John McCain

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September 05, 2008, 02:47:35 AM

Subject: Inside story -John McCain

Subject: Inside Story - John McCain
It came to me while I was having dinner with Doris Day. No, not that Doris Day. The Doris Day who is married to Col. Bud Day, Cong. Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton.

As we ate near the Days' home in Florida recently, I heard things about Sen. McCain that were deeply moving and politically troubling. Moving because they told me things about him the American people need to know. And troubling because it is clear that Mr. McCain is one of the most private individuals to run for president in history.

When it comes to choosing a president, the American people want to know more about a candidate than policy positions. They want to know about character, the values ingrained in his heart. For Mr. McCain, that means they will want to know more about him personally than he has been willing to reveal.

Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, 'I told you I would make you a cripple.' The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at 'a goofy angle,' as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.

But it didn't heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day's splint in place. Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complimented the treatment he'd gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again.

Another story I heard over dinner with the Days involved Mr. McCain serving as one of the three chaplains for his fellow prisoners. At one point, after being shuttled among different prisons, Mr. Day had found himself as the most senior officer at the Hanoi Hilton. So he tapped Mr. McCain to help administer religious services to the other prisoners.

Today, Mr. Day, a very active 83, still vividly recalls Mr. McCain's sermons. 'He remembered the Episcopal liturgy,' Mr. Day says, 'and sounded like a bona fide preacher.' One of Mr. McCain's first sermons took as its text Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21, 'render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's.' Mr. McCain said he and his fellow prisoners shouldn't ask God to free them, but to help them become the best people they could be while serving as POWs. It was Caesar who put them in prison and Caesar who would get them out. Their task was to act with honor.

Another McCain story, somewhat better known, is about the Vietnamese practice of torturing him by tying his head between his ankles with his arms behind him, and then leaving him for hours. The torture so badly busted up his shoulders that to this day Mr. McCain can't raise his arms over his head. One night, a Vietnamese guard loosened his bonds, returning at the end of his watch to tighten them again so no one would notice. Shortly after, on Christmas Day, the same guard stood beside Mr. McCain in the prison yard and drew a cross in the sand before erasing it. Mr. McCain later said that when he returned to Vietnam for the first time after the war, the only person he really wanted to meet was that guard.

Mr. Day recalls with pride Mr. McCain stubbornly refusing to accept special treatment or curry favor to be released early, even when gravely ill. Mr. McCain knew the Vietnamese wanted the propaganda victory of the son and grandson of Navy admirals accepting special treatment. 'He wasn't corruptible then,' Mr. Day says, 'and he's not corruptible today.'

The stories told to me by the Days involve more than wartime valor.
For example, in 1991 Cindy McCain was visiting Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh when a dying infant was thrust into her hands. The orphanage could not provide the medical care needed to save her life, so Mrs. McCain brought the child home to America with her. She was met at the airport by her husband, who asked what all this was about. Mrs. McCain replied that the child desperately needed surgery and years of rehabilitation. 'I hope she can stay with us,' she told her husband. Mr. McCain agreed. Today that child is their teenage daughter Bridget.

I was aware of this story. What I did not know, and what I learned from Doris, is that there was a second infant Mrs. McCain brought back. She ended up being adopted by a young McCain aide and his wife. 'We were called at midnight by Cindy,' Wes Gullett remembers, and 'five days later we met our new daughter Nicki at the L.A. airport wearing the only clothing Cindy could find on the trip back, a 7-Up T-shirt she bought in the Bangkok airport.' Today, Nicki is a high school sophomore. Mr. Gullett told me, 'I never saw a hospital bill' for her care.

A few, but not many, of the stories told to me by the Days have been written about, such as in Robert Timberg's 1996 book 'A Nightingale's Song.' But Mr. McCain rarely refers to them on the campaign trail. There is something admirable in his reticence, but he needs to overcome it. Private people like Mr. McCain are rare in politics for a reason. Candidates who are uncomfortable sharing their interior lives limit their appeal. But if Mr. McCain is to win the election this fall, he has to open up.

