Sarah Palin, who's been on the national scene for, "like five weeks" (her words), says we really don't know Barack Obama. Whereas that's no more laughable than most any of her other contradictions and non-sequiturs, it's particularly ripe when you think how John McCain lives in a persona created out of whole cloth and furthered by media who like his barbeques. This video, whatever else it may be, is based on personal accounts. As I said in my last post, the public is beginning to have unadorned glimpses of the real John McCain, the one that's been there all along. Pretty it is not. Scary it is.
I think there's an article in Rolling Stone that refers to the incident with the podium. It's a fairly long piece. I'm sure you'd like it. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain
ReplyDeleteI read it a couple of days ago. I should have linked to it already (in fact I thought I had.) It's hard to be entirely objective, but it felt very truthful and accurate. Not to mention scary.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see you actively blogging again! While I support Obama wholeheartedly at this point, I'm not sure that I find the arguments outlining the potential consequences of McCain's hot temper convincing. There is a vast difference between having a hell of a temper and being such a loose cannon that you would impulsively start launching nuclear weapons. Calling your wife a c*&% is inexcusable, but it doesn't follow that you would start a nuclear holocaust just because you woke up on the wrong side of the bed on a particular day. As an analogy, I've seen several surgeons lose their cool and say things they probably later regretted when the quality of patient care was an issue. Some of those surgeons are the most compassionate people I've ever met, and I've thought to myself I would want this guy to rip someone a new one if the person in question was compromising the care of one of my family members. On the other side of the coin I have seen some surgeons who seemed truly unbalanced and would attack people unexpectedly, unpredictably, and needlessly. McCain just does not seem to fall in the latter category. I've seen some videos on youtube which are clearly edited to make it seem like he is swearing at people when in fact he wasn't. In particular, one of them involves a senate select committee hearing on pow/mia affairs, and the other takes place on a plane where he is addressing a new york times reporter. While he was terse, he clearly did not swear at these people. It's clear that they are edited because the unedited versions are also available. Specifically, the videos have bleeps and subtitles edited in suggesting that he swore at these people when, in fact, he did not. The reactions of the people he is addressing also clearly are not those of someone who just had a few f-bombs launched at them. Obama supporter or not, those are dirty tricks. For the interested reader, just google "john mccain temper" and you'll find the videos I'm talking about.
ReplyDeletewalt: the video in this post is about actual, not edited, incidents. I agree it's unlikely he'd let loose the nukes in a fit of pique. On the other hand, he's acted impulsively and detrimentally several times recently: picking Palin, the (non) suspension of his campaign to mess with the bailout plans. More disturbingly, his involvement in the Russia/Georgia situation: he was encouraging Georgia to goad Russia long before the invasion, and then announced "we are all Georgians now," called for the banishment of Russia from the G-8, sent Lieberman, Graham, and HIS WIFE over there as if he were president sending an official mission. He's angry and impulsive, and I think there's plenty of fair and balance evidence of that. One might also wonder how he'd behave were he ever to be in a face to face meeting with, say, Putin or Medvedev, and if they pushed him a little. God forbid, got close to him physically. A legitimate concern, I'd say, given his documented responses to fellow senators in the past. Nuke? Maybe not. Dangerously impulsive, worrisomely anger-prone? So the data would suggest.
ReplyDeleteAs a follow up, I just followed the link to the rolling stone article mentioned by certainabsurdity above. Again, just for the record: I'm voting for Obama. No contest in my mind. But for this Dickinson guy (the author of the article) to pass judgement on McCain for breaking down and giving a "confession" under extreme duress while imprisoned in Hanoi is f*(&^ing awful. I don't care if he's the worst presidential candidate in the history of the United States, how many times he cheated on his wife, or how narcissistic he is. For this dipshit to even consider himself qualified to judge McCain's experience as a POW is inexcusable. That really twists my guts.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the multiple posts. I just saw your reply to my first post after posting my second. While I disagree with you, I'm not saying YOUR argument doesn't have merit. The main point of my first post was that the videos are unfair and misleading.
ReplyDeletewalt: I agree it's very thin ice to consider McCain's war experience. As I've said, though, I think it figures in some way in explaining his erratic and volatile behavior, and his tendency to see things as hyper black and white. He did what all but a small number of prisoners did: broke down and made propaganda films. I imagine I -- and most -- would have done the same. A few didn't. The term "hero" most definitely applies to them; the others deserve or respect and honor and sympathy. But, I think, somewhere in his heart McCain feels he let himself down. Rightly or wrongly.
ReplyDeleteHaving served in Vietnam, having been through jungle survival school, I know what the code was at that time: resist, refuse, and try to escape. The few who managed to do so were incredibly brave, beyond anything I can imagine. In fact (I might be wrong) I think the code has since been modified, such that it's no longer considered dishonorable to have cracked and given the enemy what they wanted. It was then, though. I don't blame McCain in the slightest. I do think, however, that it figures into who he is -- which, of late, is pretty despicable.