Political Punch

John McCain, not to disillusion anyone, particularly sensitive Viet era vets, is decidedly NOT a war hero. After his plane was shot down, he became a victim, and given the treatment he sustained, a smpathetic one. He may have acted bravely in captivity (I wasn't there in his squalid cages...I was in the field in Viet Nam getting shot at rather than getting beaten, something I would have gladly traded at times). But while his lengthy survival of brutality may make him a rugged and cussed individual, I don't think it necessarily makes him a war hero or any more qualified to be commander in chief (small letters). It may make him even less qualified, depending on his emotional and psychological stability after such sustained cruelty at the hands of a few Vietnamese sadists. Unfortunately, miltary heroism isn't awarded to passive (or even active) observers and non-observers, or those held beyond their wills on the sidelines of combat. One has at least to be in the arena.

John McCain, not to disillusion anyone, particularly sensitive Viet era vets, is decidedly NOT a war hero. After his plane was shot down, he became a victim, and given the treatment he sustained, a smpathetic one. He may have acted bravely in captivity (I wasn't there in his squalid cages...I was in the field in Viet Nam getting shot at rather than getting beaten, something I would have gladly traded at times). But while his lengthy survival of brutality may make him a rugged and cussed individual, I don't think it necessarily makes him a war hero or any more qualified to be commander in chief (small letters). It may make him even less qualified, depending on his emotional and psychological stability after such sustained cruelty at the hand of a few Vietnamese sadists. Unfortunately, miltary heroism isn't rewarded to passive (or even active) observers, or those held beyond their wills on the sidelines of combat. One has at least to be in the arena.

Hi Len,

I apologize if it appeared that I was insinuating race. This was not my purpose. My purpose was for Nicolas to define this "black agenda" comment.

I live(40+yrs)on the West Coast. "Buttermilk" is not a term we use in Cali. What does it mean?

Incredible: an eight point list edited down to three points to take out the emphasis in Black Liberation Theology on white demonic forces. Ok folks, do your own research. ABC is censoring.

Again, I don't defend or mock the BLT agenda. I'm just answering the question as fairly as it can be answered.

@Jake: Considering how available the information is, do you really think censoring helps anything or simply voids your press credentials? Between ABC and CNN, CBS is fast becoming the only reliable source of news.

@ginger: I don't intend to debate the agenda; simply present it. I might be closer to understanding that than you guess having grown up 'buttermilk', a term which you might not understand.

You probably do need to do some research into Black Liberation Theology and be a little less willing to toss the 'racist' insinuation into a response. It is a fear word that is losing its potency rapidly in this campaign. That is one of the good results of this election nomination. People are standing up to mau-mau tactics and realizing they don't have to be afraid or guilty... unless of course, fear and guilt are ways of feeling connected to something missing in their lives.

"In a phrase, redistribution of power."

So who exactly has the power now? And does't the President have to go before the Congress?

While you cited this Cone guy I noticed you didn't deny some of his accusations hold truth. I mean didn't this country kidnap Africans and enslave them? Didn't blacks endure Jim Crow. Didn't Martin Luther King have to boycott and fight for civil rights? Doesn't Jesus speak of the Satan in the bible?

This Cone guy sounds really liberal and bitter, but I'm guessing its because of America's past treatment of Africans. When you take the time to understand a person's experiences it sheds light on why they feel they way they do. Doesn't make their views right, it just makes them human.

"Please inform us of what the black agenda is."

In a phrase, redistribution of power.

It's a silly question when phrased like that because all people don't have the same agenda. As for Senator Obama, the agenda is probably derived from Black Liberation Theology which is the sect of Christianity of Obama's church in Chicago. In a short list from a web page on the topic:

1. To make the gospel relevant to black people who must struggle daily under the burden of white oppression.

2. The God of the wealthy is rather different from the God worshipped in the barrios or slums of the major cities

3. White Christianity emphasizes individualism, and divides the world into separate realms of the sacred and secular, public and private. Such a view of the world is alien to African-American spirituality.
The goal isn't scary. The context is.

McCain is very shady. This is a guy who dumped his first wife after she became disabled in a car accident. He constantly cheated on her with various women before settling on Cindy, a beer heiress 20 years younger than him.

Cindy's father hooked McCain up with a fundraising network that included Charles Keating of S&L infamy. McCain was part of the Keating Five scandal. Once again, we have a real estate meltdown. Did McCain ever push good regulations to prevent shady lending practices?

I'm LMAO about this one.

He wants to seize the
power in U.S to impose the black
agenda.It won't fly.....

Please inform us of what the black agenda is. Now keep in mind Obama is 1/2 African and 1/2 White. So what happens to his 1/2 white agenda?

Can anyone tell me if these statements about Sen. McCain are FACTUAL? Before I accept them as gospel I would like to know they are indeed facts, myths or smears. The one about Sen. McCains wife seems made up.