Americans need to know about his vision for the nation's future, especially his policy positions and domestic reforms. They also need to learn about the moments in his life that shaped him. Mr. McCain cannot make this a biography-only campaign - but he can't afford to make it a biography-free campaign either. Unless he opens up more, many voters will never know the experiences of his life that show his character, integrity and essential decency. These qualities mattered in America's first president and will matter as Americans decide on their 44th president.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON SO OTHERS WILL KNOW HE' SUCH A HERO!!!!

And Obama's wife is only recently proud to be an American!!

I have heard the same stories, from an neighbor who knew of McCain long before he decided to run for President. I like the guy, he seems like the kind of president that would do the right thing.

Obviously a man of good character.

Somehow they missed the part about his wife being addicted to drugs she stole from an international aid organization she was part of...

"Much has been made of allegations of possible youthful use of illegal drugs by Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush. Meanwhile, his chief GOP opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has admitted that his wife not only illegally used drugs but walked away from criminal charges. The McCains have worked to make Cindy McCain's addiction into a political asset--despite the fact that she stole the drugs from a charity she directed and used them while mothering four young children.

In 1994, Mrs. McCain admitted that she had solicited prescriptions for painkillers from physicians who worked for an international charity that she founded, the American Voluntary Medical Team. She then filled the prescriptions in the names of her staff.

Americans are prosecuted every day for such drug use. While most drug abusers purchase their drugs from street dealers, Mrs. McCain used her status as a charity director and senator's wife to cajole the drugs she wanted.

In fact, Mrs. McCain was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration after the agency was approached by a former staff member of her charity. The investigation resulted in no charges or prison time for her, and she entered a diversion program. While these records were not made public at the time, Mrs. McCain eventually confessed her drug use when she learned that a reporter was investigating the story.

Is Mrs. McCain to be judged as a pitiable victim or as a criminal felon? This debate is at the heart of the discussion of American drug policy. Should we deal with illicit drug users as victims or as criminals?

Let's examine Mrs. McCain's position in these terms. She was the privileged wife of a prominent family and spouse of an important politician, a person who had her own position of prestige and power. Should she not be held at least as accountable for her actions as an uneducated inner-city drug user? After all, she could enter drug treatment at any time she chose, unlike many drug users who find themselves in prison.

Moreover, Mrs. McCain was violating a position of trust by stealing from a charitable organization, using its money and medical expertise to fuel her drug use. Is this not morally more reprehensible than simply purchasing drugs illegally?

Finally, Mrs. McCain was the mother of four children at the time she admits to using drugs--between 1989 and 1992. Her children were born in 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1991. In other words, Cindy McCain was using drugs while raising small children, one of whom she adopted while she was an addict. In most states, family services will remove children from a woman who is known to be an active drug addict, and she would certainly not be allowed to adopt a child while addicted.

John McCain is a hawk in the drug war. He advocates stricter drug laws, penalties and enforcement against drug sellers. He has had nothing to say about redressing our punitive approach toward drug users. Of course, McCain also supports family values. Yet if John and Cindy McCain were not well-off and influential, they might not have a family at all. McCain's lack of concern for street drug users contrasts sharply with the support and understanding his wife received. It's the old American double standard. For "straight-shooter" McCain, charity begins at home--and ends there. "

McCain is a US Senator of a state that has been voted "dumbest in the nation" for the past two years. For the past dozen years, or more, our state has been in the bottom 5 when ranked for "welfare of children, and education". While McCain is a US Senator, and is not directly involved in the running of our state, he hasn't even muttered a single complaint about the situation. I personally believe he is part of the group who wants Arizona to remain as close to "third world" status as possible in order to have a low wage, complacent American workforce. Arizona's #1 employer? Walmart. Three more of our top ten, are grocery stores.

