Is McCain Able?

Everyone, friend and foe, begins comments about John McCain's readiness to be president by acknowledging his heroism during his captivity during the Vietnam War. For those who do not know, McCain was offered an early release because of the regard in which the North Vietnamese held his father, the Admiral who helped defeat the Japanese and thus helped remove the yoke of Japanese occupation from Vietnam. Had he accepted, North Vietnam also intended to use this gesture for propaganda purposes.

McCain refused, and endured not just several more years of imprisonment, but also torture and solitary confinement.

That is heroism. And, for that, McCain deserves his accolades.

But not the presidency of the United States.

On foreign policy it is by no means clear that McCain knows much more than military/defense. His repeated misunderstandings of Iraqi factions suggest that neither knowledge nor subtlety nor nuance is his strong suit. Most importantly, there is no evidence that these complexities interest him any more than they do George W. Bush.

When a leader either does not know, or does not care, about knowledge, subtlety or nuance, his options are limited, and the likely default is to his comfort zone -- precisely what we should have learned is the discomfort zone for the rest of us.

Macho- and misconception-driven misunderstanding clearly influences McCain's policy choices. Hearing bin Laden say that Iraq is the central battleground, McCain -- rather than recognizing the duplicity and self-interest in such statements -- embraces them as the foundation of his policy. [By the way, John, if, as you say, you "know how to catch" bin Laden, why have you not told GWB how to do it?]

Moreover, McCain was absolutely wrong about the Iraq War. While some Senate Democrats did enable Bush by voting for the war resolution, and against the Levin Amendment, they never suggested it would be easy, that we would be treated as liberators, and be greeted with "flowers and dancing".

McCain did. While one could argue whose judgment was worse (those who did not think it would be easy but voted for it anyhow, or those who did), McCain has never apologized for his vote, nor said that if he knew then what he knows now about WMD that he would or would not have invaded.

McCain credits himself with the "success" of the surge. Democrats wrongly engage that argument by observing that the surge was supposed to lead to political reconciliation and it has not. This is the Republican frame, and begs the entire question as to whether reconciliation is even a goal of any of the Iraqi factions.

The Democrats' point should be that the surge was based on a false assumption: that there exists among Iraqi leaders and factions a desire for reconciliation, where reconciliation means not winning on your own terms, but compromise and shared power. There is not a scintilla of evidence to support the premise that any faction or major leader wants that, i.e., another failed McCain judgment.

There is another danger: McCain has so much of his fate and psyche committed to the "success" of the surge, that he has already displayed signs of not being able to hear and process contrary information. He has called it a "success" and "does not care what anyone else says." If there were ever a prescription for a third Bush term, it would be that.

That John McCain could have served all these years on Armed Services, traveled so frequently to Iraq, and not know that Iran and al-Qaeda are not allied ought to be a redflag itself that our policy -- and our lives, limbs and treasure -- will continue to be guided by ignorance and misunderstanding.

Searching the McCain website, there is no evidence that he has even minimal foreign policy experience beyond military and defense. That it is not a resume of foreign policy knowledge.

On foreign policy McCain tends to be wrong. On domestic policy McCain is not able to make any judgment at all. When he said he did not really get economics, he was revealing a state secret. A good example was his recent Herbert Hooveresque speech on the credit crisis. His proposal for affected individuals amounts to nothing more than a "slap on the back and a good brisk walk".

The healthcare proposal omits the "good brisk walk". At a time when the American people have, finally, determined that they want universal healthcare, McCain's healthcare proposals are piddling. They rely on the same nostrums of promoting competition, removing barriers and coordinating care -- all good, but all woefully insufficient.

John McCain deserves all his accolades and medals for his service as prisoner of war. But, the presidency is not about the politician, it is about the American people, their needs and their dreams.

Iraq, foreign policy, the economy, healthcare -- McCain is not able.

Comments

[ljsfolly]

My question is if Johnny Mac is going to run he has to have Lieberman behind him to correct his huge gaffs? How will he make it through anything unless he has the telepromter on and someone is close enough to keep him on subject. He is a scary man who like many grandfather types remembers the war like it was yesterday but the tales get longer and taller as we go and the in between then and now gets lost in the brain drain. Like his mom who bought a car in europe when she couldn't rent one is he also so out of the reality so far the idea to buy a car and get around the countries he thinks he should bomb might be next up? He is like fish bait or is it called chum that the republicans have thrown out and now he might win on the idea he can handle world wars because he was a prisoner in one? It will be a bit easy for him as Hillary has given him enough sound bites he has to think little beyond staying on subject.

[fedupamerica]

Is this all you guys have? Looks like we are in for a landslide in November.

