Did McCain Steal His "Cross in the Dirt" Story at the Saddleback Forum From Solzhenitsyn?

The blogosphere is abuzz right now over the discovery that a POW story told by John McCain (R) at Saturday night’s presidential forum is eerily similar to one told by Alexander Solzhenitsyn in his famous book The Gulag Archipelago which chronicled his time in a Soviet labor camp in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Here’s what McCain told Saddleback Church’s Pastor Rick Warren last night -- according to the unofficial transcript released by the church:

It was Christmas Day, we were allowed to stand outside of our cell for a few minutes, and those days we were not allowed to see or communicate with each other although we certainly did. And I was standing outside for a few minutes, outside my cell. He came walking up. He stood there for a minute and with his handle [sic] on the dirt in the courtyard he drew a cross and he stood there and a minute later, he rubbed it out and walked away. For a minute there, there was just two Christians worshiping together. I'll never forget that moment.

Now check out how what Solzhenitsyn wrote in The Gulag Archipelago:

Along with other prisoners, he worked in the fields day after day, in rain and sun, during summer and winter. His life appeared to be nothing more than backbreaking labor and slow starvation. The intense suffering reduced him to a state of despair.

On one particular day, the hopelessness of his situation became too much for him. He saw no reason to continue his struggle, no reason to keep on living. His life made no difference in the world. So he gave up.

Leaving his shovel on the ground, he slowly walked to a crude bench and sat down. He knew that at any moment a guard would order him to stand up, and when he failed to respond, the guard would beat him to death, probably with his own shovel. He had seen it happen to other prisoners.

As he waited, head down, he felt a presence. Slowly he looked up and saw a skinny old prisoner squat down beside him. The man said nothing. Instead, he used a stick to trace in the dirt the sign of the Cross. The man then got back up and returned to his work.

As Solzhenitsyn stared at the Cross drawn in the dirt his entire perspective changed. He knew he was only one man against the all-powerful Soviet empire. Yet he knew there was something greater than the evil he saw in the prison camp, something greater than the Soviet Union.  He knew that hope for all people was represented by that simple Cross. Through the power of the Cross, anything was possible.

Solzhenitsyn slowly rose to his feet, picked up his shovel, and went back to work. Outwardly, nothing had changed. Inside, he had received hope.

Isn't it odd that McCain and Solzhenitsyn would have experienced such nearly identical events during their respective captivities? And note that Solzhenitsyn’s event happened well before McCain’s but wasn’t published until after his release.

But the coincidences get even more troubling.

First, know that McCain is a very big fan of Solzhenitsyn’s and is fond of referencing him.

In McCain's 2007 book Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them McCain devotes an entire chapter to Solzhenitsyn and his experiences as recounted in The Gulag Archipelago.

In June 2005, after Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) found himself apologizing for likened FBI reports of military tactics used at Guantanamo Base to techniques used in Nazi Germany, the Soviet gulag and Pol Pot's Cambodian "killing fields,” it was none other McCain who blasted Durbin publicly, offering this bit of advice during an appearance on Meet the Press:

"Senator Durbin owes not only the Senate an apology -- I don't know if censure would be in order -- but an apology because it does a great disservice to men and women who suffered in the gulag and in Pol Pot's killing fields. Dick Durbin should be required to read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 'Gulag Archipelago' and I think that he may have a better understanding that there's no comparison whatsoever. And it does a great disservice to the majority of men and women who are serving in Guantanamo who are doing the job that they're told to do and they're doing it in a humane fashion. To tar the American servicemen and women with a brush that applies to the gulag or the killing fields is a great disservice to the men and women in the military who are serving honorably down there."

Also, after Solzhenitsyn passed away a few weeks ago, The New York Sun published an excerpt from McCain’s own book (Hard Call) regarding Solzhenitsyn as an op-ed tribute.

Could these be pure coincidences? I suppose.

But a number of bloggers have pointed out a number of another eyebrow-raising discoveries. Top of that list is the fact that upon his release as a POW, McCain penned a 12,000 word reflection of his experiences for U.S. News & World Report. Yet, as one Daily Kos writer notes "[e]ven though McCain goes into a lot of detail in that story and mentions religion a few times, there is no mention of the cross in the sand story, even though it would have fitted in well with the whole narrative."

The writer also notes that in 1974, McCain spoke at a prayer breakfast with then-Governor Ronald Reagan and tells a stirring story about seeing words about Christ while a POW, but fails to mention the very relevant cross in the sand story.

Even more problematic is that McCain’s own account of that Christmas shows him moving from the prison:

In December of 1969 I was moved from "The Pentagon" [he means "The Plantation" camp] over to "Las Vegas." "Las Vegas" was a small area of Hoala Prison which was built by the French in 1945.

