Getting to Know John McCain [MUST READ!]

The Wall Street Journal ^ | April 30, 2008 | Karl Rove

[2ndDivisionVet]

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, Congressional 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."

[Mr. Silverback]

You always attack me, and anyone who disagrees with you.

Welcome to FR. It ain't a sewing circle.

My husband was a Naval Aviator in Viet Nam.

Ah, so your husband agrees that awarding a naval aviator the Silver Star and Purple Heart after he was a prisoner for five years is the same as giving a company clerk a Bronze Star for completing his tour?

[LongElegantLegs]

Welcome to Free Republic.
I don’t need to read proof, I lived through it while it was happening. So did everyone here, if they can remember farther back then six months ago.

BTW, were you aware that lemmings don’t actually commit themselves to mass suicide?

[Mamzelle]

re: 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....wow

Does this piece mention Carol McCain, who was knocking on all the doors of Congress for POWs and lobbying tirelessly for her POW husband? Caesar, my foot--Carol kept McVain's predicament alive. The mother of his kids? The one he cheated on and dumped for the heiress homewrecker who paved his way into his first political office?

I didn't bother reading the article. I just laughed at that "private" business.

[Mr. Silverback]

The Congressional wing isn’t even interested in winning back a majority. 2 to 4 years of McCain could see us having barely 1/3rd of Congress. Is that preferable ?

That's speculation. It's not speculation to say that Clinton and Obama will be a disaster as commander-in-chief.

I will not ask one of the people who puts themselves between me and Al Qaida to fight under the commmand of a blathering incompetent. I will not. You shouldn't either.

[Mr. Silverback]

No one accused you, or McCain, or the people who will vote for him of being unpatriotic.

Wrong answer. SoConPubbie wrote this in post 26:

Too bad their party and their country means so little to them that they would vote for the man who will destroy the conservative leanings of their party, the GOP, and guarantee a minority status for the GOP for decades to come by granting Amnesty to 20-30 million+ illegal aliens who will vote 70%+ Democrat.

When somebody says I'm taking a course because my country matters little to me, I don't take that as a compliment.

But if you believe that he will be anything other than what he has consistently shown himself to be after taking office, I'm afraid you are deluding yourself. John McCain has never been a friend to the Conservatives, and never will be.

Why don't you ask yourself this question: who did Silverback support in the primaries? Specifically, who was he supporting this time last year, and who was he supporting six months ago?

I'm sorry, but I see as much arrogance coming off the anti-McCain people as McCain has ever exhibited, because they act as if those of us who have decided to suppport him are poor naifs who desperately need you all to point out that McCain is not the second coming of Reagan. You know what? We get it, but we figure if you have a choice between Jimmmy Carter and FDR, you take FDR.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Here, you may not have seen this, and it’s a reminder to people who feel inclined to debate the haters: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994443/posts

[sodpoodle]

Reading these spats between FReepers who once shared ideas, jokes and comity in the halcyon days of yore, is akin to being on a sinking life-raft.

Our perfect conservative candidates are slipping over the horizon on the Good Ship Lollipop - they either didn’t hear our cries for help or they had faulty compasses.

Over there to starboard is a crusty old curmudgeon in a fishing boat..... port side are two elite, empty headed wind-surfers.

Stop squabbling over food scraps, pick one of the three options or start paddling like hell.

[Mr. Silverback]

Absolutely. You agree with me, therefore you are wise. ;-)

Have a great day!

[Behind Liberal Lines]

I guess I am a minority on Free Republic. I voted for McCain in 2000 and I still wish he had won.

I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 but the idea that he's somehow less of a RINO than McCain would have been is silly. Bush has expanded government in ways that I doubt McCain would have. I wish I had supported McCain at this point.

[sodpoodle]

***We get it, but we figure if you have a choice between Jimmmy Carter and FDR, you take FDR.****

Damn you’re good;)

Logic over lunacy - I’m lovin’ it.

sod

[meandog]

I guess I am a minority on Free Republic. I voted for McCain in 2000 and I still wish he had won.

You're not alone! And, if he had of won, we would now be celebrating a president with a 90 percent approval rating instead of one at 28 percent. It just amazes me that most FReepers cannot see the similarity between "Read My Lips" and "Mission Accomplished" and how two chief executives with the same last name could squander the good will and popularity handed them by America's warfighters when they inexplicably pulled stalemates out of the jaws of overwhelming victory.

[indcons]

Great article...thanks for the ping.

[Vio24]

You are being disingenuous because you are a McCain hater. He voted against the tax cuts because he believed there should have been corresponding cuts in spending. I was 100% in favor of the tax cuts but cannot blame him for standing on this principle. My take is that if it was HIS vote that would decide yea or nay on the tax cuts he would have voted for them. I also disagreed with his campaign spending legislation but understood where it was coming from. As for his breaking under torture while being held prisoner, you actually seem to believe that there are some among us that wouldn't ever break. It shows your complete and utter ignorance in this area. No one, and I mean NO ONE can withstand real torture for any length of time without giving up all he knows. The fact McCain, even after being tortured gave up the names of the Green Bay packers linemen instead of his squad members and the fact we have the word of a Medal of Honor winner speaking to the honor and courage of this man speaks volumes.

Just be like the rest of the lunatics who will stay home because their candidate didn't get the nomination. Better yet why not just vote for the liberal in the general election. WOWEE, that'll sure show the GOP won't it?

I'm STILL waiting for the links to the sources that will FULLY explain your list of grievances with McCain. Perhaps they will not leave out why he did what he did, like you have done.

[Vio24]

I don’t give a hoot how long you have been hear. And you also seem to equate time on this forum with some kind of stature concerning opinions made. That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever seen in print. In fact you are a perfect example of the fact long time members in many cases haven’t a clue.

And if speaking my mind on this forum gets me booted then the forum isn’t worth the energy to keep it alive in the first place.

[Mr. Silverback]

Thank you very much!

[Lumper20]

I hope you are not calling McCain a traitor.

[Vio24]

I know about the Lemmings but used it as an analogy anyway because it serves to make a point in peoples (alleged) minds.

[MARTIAL MONK]

Do you mean Carol the divorcee whom he married and adopted her two kids? The kids who are still close to him? The one he was away from for six years. That tends to be a bit tough on a marriage, anyone's marriage. Especially when you are getting beat up every day in a prison camp hellhole.

Divorce rates for active duty have more than doubled since the start of the Iraq war. Is there something fundimentally wrong with our guys there? McCain met Cindy six years after he came back. The marriage was already broken.

[Vio24]

McCain haters are no better then the libs suffering from BDS.

[Lumper20]

Thank you for stating what I wanted to.