[Purple Girl]

Mac is not capable because of His obvious Physical limitations and compromised mental abilites.
having worked in Long Term care as a Social worker- He is displaying Symptoms of ' Cerebral Accidents' TIA's Mini Strokes.
Considering the amount and Severity of the Torture he endured, there can be no doubt some of their effects would show up in his later yrs and have Irreversible effects. How many hits to the Head does it take to cause Immediate or latent Cognitve Abilities?
John is No Longer Fit For Duty- As a Soldier he should Know this and realize he only places US in danger should he continue to demand enlistment. You have become a detriment to the Group.

[Mesaywar]

Of course he isn't able.
This is not a secret. From foreign policy to how the economy works, it is clear that he has the least grasp of the realities, much less nuances, of the subjects of any of the remaining presidential contenders.

However, he is also the only white male left in the race. And, he best personifies the all knowing, father/savior archetype that a large enough segment of the American public seems to need in their lives and in their government.

I am sure that although there are millions who quietly wonder how many times the man puts on his pants backwards in an average week, many of them also subconsciously believe that "father knows best," and that among the candidates, McCain looks most like their Daddy.

[dadw5boys]

Mc Cain able?

They have to get a President for Mc Cain like Cheny is for Bush.

So Mc Cain can dance on the White House steps while the big boys make decision behind closed doors.

[DennyCrane]

Hillary will be burdened with the same need to appear tough. That's why she voted for the war in the first place.

[nazgul]

According to the Clintons, he's the best candidate.

[PaulAbrams]

Disgraceful, isn't it.
One wonders what the motives are---try to cripple Barack?

[knowhelpnow]

The motives are to keep what Bush started going common sense be damn, He is the last white man standing and who cares if he is able or not they will put a VP man behind him to run the country while they have the reins on McBush.
The oil, the oil, the oil you can forget all the crap they fed us, it was all lies and some of us know it but in this country if someone keeps telling lies even when the truth has been stated large and wide there are those who just keep listening to big brother for fear, or whatever drives them. There country can be going down the drain as they watch but they will be damn if they will believe that they were taken for a ride though hell.

[rmreddicks]

Probably just Cain.

[Hallucinocynic]

The digging into Crash McCain's past began some time ago. The centerpiece of his life, and that which he and his supporters will point to, are the years he spent in captivity in North Vietnam, and we will be encouraged to believe that he is a competent leader - the only chance America has to win TWOT. Bushshwa.

Crash is the son and grandson of Navy Admirals and, as such, he was admitted to the USNA where he finished near the bottom of his class. Because of his father he was fast-tracked to flight school where he was trained to fly fighters rather than tankers. He has lost five aircraft, but only one in combat . One of his bailouts was from a jet he was flying up to Maryland so he could attend a Navy football game. He has had several adulterous affairs and would seem to be more than a capable challenger to Wild Bill's White House Lothario title.

He has attempted to distance himself from Charles Keating, his friend and business acquaintance, who bilked investors out of more than 3 billion dollars. He has demonstrated no knowledge of foreign policy, beyond the use of strategic bombers, and has never had a sound domestic policy in place. He, like Shrub, is just another wannabe cowboy.

It won't be difficult to focus unwanted attention on all these warts...

[JulieSA]

Lost five aircraft? No, Don't make stuff up.

[MizLiz]

Uh...how about the one thing that disgusts me above anything else? His wife waited for him all the years he was in captivity...took care of the house & the kids....she was injured in some way, ended up crippled and quite fat, from what all the accounts say.

When Our Hero returned home, he sooned turned his eye to the slinky blonde beer heiress, began an affair, quickly divorced his wife and married the deep pocket.

Heckofa nice guy, right?

[rmreddicks]

I don't post this in an attempt to denigrate Sen. McCain - though I loath this "hero" and "maverick". I do wish to know how and if the story of his being offered an early release from his proper cell in Vietnam has been vetted. It seems quite likely to be true given his circumstance. Yet, I've only heard the story and never the background from sources that don't have a stake in the telling. Have the Vietnamese backed his story?

Again, I'm not trying to denigrate the man but do wish to see the background on this story.

[JulieSA]

Yes, it's been vetted. His fellow POWs say it's true. I'm not sure what you consider a creditable source, but i believe the word of the two Medal of Honor recipients confined with him as well as that of the other POWs who say so.

[jhNY]

I suspect nobody it would be impossible to read any account of John McCain's suffering in North Viet Namese prisons without realizing the immense personal sacrifice and courage he employed to endure his time there. But McCain was there for a reason which is not so often talked about-- namely, he was shot down during a bombing raid in which US bombs fell on Hanoi, a densely populated city, and killed and wounded civilians, ordinary people against whom the US had never made a formal declaration of war.

