The Hill: A fellow torture victim splits with Sen. McCain

Rose Siding

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 11:40 AM
Original message

The Hill: A fellow torture victim splits with Sen. McCain

Two highly decorated veterans who were held captive together in a Vietnamese prison camp more than three decades ago find themselves nose to nose today over U.S. policy on torture.

In a draft letter circulated to some rank-and-file Republican colleagues but not sent, Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) asks the top House defense appropriators to exclude from a defense-spending conference report the anti-torture provision added to the Senate version of the bill by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
....
Political differences are nothing new for Johnson and McCain, who were held in the same cell in Vietnam. When McCain ran for president in 2000, Johnson backed fellow Texan George W. Bush.

�I happened to be with McCain for the last year and a half in a prison camp over there in Vietnam. I know him pretty well � and I can tell you, he cannot hold a candle to George Bush,� Johnson said at a Bush campaign rally, according to the Knight Ridder News Service.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/120605/news3.html

Some Republicans are just truly creepy.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Benhurst

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 11:47 AM
Response to Original message

1. Of course McCain couldn't hold a candle to George Bush. If he

did, Bush would cry out in pain like the girlyman he is and embarrass us all.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

RufusEarl

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 11:59 AM
Response to Original message

2. Arm twisting by re-pubs, it's pretty obvious.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

earthside

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 12:03 PM
Response to Original message

3. That's Just Plain Creepy

�I happened to be with McCain for the last year and a half in a prison camp over there in Vietnam. I know him pretty well � and I can tell you, he cannot hold a candle to George Bush,� Johnson said...

That sounds like the cult-of-personality social disorder that gave the world Stalin and Hitler.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

tanyev

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 12:15 PM
Response to Original message

4. Oh, please.

George Bush would have been sobbing and telling them anything they wanted to know the first time they made him stay up a few hours past his beddy-bye time.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Geoff R. Casavant

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 05:07 PM
Response to Reply #4

10. I won't forget McCain used to be the real deal.

He was offered numerous chances to get out of that POW camp because his father was a 4-star admiral and CINCPAC at the time. He refused to be released unless all his comrades were as well.

That, my friends, takes balls.

For that reason alone he got my vote in the TX repub primary in 2000, and I registered as an R for the first and only time specifically so I could vote for him. I have since switched back to Dem.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

hlthe2b

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 12:21 PM
Response to Original message

5. Sounds like Cheney/Bush* have got their new bud, Johnson

nicely set up ($$? Haliburton stock? a nice retirement CEO position?)

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

mod mom

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 12:24 PM
Response to Original message

6. "and I can tell you, he cannot hold a candle to George Bush,� that's some

serious crazy talk!

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Contrary1

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 12:31 PM
Response to Original message

7. Unless he shared a cell with McCain...

or they got to dine together, or got to use the exercise equipment together,
or watch their favorite TV show together, or got together to throw back a
few brewskys on a Friday night to celebrate the end of a rough week, this
guy does what the Repukes do best...lies.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Jim__

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 12:32 PM
Response to Original message

8. I wonder if Sam Johnson was tortured as a POW

And, if so, I wonder if he now accepts that that torture was justified because the North Vietnamese found a technical reason why they didn't have to follow the Geneva Convention with respect to American POWs.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Zynx

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-06-05 12:35 PM
Response to Original message

9. What the hell is with Republicans and torture?

Republicans have become obsessed with torture and the death penalty. It's downright disgusting.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Tue Apr 30th 2024, 02:56 PM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Top

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.