FauxNEWS

Without a doubt, Senator John McCain is an American Hero in the truest sense of the word. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1958, and became a Naval Aviator. For those of you who are unaware, Naval Aviators are the best in the world. This is not to take anything away from the Air Force aviators, but landing on a moving platform just slightly smaller than 10 football fields while going a couple of hundred miles per hour is not for the weak at heart.

Then-Lieutenant Commander McCain was piloting his A4 Skyhawk over Vietnam on October 26, 1967 when he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. Whether Jane Fonda was manning the gun at the time is unknown, but unlikely. He was captured, and spent the next six years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, one of the most brutal prisoner of war camps during this conflict. The fact that this small-statured man came through this relatively intact and normal is a testament to his internal strength and fortitude.

As I said, he is undoubtedly a true American Hero and deserves our praise, thanks, and eternal gratitude for what he went through in the name of our country. Many left-wing blogs are questioning facts about his imprisonment and service (reference 1, reference 2, and reference 3), but these are the same kind of people who “support the troops, but not the war,” which translates into, “No one will listen to my anti-American swill if I don’t at least pay verbal homage to our children in harm’s way, even though I would put up a ’sailors and dogs keep off the grass’ sign in my yard if I thought I could get away with it.”

They tend to question how he came through the torture and privation in such good health, saying things like “During that interview, McCain again seriously violated the Code of Conduct by failing to “evade answering questions” to the “utmost” of his ability when he, according to the DOD report, helped Barral by answering questions in Spanish, a language McCain had learned in school. On Dec. 7, 1969, McCain was moved out of isolation and into the “Hanoi Hilton” with other prisoners of war.”

So, after only two years, he was moved out of solitary, and didn’t do his “utmost” to put up with torture… I can’t even comment on the inanity of this statement. He was being tortured and trying to survive in brutal conditions. Anyone who questions his credentials as an American Hero is no true American Patriot, in my not-so-humble opinion.

Why am I then not going to support his presidential candidacy? Well, “being a patriot” is definitely on my list of “musts” for anyone hoping to get my vote (as an aside, this is also the reason I refuse to support either of the Clintons in any endeavor they undertake), but “being a hero” is not. McCain therefore passes my first test, and probably the only litmus test I have, for getting my vote.

Where McCain falls short is on many other issues.

First off, he was one of the “Keating Five.” He was the ONLY Republican implicated in supporting a failed Savings and Loan run by Charles Keating in exchange for “campaign contributions.” In any other day and times, these would have been called “bribes.” Here is a quote from an article by Mark R. Levin at NRO online:

McCain was one of the so-called “Keating Five” senators. He was investigated by the Senate Select Committee on Ethics in 1991 regarding the acceptance of favors from Lincoln Savings & Loan Association (Lincoln) and its owner, Charles H. Keating, Jr. Simply put, the issue was whether McCain and the other senators used their official positions to attempt to pressure Federal Home Loan Bank Board officials to go easy on the troubled institution. Eventually Lincoln went bust, costing depositors and taxpayers millions.

This is what initially put me against McCain in the 1996 election where Bob Dole, another American Patriot and Hero, was nominated as the GOP nominee. Since that time, though, McCain has done more to single-handedly bring down the Republican Party than any other human, including its enemies.

He is a co-author and sponsor of the notorious “McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance ‘Reform’ Law.” This insidious law basically allows well-financed institutions such as unions and PAC’s to speak out about candidates while preventing ordinary folks like you and I from getting together to do the same, unless we pass through multitudes of political hoops. Coming up with $10000 to put up billboards in Houston right before a campaign that blasts a candidate would be an offense under McCain-Feingold. I refer to this act as the “Anti-Free-Speech Act,” because it obviously violates my God-given right to express my views. This act helped the democrats and their supporters silence the GOP and its supporters, without being likewise silenced themselves. It was, plain and simple, bad legislation, and should never have had any GOP support. Remember, McCain was a co-author, and therefore instumental in its passage.

In addition, McCain was part of the “gang of 14″. This is the group of “moderate” senators who worked out a compromise. A compromise, in the Senate, means the GOP capitulates to democrat wishes. This is where the GOP was prevented from forcing conservative Justices onto the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) when we had the majority. I keep hearing folks say that the President of the United States (POTUS) has his greatest impact in nominating Justices to the SCOTUS. Yet McCain, nearly single-handedly, put together a coalition to prevent this impact from taking place when the GOP had its chance.

I’m not done yet… In 2005, the “Kennedy-McCain Immigration Bill” was a virtual blueprint for allowing illegals to stay here, giving them their “path to citizenship,” just like they did in 1986, and tried to do again in 2006. McCain has tried multiple times to allow these lawbreakers to stay here. I wonder if there isn’t more “Keating” going on here. Who is “contributing to his campaign” (remember, that really means “bribing him”) to allow this to happen?

No, Senator McCain is doing quite enough harm as a Senator. I blanch at the thought of him becoming president. I wonder who he would nominate to the SCOTUS? I mean, his first choice, Darth Vader Ginsburg, is already there….

Posted on December 28th, 2007 under Election 2008, Opinion, Politics • Tags: Election 2008, John McCain, Opinion, Politics. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback