries... please give me the inexperienced candidate!!!!

[paulbikes]

and what else is new?

If he were to win, i'm moving to Vancouver.
It's so hard to believe that the goon will get a single vote, but you know he's got 30% in the bag.

I regard his campaign as a slap in the face after 8 years of bush. The GOP should sit this one out!

[TrueIndy08]

couldn't agree more... Vancouver is nice... hopefully you won't have to move there though!

[nativeeyes]

Republicans are the KKK. They come in here and spew racist rants...

Hannity's Racist Mentor HAL TURNER and Rush are KKK card memembers

Hannity admits to hating Black People..

Karl Rove is the Supreme KKK leader.


McCain's Racist Pastors Rod Parsley and John Hagee are KKK card members..

Mccain never wanted MLK Holiday in AZ.


This explains it all

EXPOSED!!!!!

[julieeiluj]

Too military, too old, too angry, too dishonest, too flip flop, too out of touch with reality, did i say too old?

[XME]

I have to agree. I worry about his temper and if there's residual PTSD.

But more than that, although he seems to be a decent guy, I think that, because of his background and history, he's WAY too focused on war, to the detriment of other issues. His speeches and plans regarding the housing market and economy came as an afterthough after the GOP realized he would lose in November unless he "cared" about more than the war.

When you consider he said the proposed GI Bill was "too generous" that's concerning. These people voluneered their LIVES, and he thinks helping them is too generous??? He also said that the bill would "discourage" soldiers from serving multiple times. It's caused me to believe he doesn't care about vets or their care or helping them, just about getting people to fight in wars and sacrifice. While it's honorable that people serve, I beileve the country owes these people for their sacrifices, and he acts like it's simply their duty, like the country owes them nothing in return.

It's disturbing, and I can't imagine him being our president. He probably would "bomb, bomb, bomb...bomb, bomb Iran", and they may try to retaliate here. It feels that he's out for revenge from all of our "enemies" for his time as a POW, and I can't help but wonder if that's where all that anger comes from...and God only knows what might set that anger off and how he might react.

[VolvoBirkenstock]

JulieSA
Your wrong, and your sources are liars.
-----

You would know about being a liar, Julie:

JulieSA
Me too. I love it. Our crime rate is down since we passed the law allowing concealed carry. Applications for permits in my state are up 40% this year over last!
Posted 08:44 PM on 05/17/2008

Wrong, Julie.

You have said you live in Texas. The crime rate there is unchanged:

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/txcrime.htm

Texas still has the 8th highest crime rate in the nation.

[JulieSA]

Comments are disappearing here too. Here goes again:

The table you provided shows that the number of Texas crimes, especially violent ones, has in fact decreased since the law was signed in 1995, even though the population has rapidly grown. Thanks for proving my point.

Now, back on topic, the usvetdsp, which is the same as vietnamvetsagainstmccain, is a a bad source. It's well known as a far-right conspiracy nutter site. I did not call the commenter a liar. I called his source liars, which they are.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ted_Sampley

[harriscrl3]

This is why Obama calls him naieve imo what he means is OUTDATED. We are not living in the world that McCain knows we are living in a global world with stateless terrorism that we have to fight and you cant fight stateless terroism by merely deploying miliatary where are you going to go you need a comprehensive approach that includes working with other countries helping them in a sort of quid pro quo setup where they may assist you with intelligence on terrorist networks and you will help with aid or technological know how. You need to be able to NEGOTIATE your way through this complex global network and McCain is INCAPABLE of doing so. He is OUTDATED. If we want real security much of it will have to come by negotiation working with other countries and in order to get cooperation the US need to lead by example that means closing Guantanamo and respecting our Constitution.

Carol

[rollingdivision]

Of the forty-three presidents America has had to date, fully thirty-two of them served in the military in some capacity before reaching office. (A thirty-third, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was Secretary of the Navy before becoming President.) Thirty of the thirty-two fought in wars, from the Revolution, to the Civil War, to the Black Hawk War, to World Wars I and II. Eleven attained Flag rank (general officer level in the USMC, USAF, and Army; Admiral in the Navy) before being elected President. Further, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight Eisenhower were all Generals of the Army at their highest points. Should they -- including Washington himself -- have been prevented from leading the country due to their lengthy time spent defending its principles and its people?

[booksnmore4you]

How many were prisoner's of war and tortured?

None.

[hugs4u]

I have never heard. did McCain hold up as a POW like Admiral James Stockdale, or did he crack under pressure of his captors.

[booksnmore4you]

He did give in.

[MissingAmerica]

Amen! One would think that his stint in a POW camp would have shown him compassion. Instead, it seems he is out for payback. We don't need this old man in the White House; one was enough.

[KGinSanFrancisco]

I don't want to attack McCain on his military service to this country but being a military doesn't make you a better president. This kind of thinking only applied to military dictatorships and thank God they've been mostly eradicated. Let's move forward not backwards, America. We'll have the right military men at their appropriate posts.

[booksnmore4you]

Harkin has here laid bare the root problem with McCain.

[veteran1964]

Lets see how long his temper lasts during the debates......See if someone can pull a string and see the SOLID WHITE FACE turn BRIGHT RED and then a 72 year old EXPLOSION....Watch out McCain.....Senility is dangerous.

[isis]

If my boss and the boss of my brother in law are any indication, Harkin is right. My experience (along with that of BIL) is that military sons of military men are very much into a top down style and even if the "underlings" have a good idea, it is not acted on. Only those in charge are allowed to have ideas and often those ideas are not very creative. This management style is not very effective.

[SWEETPB307]

AND....
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts disagrees with McCain on tankers
Wichita " U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, facing his own re-election battle, distanced himself Friday from presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain on the awarding of a tanker contract that cost Kansas some 2,000 aircraft jobs.

"I am not in agreement with the nominee on this issue," Roberts told The Associated Press shortly after a meeting with Republican supporters.

McCain has been criticized by aerospace workers for the Air Force"s decision earlier this year to award a contract for new refueling tankers to European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co., the European parent company of Airbus, Boeing"s chief rival.

Roberts, a longtime supporter of Boeing, said he did not expect the tanker issue to hurt his own re-election.

"I don"t know if people will make a decision on that issue alone," Roberts said Friday.

He also said he did not know whether the controversy would hurt McCain"s chances in this Republican state, which is heavily dependent on aircraft manufacturing. Some of the work on the proposed tankers would have been done at the Boeing Co."s Wichita facility.

McCain worked earlier this decade to kill a separate deal to lease Boeing refueling jets to the Air Force. Some of McCain"s advisers have lobbied for EADS, but the Arizona senator and former Navy pilot has denied interceding on their behalf during the new refueling tanker deal.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/may/17/roberts_disagrees_mccain_tankers/