Furthermore, it seems that McCain's own telling of this story has now changed a good deal. Here's what Beliefnet.com’s Steven Waldman wrote:

McCain tells the cross in the sand story in his 1999 memoir, Faith of My Fathers:

"We both stood wordlessly looking at the cross until, after a minute or two, he rubbed it out and walked away. I saw my good Samaritan often after the Christmas when we venerated the cross together."

In his campaign ad in December, he adds mention of "the true light of Christmas":

"We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas. I will never forget that no matter where you are, no matter how difficult the circumstances, there will always be someone who will pick you up."

At the Saddleback Civil Forum:

"For a minute there, it was just two Christians worshipping together."

The story has gradually morphed from being about the humanity of the guard to being about the Christian faith of the guard and John McCain.

Finally, be mindful that this isn’t the first time this year that McCain has been called out for playing fast and loose with his POW experience. Recall this effort by McCain to change his POW story last month:

Here's what McCain said on Pittsburgh radio yesterday:

"When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the physical pressures that were on me, I named the starting lineup -- defensive line -- of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron-mates!"

Here's what McCain wrote in his book, Faith of my Fathers:

Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron.

I did a Lexis/Nexis search about McCain's captivity and all of them showed-up naming the Green Bay Packers.

What is going on here? Did McCain lie to Pastor Rick Warren in a church this weekend about his POW experience in an attempt to kiss-up to Evangelicals who are already very concerned about his bona fides on faith and religion? Could there have been a worse venue and context for such a lie?

But the big question is whether our feckless national media will even bother following-up on this troubling development as they did with by promoting the GOP-pushed meme of exaggerations by Al Gore in 2000 or John Kerry’s Vietnam War experiences in 2004 as the Swift Boat liars peddled?

I suspect American journalism is in such a sorry state these days that they won’t bother devoting equal time and resources to something so potentially explosive in 2008. I hope I'm wrong...

Mark Nickolas is the Managing Editor of Political Base, and this story was from his original post, "Did McCain Steal His "Cross in the Dirt" Story At Last Night's Forum From Solzhenitsyn? "

Update: Turns out that the first instance of McCain being called out for this was in 2005 by the right wingers over at Free Republic...

Follow Mark Nickolas on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mnickolas

Comments

[syQodem]

I haven't looked through all 9 pages of comments, so this may have been posted earlier.

The link is to the original KOS article. The link does not quote from "Gulag Archipelago," but is a quote of a quote from Mark Veronis relating a story told about Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

I think TPM has a more definitive discussion:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/solzhenitsyn_biographer_crossi.php

[elascu]

Anyone who pays any attention at all knows that McCain is like a surfer riding a rovian wave. He has no original ideas, they just prop him up and have him move his lips. The forces at work behind his campaign are depending on the gullibility of some voters to believe his stammering lies and exaggerations.

If he wins this election, it will come back to bite all of us. Before long, we won't know whether we elected a maverick or just a tawdry imitation of George Bush.

[tmac1945]

I've never seen someone with hero status play that card and discuss his heroism so often.
Unfortunately I do believe he will be the next pres, because I believe Obama has turned into a wimp just like all the other dems who are afraid to address the the CRIMINALITY of this administration and the war. Obama needs to go on the attack and state that he will hold the administration accountable for what it has done. There are millions of us waiting for someone to indicate that they will pursue justice. If Obama worried as much about the liberal base as the repubs worry about the right I think his movement would grow strong.

[PatriciaB]

McCain is the Manchurian candidate!!!!

[long333]

Are you willing to call his fellow POW a liar?

Confirmation that the story existed before the writing of Gulag Archipelago

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OGZiOGI3OTQ3YWMxYzFhM2UyYTk3NzJiYTM4MGNiY2U=

The far left of the democrat party..home of the conspiracy theory.

[kiziah]

Sure, this guy Swindle backed him up. They all stick together. Being a POW doesn't make you a saint.

[kiziah]

Sure, Swindle would back him up. They all stick together, and since when does being a POW make a person a saint? Doesn't it bother you that McCain lied in CHURCH? And not once, but twice?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-nickolas/the-anatomy-of-a-deceptio_b_120381.html

[sparc]

The best part of the McCain defense of his Christian parable about the jailer is that they don't ever say that McCain's story ever really happened. They attack everyone as less American then they are, but the McCainiacs won't say that McCain's story really happened. Interesting.

http://www.johnmccain.com/McCainReport/Read.aspx?guid=181471d0-5456-4434-9f78-2f30ffc39459

Posted at 5:08 PM on 8/18/2008 by Michael Goldfarb
Smears the Left Can Fight For

In the least credible and most vicious corner of the internet, liberal bloggers at the Daily Kos are accusing John McCain of plagiarizing from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The story Solzhenitsyn told was of a prisoner who drew a cross in the dirt in a Soviet Gulag. McCain's story is of a guard who drew a cross in the dirt in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp.

