Let's just go there .... my disdain for John McCain

I haven't written in a few days, simply because I didn't find anything of interest to write about. Then I was reminded that we all need to write everyday, no matter what. So being the perpetual student that I am, I went looking at the other great blogs, those that I admire and gained some insight, remembering that I can write an opinionated essay of sorts.

So here goes ....

Politically many consider John McCain a loose cannon, a hot head, unpredictable and so on. Within the small circle of the POW/MIA Community, he is on the same level as the treasonous John Kerry. Many consider him untouchable, he was a POW, held in the Hanoi Hilton for over 5 years and finally released in 1973 along with the other 591 released during Operation Homecoming. Many use the fact that he was offered an early release and didn't take it as some sort of shining example of his patriotism and his dedication to his fellow POWs. Well, there is another spin on this that few seem to want to consider; McCain would have been considered a traitor by his fellow POWs. There was a chain of command within the camps, the senior officer making policy and serving as the governing body if you will for the POWs. There was a unwavering policy, no one takes early release unless ordered to do so. There was one POW, Doug Hegdhal, who was ordered to accept early release because he has somehow memorized name, rank and branch of over 200 men being held. His release gave invaluable information to the military and the family members who were unaware of the fact that their loved ones were being held. Still to this day, he remembers the entire list. He, is a hero.

During his captivity, McCain gave multiple interviews with foreign correspondents in which he appeared well kept, jovial and enjoyed cigarettes,coffee and tea with the visiting reporter. Go ask the others being held if they ever enjoyed those luxuries. There are discrepancies in his book vs. the official documents of the USG as well as these news articles that the visiting journalist generated. You can find many of these documents here, as well as other interesting tidbits. You will see there that some of the SROs had no information about McCain ever being beaten or tortured.

Now, here is where things get interesting and this is the part that few publicly know. McCain, being a POW himself, has a hatred for POW/MIA Families that many would consider impossible to believe. He refers to them as zealots, conspiracy theorists and on and on. There is no need to go into details here because this info can be found all over the Net. So the question is, how could a former POW function as a barrier rather than an advocate for the family members who were not as fortunate as his own family? Why would he attempt to water down legislation that would help POW/MIA Families? There are many possible explanations for this behavior. He wanted to distance himself from his POW status and be considered a politician. He possibly was influenced by his captors, not necessarily brainwashed but the Vietnamese were master propagandists so the possibilities are endless as to what they could "have" on McCain. Lastly, he made a political decision that aligning himself with these family members would cripple his political career and for that reason has decided to join the majority in pushing the POW/MIA issue under the rug.

Taking all of this into consideration, the next question that is raised is why he would insist on being not just on the 1992 Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs but being the Committee's Chairman (the Chairmanship was given to John Kerry of all people). During those session he took every opportunity to verbally dismantle anyone with a view opposite his own. There is actually video footage of his rant on Delores Apodaca-Alfond, the sister of a missing man, who serves as the president of the National Alliance of POW/MIA Families. His rant brought her to tears. For more on McCain and Kerry's conduct during the POW/MIA Senate Select Committee, please go here. The documentary "Missing Presumed Dead" will leave you in a fog for days after viewing it.

I just found a great piece by syndicated columnist Maureen Dowd, an op-ed piece here about McCain. I guess I'm not the only one seeing the same thing. Additionally, head on over to my favorite milblogger, Major Z, here and find out the details of McCain's visit to he and his wife while the Major was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It will amaze you.

You may be trying to connect all of this and may be wondering about the picture above. Well, in the well-known words of Paul Harvey, here is "the rest of the story". Somewhere in the above picture there is a Marine who is still MIA from Vietnam, his case has been systematically and negatively effected by the likes of John Kerry and John McCain. The Marine in the photo is part of my family and I want him home.