Recently, I was reading at some of my favorite sites when I came upon one that was, to put it mildly, insulting to John McCain. Now as a presidential candidate I felt he left a lot to be desired although I supported him. My support was rooted in my personal admiration for him as a man and an American hero. I was particularly upset with some of the comments about the post. They were uniformly sophomoric and obscene. While a little obscenity doesn't bother me very much, I felt this was over the top.
Throughout the '08 campaign I was disgusted with the attack machine of the left and the way they went after John McCain personally. Leave aside for a moment Sarah Palin. That's a post for another day. McCain was continually subjected to the basest and most vile attacks on a daily basis. Disagree with him on policy, that's fair game. But making fun of his physical problems is beyond the pale. These problems were the result of over five years of imprisonment and torture in a North Vietnamese prison camp. Many on the left distorted his service record trying to paint him as a reckless pilot who was dangerous. Really? McCain was shot down on his 23rd mission over North Vietnam.
In the real world McCain would be revered for his service and selfless sacrifice. I wonder how many of these people know that McCain refused an offer from his North Vietnamese captors to be allowed to leave imprisonment early. He realized that it would be a propaganda coup due to his father's command position. Additionally, he chose to abide by the unwritten rule that those captured first should be released first. Sure McCain can't raise his arms above his head, or comb his hair, or type on a computer. Torture causes physical problems.
I realize politics is tough, but the Dems raised the bar to a new level with their personal, groundless attacks in order to win. It is apparently that important, or they have a total lack of ethics and morality. The latter seems to be true if some of these posts are any indication.
What brought this up was my dismay that the personal attacks don't end. Hey, listen up lefties, your guy won. McCain was humiliated on a daily basis and to his credit he stood tall throughout. It made me proud of him all over again. If some of you people want a lesson in being a hero and what it takes to live like one, read McCain's book, "Faith of My Fathers."
You might learn something.
13 comments:
Before the elections I read "Faith of My Fathers" and Obama's "Dreams From my Father" to get a sense of each mans character.
The better man lost the election.
K,
I agree. It's good to hear from you.
Law and ORder Teacher,
I linked over from Truth101's site. The gravestone to the left (your dad?)is the same as my dad's gravestone,he was army but stateside,served in a military hospital in Modesto.
My dad passed away in 1955 too.I was too young to have many memories of him,hopefully if you're a little older than me you may have some of those memories.
take care
I love KauaiMark's comment...good judge of character, you and your readers! xxx
Oso,
That is actually my grandfather who fought in the First World War. My dad is the sailor, a Korean War vet. The USAF picture is me in my youth before shipping to SEA. Thanks for the visit. I was wondering if you had a blog. I would be interested in reading it.
LAOT,
When I turned 18 in 1976 I voted for the first time...and then didn't vote again until 2004...and I went from Gerald Ford to John Kerry...
I didn't like John Kerry but I felt that the maulling he took at the hands of the Swift Boat Veterans was a shame...
Now, LAOT...I personally think that John McCain is a fine man and one that should be respected, I did not vote for him because of my utter disgust at the Republican Party...
But I do believe that it was NOT the "Lefties" who scandalized McCain as much as is was the "Righties"...
Last time I checked Limbaugh was a conservative...and he said some pretty sad things about McCain...
Most of the attacks on McCain are still coming from the RIGHT....
Law and Order,
Here's a few links from MadMikes to some of my posts, save you a little digging around. If not your cup of tea please feel free to toss them into the recycling bin!
http://madmikesamerica.blogspot.com/2009/11/it-all-depends-upon-your-perspective.html
http://madmikesamerica.blogspot.com/2009/12/blame-victim-republicans-never-learn.html
http://madmikesamerica.blogspot.com/2009/10/illegal-aliens-live-among-us.html
http://madmikesamerica.blogspot.com/2009/09/day-joe-namath-threatened-to-kill-and.html
http://madmikesamerica.blogspot.com/2009/09/irish-tale-couple-days-late.html
This is the way the game is played LaOT. Not defending it or saying it's right. It is what it is.