The only similarity between the two stories is a cross in the dirt, but it is hardly an unlikely coincidence that there were practicing Christians in both Russia and Vietnam, or that in the prisons of those two Communist countries the only crosses to be found were etched in the dirt, as easily disappeared as the Christians who drew them.

[MDinOK]

What disturbs me most is McCain claiming that "there was just two Christians worshiping together.", but What happened to the Christian John McCain when he returned to the US and left his wife? The Christian right is so gullible.

[WilloNYC]

The media might not spread the truth but I certainly will.
McCain is a constant liar in his pursuit of Bush's third term.
Like Bush, McCain is a puppet of Rove.

Rove's third term is the real goal and that is the scary, criminal truth.

[researcher]

rove knows the american mentality obama does not.

that is the real lesson here

warren and mc cain had obama for lunch

since rove's guy took over mc cain is on a surge

and this surge is working not like the other one

even warren lied to the folks and no one dares question him

sold too many books and has the evangel vote

and so goes the demos they trusted a christian minister

how long will it take the demos to learn

gore and kerry did not learn it appears either will obama

demos are no match for the repubs with rove in charge

my hat is off to rove he outsmarted obama on this one

my own friend after that debate will now vote for mc cain I suspect

he looked that good to her as she is a christian and voted for obama in the primary

does obama even realize he was sucker punched by the christian right

[qdog112]

"rove knows the american mentality obama does not"
"that is the real lesson here"

The real lesson is that McCain lies and MSM and America lets him get away with it.

[maab76]

Given McCain's many memory lapses, has noone else questioned the placque relationship? Alzheimers is caused by placque in the brain and is related to the placque in the arteries. Would someone more knowledgeable in the subject reply, please?

[ConnieInCleveland]

When is a lie a lie? If John McCain borrowed his answer from history, he was lying to us? He told the story as a first person, he wasn't talking about someone else.

If it was a true statement, it should show up in past campaign conversations? He would have referenced it in the past. Something so profound wouldn't have taken until 2008 to remember. Can anyone find where he referenced the Cross in the sand before Campaign '08?

When is a lie a lie? Move along, just a little lie, nothing to see here. Its okay, everyone does it? How are we ever going to get honesty back in America? Expose and shame the people who choose to lie on camera! There is only one answer to the question. Did John McCain tell the truth? Did it happen to him, or did he use it because he could? Shame should accompany an exposed fabrication of fact (lie). What are we teaching the children? Its okay to lie, if no one says shame on you, it is acceptable?

If John McCain has told the story before and it is fact, I humbly apologize for my mistrust. Trust, but verify is a rule to live by. How can his future stories be trusted, if it is proven he distorted the facts about the cross in the sand and no shame followed, why would he stop with that lie?

[hhyatt]

Our political leaders have given us no cause to trust them. Congress giving Bush power to wage war at his disposal was an abdication by Congress of their Constitutional duty (only Congress has the power to declare war -- and not a blank check war).

But the questions I have about the good, Vietnamese, Christian guard is, did he only single out McCain to loosen the restraints during the night and witness to him alone by drawing the sign of the Cross in the sand? If so, what about McCain singled him out for special treatment by his guard(s)?

If the story is true I would think that the guard would have shown similar mercy to other prisoners and they would have long ago told their stories too. McCain has a bigger story to explain -- Why He?

[SCG2]

For those offering up Orson Swindle's recent statements claiming to recall Mc Cain relating this story at the time.

"McCain shies away from religion talk"
By: Jonathan Martin - Politico
April 4, 2008

excerpt, quote:

“I don’t recall us talking specifically about our faith,” says Orson Swindle, one of McCain’s closest friends and a fellow POW. “We talked about our friends, families, our resistance posture, and that our country didn’t seem to have the will to win.”

Link: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=1372E056-3048-5C12-00A06112B1C61A64

[LondonTownNY]

I have lost all faith or what remained of my faith in the mainstream media. The mainstream media is complicit with the fraud that John McCain and the Neocons in the Republican Party are pepetrating on the American people. When a man, John McCain with the assistance of Neocon roleplayers and props, can run a campaign so fundamentally dishonest to legitimize his standing with the people and the mainstream media refuses to expose the puppeteers controlling their NEOCON SOCK PUPPET JOHN MCCAIN, then our Democracy is on the verge of collapse. All that remains is the Huffington Post, The Daily Kos, Brave New Films, Guerrilla News Network and hopefully an energized CITIZEN MEDIA that can commit itself to dismantling the NEOCON REGIME. The Saddleback Forum in Orange County is that latest example of a deception on the American people. It should be referred to for what it was, the Sandbag Forum. Rick Warren is no independent journalist. His alliance with Rove's Neocon's is clear. John McCain never looked so prepared in his life. It is because he was. The Saddleback Forum was clearly arranged in an attempt to prop up and solidify McCain's standing with Christian Conservatives, who are right to distrust him.