A group of those Hanoi civilians, eager to take revenge on their formerly airborne tormenter, mobbed around McCain after he bailed out of his crippled craft. They attacked him en masse, breaking bones and beating him severely. I understand it is mostly from this attack, more than from anti-aircraft fire, the bail-out and the parachute landing, that he sustained the most severe of his injuries.

John McCain was born into a proud military family who had served the US for generations. He was a Navy pilot. He was following orders. But when we call him a hero, to my mind at least, it's an inappropriate, even facile description of his activities in Viet Nam, until the terrible moment he's surrounded by that angry crowd, and later when he spent years alone in his cell, his bones repeatedly broken during interrogations by his torturers. He was a pilot whose heroism began on the ground.

[JulieSA]

You're pretty close. During the ejection, both of his arms were broken, and one knee was badly torn when his lower leg wound up at a 90 degree angle sideways. After he was pulled out the lake, the crowd broke his shoulder and bayoneted him twice.

[PaulAbrams]

I think he was heroic for refusing early release, and what he then endured. On the other hand, anyone who risks their lives has a certain amount of heroism. How many do it? Mitt Romney? Mitt's 5 sons? Dick Cheney? George W Bush?

That is not, however, a reason to elect him President.

[Liberal2]

People need to be reminded periodically that every nation has military heros. Even the most evil nations. Genghis Khan is still a hero to Mongols. However, Europeans tend not to agree.

Military exploits aren't the definition of a good president.

[BeeOplentee]

But given the alternative candidates, it sure as hell helps! ;-)

[EasyWriter07]

Good analysis. Electing McCain as president because of his captivity during the Viet Nam war and his supposed defense credentials is insane. And his lack of judgement during the entire Iraqi fiasco shows he's not ready for the highest office in the land.

[grendl]

You know I remember a little about Viet Nam, being just a kid when it was happening. The only thing I really have to go on other than reading about it, and watching archival footage, is what I see in the movies.

Movies like " Deer Hunter," "Platoon" and " Full Metal Jacket". What I'm always impressed by, and not in a good way but rather what strikes me is the sheer pointlessness of patroling jungles and killing the enemy. These are indigenous people, they live on this soil. Short of commiting genocide, we could never win in Viet Nam if we couldn't win the heart of the population.

John McCain doesn't seem to realize that was the problem in Viet Nam. He's consistently referred to it as a militaristic problem, and how the war protesters prevented the war machine from functioning properly. His failure is evident once again in Iraq. He thinks the surge is working, yet violence has broken out again, reiterating the fact that these centuries old vendettas are like cobras playing dead. They're still very potent, very angry, and once the grip of the U.S. military has loosened from around their throats, they will strike again.

I respect his service, but the problem is Senator McCain didn't learn the lesson the rest of this country did, or should have from Viet Nam. The peoples hearts and minds must be won, or the victories there will only be logistical militaristic ones, and temporary at best.

[JulieSA]

"The peoples hearts and minds must be won, or the victories there will only be logistical militaristic ones, and temporary at best."

That's exactly what he said in his speech a couple of days ago.

No offense, but it's laughable that anyone would claim knowledge of the war based only on some fictional Hollywood movies. I'm afraid your analysis is way off. Why don't you try reading some books about it by people who were there, or by some good historians? Or talk to a vet?

[grendl]

I said I've read books too, many in fact.

Its laughable that you try to make conjectures about someones knowledge on a subject based on one post, while you have said nothing , refuted nothing.

[PaulAbrams]

well said. The parallels between Iraq and Vietnam are many, and some not quite so obvious. One of the most important--and insidious when not answered--is McCain's claim that during VIetnam "they" were not going to get in boats and come across the ocean to attack us, whereas the Iraqis will. If you read any of the accounts from that era, the war proponents argued that is we didn't fight them in Saigon, we would have to fight them in San Francisco. Now, it is Baghdad or Boston.
If you are interested, I wrote an article about this, "Vietnam & Iraq: From Quagmire to Quicksand", that is in my list of publications on this site.
Thank you for your comments.

[Lemeritus]

Nicely said, grendl

[BeeOplentee]

Given that we live in a world where war is the norm more often than it isn't, it seems that a military person is more suited to deal with our enemies and allies than an inexperienced civilian.

[wheresthebeef]

I spent almost two years in Viet Nam. Could I at least be Secretary of Defense? (Please, please, please? I was never a P.O.W., but I do still have my canteen.)

[Henry]

And what about the vaunted "Powell Doctrine"?

[Liberal2]

As in "they got mobile biological weapons development trailers"???