McCain's POW Defense: Devaluing Our Service and His Own

The McCain campaign has spent weeks trying to portray Obama as out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Americans. Today, an interviewer at Politico.com asked McCain how many homes he and his wife owned, to which he responded that he was not sure but would get someone from his staff to answer.

Contrary to what many will tell you, this does not make McCain out of touch with ordinary Americans, as many families today are in trouble with their banks and trying to figure out how many homes they have - zero or one.

Still, it's the campaign's defense we find deeply troubling:

"This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison."

We obviously honor and respect McCain's service and the five-and-a-half years of horror that he went through at the hands of the North Vietnamese; but it's not an excuse for everything. He has already used it to explain away his infidelities in his first marriage. He's used it to defend his healthcare plan. He just the other day used it to deflect accusations of having skirted the rules of the Saddleback forum.

It's time for the Senator to stop cheapening the war experiences of thousands of vets and his fellow POWs, and his own as well, by stretching the boundaries of logic to make his POW status a wild-card rebuttal to all accusations or an answer to all difficult questions.

We are veterans who like John McCain, who served honorably, but and we continue to serve our country honorably by not using our military experiences as unjustifiable necessary shields or stepping stones. John McCain has faced and will continue to face many difficult questions that he does not have an answer for, and problems to which that he will provide no solutions to, in the 70 days between now and the election. When he uses his status as a veteran to deflect legitimate questions and concerns, it devalues not just his service to our country but ours as well.

So today, we ask not as Veterans for Obama, but as Veterans of America that Sen. McCain respect the service of his fellow POWs and combat veterans, and stop cheapening their service by hiding behind his own.

Lt. General Robert G. Gard Jr. (USA, Ret.) is the steering committee chairman of Vets for Obama. Visit their official site or join them on Facebook.

Comments

[marc1antony]

Thank you for your article, General Gard and for your service. God Bless.

[GolfingDevil05]

ibid.

[ObamanextPresident]

The fact that senator McCain has used his POW experience as a way to deflect any and all discussion of the issues, is painfully obvious. And the campaign has exploited his military service as a way to rally his base.

No matter what the subject, no matter what truth is presented regarding McCain and/or his policies, his blogging supporters tout his POW status as a talking point to put an end to the discussion at hand by stating "John McCain is a 'True American Hero."

Therefore, any opposing opinion or revealed truth is simply null and void.

[Mildmannered]

General Gard, thank you for your service to our country.

[chokolat]

Now i understand why General Clark is right about McCain,i just dont understand why the media is giving him a free pass.

[laocoon]

The media is owned by Republicans.. Management is wealthy. Most high profile anchors and pundits are wealthy. Who would they want to help?

[ex-pat]

Unfortunately Wes Clark just had to be the first to hand McCain the right length of rope so he could finish the job on his own....

[60andcounting]

I joined the Army in 1968, not because of my patriotism but to get the chance to learn how to fly helicopters.

I flunked that and was sent to Vietnam where I got wounded. By "FRIENDLY" fire. I ran for office in my home town in 1988 and they would have laughed their as*es off if I tried to use that to get elected. I'm really sorry he got shot down and captured but that doesn't make him qualified for anything.

[Killer1417]

Your story sounds like a cousin of mine from Bellmore, Long Island

[bigdawg50]

According to McCain, by agreeing to a timetable rather than conditions on the ground is considered bad for the troops who have sacrificed so much (ie the SURGE) and political expendiency right? ( Barack Obama would rather loose a war to win an election). So, what does this agreement signed by Condelessa Rice say about the Bush Administration then?... they would rather "SAVE FACE" by agreeing with this withdrawl than win the war?...... Please Obama campaign, hammer the McCain campaign over the head with this till the white meat shows!!!!

[BMS]

AMEN. I couldn't agree more.

Daughter of a WWII vet (who never used his service as a stepping-stone to anything)

[BluzySuzy]

That's really a good point that I had not considered before...my dad served in Viet Nam and died prematurely due to exposure to a number of things, but the only way he ever capitalized on his service was through the Veteran's preference points for his civil service job. Give McCain his 10 points and move on!

[sawdustinhershoes]

I think McCain has a pretty poor platform if all it consists of is spreading lies about Obama and deflecting any criticism by pulling the POW card. McCain is a coward hiding behind a smokescreen of his limited military service.

If he were a man, he would respect what all POWs went through by not using it as an excuse for every wrong behavior he's taken since Viet Nam. He cheapens the service of other vets by using his experience as a propaganda tool.

[RMS7777]

How is this any different that John Kerry constantly plugging his Vietnam service?

[lwfky]

McCain is using his military experience as an excuse to sidestep any questions that he can't or doesn't want to answer. This cheapens the value of his military service and that of other soldiers. Kerry did not use his service in this manner.

[donkat]

no comparison, ditto-head.

[roald]

And even if it were the same, it does not justify McCain's actions. If Kerry used it to deflect criticism, it would be wrong on his part.

[billwetzel]

Couple different reasons. Kerry promoted his service because Dems are always under constant attack for lacking patriotism etc. The right has so framed the debate that they can wave a flag and throw on a flag pin and never have to worry about getting called out on a supposed lack of patriotism no matter what they do. Kerry sought to use his service to battle that accusation, but it failed. That answers why Kerry would use it.