"That New Time Religion
John McCain grew up Episcopalian. He went to an Episcopalian high school. For at least 15 years, he has been listed as an Episcopalian in authoritative directories such as the Almanac of American Politics and Congressional Quarterly's Politics in America 2008. He told a reporter from McClatchy News Service in June 2007 that he was an Episcopalian.
Suddenly, in September 2007, he's campaigning in South Carolina, the heavily Baptist state where George W. Bush barely managed to stop McCain's presidential campaign 8 years ago. And guess what? McCain tells a reporter "By the way, I'm not Episcopalian. I'm Baptist."

When pressed, he said he's attended the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona for more than 15 years, though he has never been baptized in that church. Now see, that's exactly the problem. Baptism is kind of a big thing in the Baptist Church. (That's how they got the name.) No baptism, not Baptist.

Anyway, details aside, this is one very clear indication of how McCain has changed. Now, he's just another hungry politician, happy to pander if it helps him win. Which eliminates the very reason people were excited about him in 2000 -- his honesty.

Founding Member of the Keating Five
Back in the old days, defendants in famous trials got numbers -- the Chicago Eight, the Gang of Four, the Dave Clark Five, the Daytona 500. McCain was one of the "Keating Five," congressmen investigated on ethics charges for strenuously helping convicted racketeer Charles Keating after he gave them large campaign contributions and vacation trips.
Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan collapsed, costing the taxpayers $3.4 billion. His convictions were overturned on technicalities; for example, the federal conviction was overturned because jurors had heard about his state conviction, and his state charges because Judge Lance Ito (yes, that judge) screwed up jury instructions. Neither court cleared him, and he faces new trials in both courts.)

Though he was not convicted of anything, McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain at least $112,00 in contributions. In the mid-1980s, McCain made at least 9 trips on Keating's airplanes, and 3 of those were to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahamas. McCain's wife and father-in-law also were the largest investors (at $350,000) in a Keating shopping center; the Phoenix New Times called it a "sweetheart deal."

Mafia ties:
In 1995, McCain sent birthday regards, and regrets for not attending, to Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonano, the head of the New York Bonano crime family, who had retired to Arizona. Another politician to send regrets was Governor Fife Symington, who has since been kicked out of office and convicted of 7 felonies relating to fraud and extortion.

Family Problems
McCain has a reputation as a politician who has difficulty keeping his pants zipped, according to Republican sources. He acknowledges that his adultery broke up his first marriage. His second wife Cindy, the daughter of a wealthy Budweiser beer distributor, was addicted to prescription narcotics and even stole hard drugs from a medical charity that she ran. McCain acknowledges that she didn't want him to run, and only agreed once he promised that she doesn't have to go to New Hampshire or Iowa.

Quotes:
- Leonardo DiCaprio is "an androgynous wimp." -- McCain.

- "The thought of [McCain] being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me." -- Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, who has known McCain for 35 years.

I have no question where McCain's loyalties lie. I can't say the same for Obama.

So McCain's enemies have become his friends. In other words he has NO principles... Now, WHY should I vote for him???

Sen Liberman, wow, wow, wow.

He was Al Gore's biggest mistake,
now we know which side he has always been on.

Don't even go there.......
McCain is a patriot,war hero,with excellent resume to be commander in chief.

Obama is fake,is a joke,is an
opportunist and he is un-electable
in november.He wants to seize the
power in U.S to impose the black
agenda.It won't fly.....

Americans are smarter than that.....

JOHN McCAIN '08

Of course Hamas wants to sit down with Obama. Here's a guy that they can "bamboozle" and "hoodwink".

Wow, the media is finally covering this corrupt lobbyist lover.

rita -

I'm an Obama supporter.

Get a grip. You sound like a nutjob.

No more conspiracy theories, no more guilt by association, no more gaffe smears.

Lets talk about the real differences in the candidates. Take it back from the fringe, before this stuff is all we hear about.

I know John McCain doesn't share the same brutal dictatorial views as the Myanmar junta, but you have to wonder why he hires their surrogates for high-level positions in his campaign. LOL - what a flaming hypocrite.

Now John that is just not Wright! I can not imagine your people are so politically active in illicit associations, say it isn't so........
How can you win against the pure godlike guy BO if you are as bad with your judgement as he?
You are the pilot, straighten out and fly wright!

Why would McCain choose top level advisors who were beholding to the Myanmar military junta unless he totally agreed with the goals and methods of cruel dictatorships?

The obvious conclusion: If you want a military dictatorship running America, vote for McCain in November.

LOL, so McCain's actively campaigning that "Obama's associations count against him, but I'm immune to associates and their views"?

"I'm rubber and you're glue..."

That's the problem with guilt by association. It cuts both ways, and grows and grows, until it completely overshadows the issues that matter most.

Opening that door by McCain handed the reigns of either candidate's image. Once you've done that, it's hard to get it back again and control your own image and message.