Hey ab7fh yes Cindy had a problem, I'm sure most of us has had a family member with a drug or alcohol problem. But the attacks on AZ should be more directed at our governor Janet not Mr. McCain.

Hey, come on; if my wife had a drug problem, I would do everything in my power to help her
and spare her any embarrassment and I would be tough as hell on anyone else caught using
drugs. When it's your wife, kids or immediate family there's always a double standard. I defy
anyone to do differently if it were their family. That's just the way it is. Always has been.
John McCain is a true hero and will always do the right thing. At least the right thing as he
see's it at the time. We can always look back and say "I would have don that differently now"
But, when you make the decision; it has to be the best you can do at the time.
That's my two cents worth. Cheers

Quote from: ab7fh on May 31, 2008, 10:38:58 AM

If you're going to quote someone elses material you could atleast give credit to the person that wrote it, even if it is propaganda that is eight years old.

http://www.commondreams.org/views/021400-102.htm

Give it a few more months and the propaganda and B.S. from both sides wiill be so deep you'll need a snorkel to breath.

As long as you want to bring up drug use, what about Obama's? What about Bill Clinton's?

The only problem I see with the original post is that too many Americans want a President who looks good and speaks well, even when there is no substance there....................................

Our hero John McSame, I only hope those who vote for him are going to enlist in the military, instead of letting someone eleses hopes and dreams die for your vote/bad decision. Since a vote for him is a vote more war. You would think a man who suffered like him in war would be one to do all he could to keep/get us out of war.

Im all for killing the bad guys, but im not sure the people of Iraq had anything to do with 911. No wait thats right they had NOTHING to do 911. Yet we still went to war, and a war he is will to continue.

yea thats a big difference im sure they feel much better knowing that kind of like what we did in Afaganstan just used there counrty the innocent didnt matter there either

I am a disabled Vet,

My father was a Ranger in Vietnam, and my Grandfather landed at Omaha beach during the Normandy invasion. My great Uncle survived the sinking of the Arizona at Pearl Harbor. I still have friends over in Iraq, and I just hired an Army Reservist who helped repair pipelines in Iraq after they were sabotaged. I damn sure know an honorable veteran when I see one.

Every one of us that has served has written a blank check up to and including our last breath on this earth to protect this country. There is no way in hell I will ever trust Obama or Hillary with the precious gift of the lives of our Soldiers, Sailers, and Airman. Those two are anti military, anti capitalist, and are hell bent on appeasement with an enemy that doesn't fear death, and only understands force.

I was raised a Democrat. In fact everyone in my family were registered Democrats until the Clintons came along and hijacked the party. As I see it now we have to choose between two activist America haters, and John McCain. Not a hard choice for me.

During Desert Storm I was on active duty and watched a speech John McCain gave. It was on a late night re-run of CSpan (about all we had to watch.) He was talking about supporting the troops and it really lifted my spirits at a time I desperately needed it. I was still a Democrat back then but switched parties very soon after that.

I don't agree with some of his stances, mainly how to handle the illegals. But I KNOW in my heart that he will not desert the troops. He won't dishonor them or call them terrorist in the night or murders like several prominent Democrats have done in the last couple of years. Our country is in a fight for it's survival right now, and of the 3 candidates, only one can be trusted to be commander in chief.

-Dave

Hmmmm, let's see what my choices are...Hillary Rodham Clinton,Barack Hussain Obama, or John McCain...hard choice duh...Yep I'll go with McCain. A little on the liberal side but what the hey!

religion or politics................they will get get everyone talking ,and funny thing is hardly anyone will agree with anyone..............I'm like a trans that lost all forward and reverse.......neutral......