[keepemhonest]

From the Transcript at Saddleback

McCain: Are we going to get back to the importance of Supreme Court justices, or should I mention it?

REV. WARREN: We will get to that.

SEN. MCCAIN: Okay. All right. (Laughter.) Okay.

REV. WARREN: Man, you're jumping ahead. You know all my questions."

---- See there, McCain did lie & cheat in the House of God.

Read transcript: http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/08/transcript_of_obama_mccain_at.html

[aaronburr]

Had you actually watched the transmission instead of just reading the transcript you would have seen that this was clearly a throw away line spoken in jest by Rev. Warren.

You just can't deal with the fact that the annointed one got thumped by the wrinkly old guy!

One item that most of you "McCain had the questions" types keep missing is that for the most part it would not have mattered if McCain had not spoken at all!! Obama's went first and his "nuanced" (a new word for "wishy washy") answers spoke volumes. I swear, the man's tongue would snap off if he just gave a straight answer to a question without three of four dozen qualifiers. McCain's crisp, direct style was a welcome contrast.

[Bushwillresign]

McCain had other honesty issues in the church at the Forum.

Here is one question copied and pasted from the CNN website. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0808/16/se.02.html

QUESTION: Not good. 80 percent of Americans recently polled said they believe in merit pay. Now, for teachers, do you - I'm not asking do you think all teachers should get a raise. Do you think better teachers should be paid better? They should be paid more than poor teachers?

MCCAIN: Yes, yes, and find bad teachers another line of work. (APPLAUSE).

WARREN: You know, we're going to end this, you're answering so quickly. You want to play a game of poker?

Why did Warren make his comment? McCain just had a quick, concise and eloquent answer to the question. Can you find anything wrong with Mccain's answer?

The question above was for Obama!! Here is McCain's question:

WARREN: About 80 percent of America says they support merit pay for the best teachers. Now, I don't want to hear your stump speech on education.

MCCAIN: Yes, yes, and find bad teachers another line of work. (APPLAUSE).

[cariintexas]

did any of you trolls see the look and then grin on cindyrellas face when Mc Cain told the cross story. She looked surprised when the camera panned back to her sitting near Lil Lindsay.

[michiganvoter]

Disturbing. Thank you for this well-written story. I hope your call to the mainstream media is heard.

[pesfb]

That would require actual reporting, not gonna happen. No way, no how.

[gage]

I hope the msm reports on this, too, because there will be a big backlash by the voters against the netroots and the candidates they support.

[ericmiami]

As a Vietnam combat vet, I wonder what is hidden in McCain's military record. Did he get treated for PTSD, or even worse, did he not get treated? There is no such thing as an unwounded combat vet.

[Sseb]

I think you have something there. McCain's well-known for his hair-trigger anger. Could be PTSD; could also be poor impulse control, which is what lead to him causing the USS Forrestal fire which killed 134 sailors, or even his record as a serial adulterer. Maybe the reason his stories keep changing is that he has early-stage Alzheimers. Certainly he has a Napolean complex. Whatever his issues are, I don't want this man's finger anywhere near the button.

[mabinog]

hey Sseb, good job! As good as any conservative t-roll does to O every day of the week.

yeah Mc=Cain has a temper
yeah his years as a POW might have adversely affected him mentally
but you are going a bit to far laying the Forrestal fire on him
yeah he is adulterer, don't know about an serial adulterer
yeah he could develop Alzheimers like Reagan

a lot of this supposition but hey the right plays by these rules everyday, so more power to you buddy.

[gage]

His post-war mental health evaluations were released to the public in 1999, for the 2000 election. They said he was fine.

[PierreLeClerke]

If this moving story is otherwise absent from the multitude of stories that have been chronicled on the "Life and Times of John McCain" both in print as well as personally conveyed by the man, then it, like him, is a fake.
In this guys public life he has made use of every asset both genuine and contrived to advance himself personally. Funny how this gem would suddenly emerge after all these years.
If on the other hand there is a record of this quiet moment of contemplation he has so earnestly related for public consumption last weekend, then he has once again succeeded in leveraging another piece of his distant past to cover his multitude of present sin.
Dont' be fooled America, this is not a nice man.

[gage]

The story is in his 1999 autobiography.