How is it different? John Kerry, his campaign or his supporters have never promoted him as a humble hero who had too much integrity to talk about his military service. John McCain, his campaign and his supporters do. Moreover, John Kerry never used his service as an excuse for any of his policies. If somebody asked him a tough question on his tax plan, well his campaign never released a statement saying, "John Kerry is a decorated Vietnam vet, how dare you question his numbers." McCain's campaign constantly does things like that. So when this humble hero who never talks about his service, consistently talks about his service and uses it as an excuse for his various failures or gaffes, it's more than shameless.

[DueTruthinesss]

Kerry was forced to speak on and defend his service to our country as a responce to Bush broadcasting lies to cheapen and demean that service. He was not using it as a default answer/shield to any question he did not want to answer. the only one who is trying to cheapen McCain's service to his country is McCain.

[Quitcherbichin]

"Kerry was forced to speak on and defend his service to our country as a responce to Bush broadcasting lies to cheapen and demean that service. He was not using it as a default answer/shield to any question he did not want to answer. the only one who is trying to cheapen McCain's service to his country is McCain." - Due T

Pardon me, but every other word from Kerry mouth was "did I mention I was a Viet Nam war hero?" It was Kerry who pompously walked out to accept his parties nomination, gave a smart salute and declared the "I'm John Kerry and I am reporting for duty." So don't go around saying that Kerry did not try to use his Viet Nam experience as a tool for election.

Kerry used three superficial scratches to flee Viet Nam after 3 months, choreographed some of his missions for video and political purposes, most likely wounded himself on two occasions, admitted to committing "war crimes", and threw medals, that he claimed at the time were his, over the white house fence. All of these things are FACTS.

[athenasword]

Thank you, sir. Well said. I hope your words will reach an audience in the journalism community. Because until the media stops allowing the POW response to stand without question he will continue to use it, and he will continue to demean the honorable service of so many.

[jsgaetano]

Well, it is good to know that McCain wasnt tortured. According to Bush, Cheney, Yoo, and McCain himself, it all falls under the heading of "enhanced interrogation techniquest".

Personally, I think McCain is being disrespectful of all those people who actually WERE tortured. His constant whinging claims and innuendos fluffing up his playground hazing as something we owe him enough pity for to elect him president only servers to cheapen the suffering of all those people in the world who really are victimized.

[tompoe]

According to the Veterans Administration, there are 154,000 homeless vets any night of the week. That number is rapidly rising as troops from Iraq leave service. No need to be abstract about this point.

[glitz]

According to just released figures..there are over 10,000 Iraq vets now under the care of their parents....not just for 5 years, but for the rest of their lives.

[gorideabike]

Volunteer your time at a local soup kitchen to meet some of these people, whom shamless talking heads claim do not exist.
Peace

[littleolwinemakerme]

Had a long talk with a good friend who was a POW in Nam long ago, asked him whether his detention qualified him to be POTUS. His answer to that was "Maybe I should run & then I wouldn't have to drive this damn truck anymore". In my eyes he's a better man than McCain (and he was drafted)

[MPeter]

"It's time for the Senator to stop cheapening the war experiences of thousands of vets and his fellow POWs, and his own as well, by stretching the boundaries of logic to make his POW status a wild-card rebuttal to all accusations or an answer to all difficult questions.

We are veterans who like John McCain, who served honorably, but and we continue to serve our country honorably by not using our military experiences as unjustifiable necessary shields or stepping stones. John McCain has faced and will continue to face many difficult questions that he does not have an answer for, and problems to which that he will provides no solutions to, in the 70 days between now and the election. When he uses his status as a veteran to deflect legitimate questions and concerns, it devalues not just his service to our country but ours as well."

Thank You General. This man has used his POW card as a meal ticket for everything. Very soon, you will hear him say I have to be POTUS because I was a POW. It is pathetic.

[PioneerKing]

At last someone has noticed how McCain has used his former POW status as a weapon rather than a badge of honor.
McCain has used his former POW status to shield him from criticism of his bad behavior for nearly forty years.
Perhaps now the media will really look at McCain's behavior since his release from Vietnam.
At some point someone needs to say senator we are sorry that you were a prisoner of war but Vietnam was a long time ago and since that time you have lived more than 93% of your life in freedom.
You have lived a life of celebrity, praise, privilege, worship, wealth and power.
America respects your military service just as America honors and respects all of our members of the military.
Being a former POW does not make you superior to the rest of America.
It is time to stop trying to make the rest of America feel guilty for your time in a prison camp.
Sir it is time to act honorably and stop using your former POW status as a shield that entitles you to be above reproach in perpetuity.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/a-noun-a-verb-and-pow_b_120547.html

John McCain you can not guilt your way into the American presidency you will have to earn America's respect if you are to become the next president of the USA and the way you are running your campaign you will fail the mission at hand.

[SeriousBlack]

Hear hear, General Gard.

[10ghostcommander]

I believe MCCain has a phobia! Determine what it is.