I've been on the losing side many times and each time the none of said I'm glad we stayed positive.
When you can think of an effective, positive way to win open elections or campaigns against incumbents I'd like to hear it.
And TAO is 100% correct. Throw stones at the creeps that send despicable portrayals of President Obama through email. Who insult his wife.
L&OA: I followed that campaign 24/7 - even going so far as to put a sign on my door from 4 to 7 every evening asking folks no to disturb me. I do not remember hearing one soul make fun of his physical appearance. There was the ad about the computer which wasn't too bright. Sometimes people would poke fun at his age but that was harmless.
Actually, the first time I've seen anything was in a comment on one of my posts recently.
The only media comments I heard were about his cancer and the fact that, due to what happened to him while a POW, he's unable to raise his right? arm. But the comments were very sympathetic.
Besides Limbaugh, who was his usual outrageous self, McCain brought on some of the criticism with his own choices and behavior. Being the ancient of the group, I remember McCain being cited by his own colleagues on both sides of the aisle for his involvement in the Keating 5 debacle. He was chastised for using bad judgement.
He has a rep as a maverick but I've never felt that way. I've always thought he was more impulsive - a shoot from the hip kind of person and, frankly, a man of very poor judgement.
Yes, Letterman made a big deal out of McCain canceling his appearance because the economy had "cratered" and he had to fly to DC to fix it. Even some of his Republican colleagues commented - quietly - that he didn't do a thing but muddy up the waters.
And, of course there is Sarah Palin. You can't discuss McCain without adding her, or his choice of her, to the equation. He had only met her once, briefly at a governor's conference. She was flown down to AZ where she was interviewed for about an hour, much of it by Cindy. Palin obviously wasn't vetted appropriately. She was totally out of her element.
This, to me, was a serious lapse of judgement. The VP position should be taken as seriously as the selection of the president and not for some callous attempt to get the votes of a particular segment. In his case, because of his age, a more well-thought-out choice added extra weight to the selection process. To me, it showed a very cavalier approach to an extremely serious situation.
Sorry so long. Even though we don't agree all the time I do like your blog and it helps me to better understand where you're coming from. Will add you to my blog list. That should make your day!
McCain isn't a Conservative and he irritates me many days to no end. But I voted for him over Obama simply because he WASN'T Obama. However, McCain still has more courage, leadership and class in one finger than the entire body of Mr Obama.
The latter portion of 2008 and all of 2009 was such a conflicted year.
BZ
To be fair, McCain wasn't the only Senator involved in the Keating 5. There were four others - all democrats. That should perk up your little hearts. They were: Alan Cranston (Democrat of California), Dennis DeConcini (Democrat of Arizona), John Glenn (Democrat of Ohio), John McCain (Republican of Arizona), and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (Democrat of Michigan), were accused of improperly intervening in 1987 on behalf of Charles H. Keating, Jr.
McCain and Glenn were the only two to run for re-election and win.
These were all outstanding Senators, so why did they get involved in such a mess?
TAO,
I agree there is enough to go around, but I have to disagree that most of the cuts are from the right. I haven't counted, but other than Limbaugh, most were about his policy choices. I heard many personal attacks. My problem is not with attacks on policy, but on personal levels. Thanks for the visit.
Truth, LP,
I don't have a problem with negative campaigning about decisions, personnel decisions, health questions, etc. I have a problem with personal attacks and they were out there. Unfortunately, elections turn on these lines of attack. Always have and always will. I take issue with personal attacks, not those grounded in policy differences. And historically speaking, these recent elections were not the most vile in history as the media would have you believe. The elections of 1800, 1824, 1828, were three that set the pattern for personal attacks. Thanks for the visits.
BZ,
Thanks for the visit. I agree about the great character of McCain. What a shame.
Well, I think McCain made some pretty personal attacks and he didn't stop his running mate from making some really outrageous accusations. This, to me, is tacit agreement.
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