Quote from: tpits1 on June 01, 2008, 12:20:58 AM

I'm sure that McCain will do all that he can to get our combat troops home. The difference between McCain and his opponents is that he won't kiss the enemy directly on the anus to do it.

wow, talk about preaching to the choir, as if everyone here wasnt already pro McCain and had their minds made up lol

I voted for McCain in the primary, but i think in the general election he is gonna get smoked like bob dole did. guess we'll have to wait and see Popcorn

McCain's wife may have had a drug problem but I bet she has been proud to be an American her entire life. Hillary voted for the
war and has said she would again.
The Democrats want to cut-an-run.
McCain is a very honorable man and will get my vote.

Quote from: R5-P7 project on May 31, 2008, 02:30:12 PM

Besides, it's not his wife that is running for President. As a side note, she's pretty hot for her age! And filthy rich, too! Wink

Could somebody please explain to me why we are in Iraq again?? Where are the weapons of mass destruction?? Where is Bin Laden?? He's in some other Muslim country thumbing his nose at us. Not taking anything away from our brave troops that are serving their country risking their lives, but just how much money are we going to sink into that "war" before we go bankrupt?? It looks like we've become referee between two waring muslim cultures. Shouldn't we be focused on searching out and eliminating the terroist threats to the USA? We really need to take some of that money being spent on that "war" and put it back into our broken intelligence agencies. Oh yeah.............I'm a vet too.

Oh boy. I can see this thread getting locked pretty soon. To be perfectly honest, I don't think any of the three are fit to be Commander in Chief. John McCain is an honorable man, probably the best choice, and certainly has my utmost respect but I'm not so sure he's going to be able to do much of anything about our present situation.
I'd be willing to bet that there are not to many people on this board who were alive the last time this country had proper C.I.C.
Teddy Roosevelt was president a LOOOONG time ago.

All the political discussions end like this. Nothing will really change by any of the remarks made. The gov't isn't for the people anymore. It doesn't matter who you vote for. It's an elite club that chases money and power.

True that...

It's just that SOME are more ASSHOLIER than others..

And by ASSHOLIER, in this particular instance, I mean both Oprahma and the Hilderbeast...

The Republican candidate has a son serving in the Marines.

And for that he McSame has my respect, out of all the rest of those in office. A13 your welcome so when you joinging up?

Quote from: 71Mopar on June 01, 2008, 03:35:14 PM

, she had a drug problem, stole drugs, and got away with it but she is your candidates wife so its easy to overlook it lol

. id hate to see some of the comments people would make if it were Obamas wife with the past drug problem. and whats with all the "Im a proud american, your not" talk. it seems like if you dont agree with everything this country does, you are branded unAmerican. Im sure all the candidates are proud to be Americans, but even questioning some of the things this country does and being angry about other things seems to make you unAmerican, makes for a good topic on radio talk shows and cable news. I think id give more credit to someone who questions the actions we take, than someone stealing drugs and getting away with it because of who you are. but i guess if you question the things the people in your party have done, you might be unamerican too lol

Hey, do you "Progessives" on this site think that this time, when John McCain wins in November, for once and for all those candy assed Hollyweird Liberals will finally make good on their promise and move to Canada or Mexico or wherever..? Grin

That's a movie I'd gladly pay to see... throw money

Quote from: tpits1 on June 01, 2008, 09:59:09 PM

And for that he McSame has my respect, out of all the rest of those in office. A13 your welcome so when you joinging up?

I'm too old to be joinging up. I'll serve my country the best that I can here at home.

I'm too old also. Oh wait, I almost forgot. I've already served in the military for 25 years. McCain gets my vote. SWCS, USN (retired).

C'mon guys, keep it civil. In a debate personal attacks have no place.

As for WMDs, believe it or not we do know where they are. There's also the little problem of Saddam playing chicken with us and his neighbors. He had used WMDs on HIS OWN PEOPLE and had kicked the UN weapons inspectors out.

As for McCain, he's wasn't my choice, but then again I wasn't real fond of any of the choices. True leadership is really lacking. McCain will get my vote.

Is the title of this thread the kind where you say the first thing that comes to mind? OK , John McCain- old !!