If you believe we are not to question the service of a honorably discharged serviceman and his/her commitment to country, then do you also believe we should not question a minister/priest and his/her commitment to God who has not been defrocked?
I'm not necessarily directing this question at brutus2002, but it seems the same crowd who say you cannot question McCain's service had no problem assailing Obama's pastor based on a few choice quotes, who (last I checked) is still in good standing with a mainline denomination.
On another tangent, I think it is quite different to examine one's service record to see what we can learn and to trash that record (as what happened to John Kerry). For example, here is an article that looks into his War College thesis:
McCain's homework - Los Angeles Times
With the considerable amount of information available on his military service, including his own book, I think it is fair to ask what we haven't seen to at least look at the full picture.
One of the latest arguments of the McCain camp is that he will always put country over self interest. They cite his refusal to take early release because it would provide propaganda for the North Vietnamese. However, they ignore his confession to war crimes that did provide propaganda:
Quote:
On the third night, as McCain would later write in "Faith of My Fathers," he was beaten so badly he almost committed suicide before "confessing" his war crimes:I lay in my own blood and waste, so tired and hurt that I could not move. The Prick [another captor] came in with two other guards, lifted me to my feet, and gave me the worst beating I had yet experienced ... Despairing of any relief from pain and further torture, and fearing the close reproach of my moment of dishonor, I tried to take my life. I doubt I really intended to kill myself. But I couldn't fight anymore, and I remember deciding that the last thing I could do to make them believe I was still resisting, that I wouldn't break, was to attempt suicide. McCain took off his shirt. He turned over the waste bucket and stepped on it. He looped his shirt through a shutter. But before he could act, the Prick ran in and beat him up.
One day later, McCain signed a confession admitting to war crimes. He would remain a POW for almost five more years, until March 15, 1973. His injuries are still with him; he cannot raise his arms above his shoulders; he still has a slight limp.
|
Salon Politics2000 | McCain goes back
Now, I do not fault him for his "confession." I'd bet almost anyone would have done the same under those circumstances. However, I find it disingenuous for his campaign to imply that Obama lacks his level of patriotism because he did not have to go through such an experience. Again, I don't want to disparage McCain's service and I don't think this should. I simply don't think he can use his service to somehow "prove" he is some ultra patriotic figure who will defend his country at any cost, when we know that he did have a breaking point (as most all of us do).