Posted on 05/14/2008 5:12:31 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate to become the next US president, is prone to uncontrollable fits of rage which those in his camp worry could be a liability, both in November's election and the job itself.
His wife has defended his outbursts as signs of "passion". But even some of his friends and supporters worry that displays of irrational anger could prove disastrous if he became the most powerful man in the world, with a thermonuclear arsenal at his fingertips.
A member of one of Washington's most respected Republican families told Sky News: "Everyone in Washington's political circles has a McCain story - a moment when they have suddenly witnessed him losing it for a few seconds.
"He flies off the handle without warning."
Stories of Mr McCain's flashes of temper are not new, which is why his wife recently felt obliged to defend him with the "he feels passionately about some things" comment.
But it has not quieted the concern that a man who may sometimes behave irrationally could soon occupy the Oval Office.
Some McCain supporters excuse his outbursts as a result of his years of torture as a prisoner of the Vietnamese more than 30 years ago.
That experience should make the Pentagon brass the senator's natural allies, but generals as high as the joint chiefs of staff have privately expressed concern about having Mr McCain as their commander-in-chief.
One was recently quoted as saying: "We really do not want someone calling the shots who reacts either in anger or passion.
"Decisions need to be taken dispassionately."
An American reporter who accompanied Mr McCain when he returned to Vietnam for the first time since he was a prisoner of war there tells a story of a Vietnamese boy who approached the senator and tugged at his arm to attract his attention.
"McCain lost it for a few seconds," he said.
"It was unexpected and irrational. Fortunately for him, there were no cameras rolling. His staff said he was tired. He was certainly aggressively angry," the reporter told Sky News.
Once the Democrats have settled on their candidate for November's presidential election, the campaign is likely to become nasty and personal, and Mr McCain's behaviour will come under much closer scrutiny.
Barack Obama is favourite to get the nod, even though Hillary Clinton has scored a crushing win in West Virginia's primary.
Senator Clinton vowed to fight on after routing her rival by 67% to 26%.
Bingo!
It’s my #1 concern. He’s got screws loose upstairs, he’s not that bright, and he isn’t a conservative. Imagine why a lot of people won’t vote this go around...
Did you ever see the tape of Bill Clinton in 1992 when he was told (falsely) that Jesse Jackson had endorsed Harkin instead of him? But somehow Bill’s temper wasn’t a problem.
Rather that than the dithering alternative.
We in the military respect those who can MAKE decisions.
We do not respect those who dither.
Dithering gets far moor troops killed than a quick decision that is not right, more often than not.
I’ll vote for him precisely for that reason. It is his only real positive quality. If he were in charge on 9-11, Afghanistan might hve been a smoking hole in the ground instead of an open-ended commitment.
Is Senator John McCain a known communist sympathizer (worked at ACORN, friends with Bill Ayers, follows Saul Alinsky, etc)? Is he a closet Muslim? Do Gaza Palestinians phone bank for him?! Does his “church” hate white people and say Louis Farrakhan is great?! Does his wife (for all her faults) hate AmeriKKKa? Is he unpatriotic? Is he the furthest left of EVERY senator (even socialist Bernie Sanders)? Did he shirk military service? THINK ABOUT OUR TWO CHOICES!!!
When you go to a bar you don’t mess with the crazy guy with the baseball bat.
Exactly. How about Hillary’s temper?
Pure BS . Are you a Obama operative . I’ve noticed a real uptick in the Obama DU operatives . They always post some pathetic hit piece and then say I am not voting this time . Sure your not , I think you mean , your not voting Republican. Go back to DU world.
I’ve heard/read all about Slick’s “purple faced rages.”
Tell that shite to men like Chesty Puller.
I do not like McCain, Gang of 14 RINO, but he is all we have, unless he is unseated by a tantrum before the convention.
McCain is polling much better than the dems and the media expected, get ready for coordinated attacks on Mac purely to goad him into losing his cool. If I was Mac and his staff I wouldn’t trust any of the media, none of them, except maybe Britt Hume.
Juan’s old. Juan has a bad temper. Juan was imlicated in the Keating 5 scandal twenty years ago.
That’s all they have.
You, a member for a few months, are calling someone who has been here for ten years a “troll”?
Pretty mouthy.
Are you going to call Jim Robinson a troll next?
John McCain: A lifetime of service to his country and a bad temper.
Hillary: A lifetime of subtrefuge, political intrigue, and murder.
Obama: A closet Muslim, left of Stalin, friend of terrorists.
Is this a trick question?
I think maybe it’s time the world had a little more respect for an American President, there are times when a display of temper is worth a thousand words.
Without calling you a troll, consider this - Numbskullism is, by and large, the domain of the libertarian.
I am so sick of your type of talk..GOOD, let’s have a President Barack Hussein Obama...the reason we’re in this mess because our side is so freaking lazy..all we do is sit and complain. And I, for one and F**King sick of it.
McCain HAS to win, because the alternative is unthinkable. so shut up, fight for you causes and PRAY.
Exactly!!
I’m not a fan of McCain’s, but at least he never drove a car off a bridge and left a woman inside to drown.
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