John "Top Gun" McCain

John McCain is scary.

Of course, he isn't frightening if you think that a reckless Top Gun personality embodies the skill set to be President and Commander in Chief.
I don't.

A Top Gun is a human weapon of destruction who takes orders without question then enters the fray no matter the odds or potential risk.

A president and Commander in Chief is a different personality. He, or she, must be statesmanlike, have vision, weigh alternatives to violence, understand context and adversaries, woo or co-opt allies, be a savvy negotiator and remain cool under fire. Eisenhower was a great Commander in Chief. Patton would have been a disaster.
McCain is a Patton, wildly patriotic but trigger-happy.

The excellent piece by Jeffrey Klein in the Huffington Post confirmed our worst fears about McCain's personality traits. It also reminded me of a story I was told by a Canadian pal who was at the same military flight school in Florida when McCain was training there.

Back then, McCain's nickname was McNasty because he had a short fuse, a proclivity to pick fights and a legendary libido. But everybody knew he had a big shot father.
Klein's piece portrays McCain as a cocky flyboy who got into flight school despite lousy grades in Annapolis because he came from naval royalty, his grandfather and father were four-star Admirals.

He crashed several planes, at a cost to taxpayers of millions, but was never demoted. Then when he discovered he would never be in the running to become an Admiral, he quit to run for Congress within days of his father's death.

Klein writes: "Former Senator Gary Hart, who served as a groomsman at McCain's 1980 wedding, says in the National Journal story that he had been told `that [McCain] was not going to receive a star and not going to become an admiral. I think that was the deciding point for him to retire from the Navy.'"

So much for the myth that McCain answered a higher calling by quitting the navy and running for public office.

Likewise, the "war hero" stuff is a lot of hooey.

McCain was downed in Vietnam, captured, tortured and held for years. He refused to be swapped as part of a prisoner exchange. It was a terrible ordeal, but in the line of work he had chosen after all.

He did not save anyone's life, as others did.

He also did not last long in the war. He was shot down within weeks of being deployed in Vietnam because, in part, he ignored the fact that enemy radar had locked on to him. This is worrisome: Did he panic, misjudge or simply plunge in, as he had on other occasions, without regard to his personal safety?

Some of McCain's attitudes, such as "being Hezbollah's worst nightmare" or being cavalier about a 100-year U.S. presence in Iraq, betray a cockpit cockiness that is unbecoming a statesman or a president.

Comments

[XME]

I couldn't agree more that he is very scary in the position as president, and I think the fact that so many vets agree speaks volumes.

[Michale32086]

And yet, 30% of Democrats plan to vote for McCain...

Why is that???

Michale.....

[BusGreg]

and how many republicans are unhappy with Mc Cain, including former and current military?

[Okieborn]

America better think real hard on Mccain,even some of his Repubvlican Senators say he has a real bad temper and they would not trust him to make the big bomb decision !!

[Michale32086]

I am former military (US Army and US Air Force) plus spent over a quarter of a century as an FSO and an LEO. I am an NPA ( No Political Affiliation).

I am not "disappointed" with McCain so much as I am for Obama..

I would be happy with either presidency, but am planning to vote for Obama.

Michale.....

[aj51linux]

Those "30% of Democrats" are the so-called "Hillary voters" who actually are Republicans. The Republicans turned out in large numbers to vote for Hillary, in an attempt to sabotage the Democrats. So, the fact that Republicans who voted for Hillary will now vote for McBush is quite understandable.

[Michale32086]

I would suggest that you are not up on current events..

Do a GOOGLE for PUMA and OBAMA and you will see that Democrats For McCain are not part of Operation Chaos...

Michale.....

[Okieborn]

Thirty percent will vote for Mccain because they are SORE LOSERS or they are just plain PREDJUDICE !!!

[Michale32086]

You won't get any argument from me.

With HRC supporters, they are not voting with their brains or their hearts. They are voting with their egos.

Michale.....

[oldpotsmuggler]

Why does it matter? If Obama is ahead in the polls, and he's not getting his support from Democrats, then he doesn't have anything to worry about come November.

[Michale32086]

First off, I never EVER put ANY stock in Polls. Polls are only good for two things. To show the bias of the poll-takers and to show how ridiculous Polls are.

Regardless of that, are you REALLY quoting polls NOW that reflect the Election in NOVEMBER!???

As much as I want an Obama presidency, I expect we're going to see President McCain come Jan 2009. All thanx to Hillary Clinton.

Michale....