Why Does POW Translate into Qualifications for CIC?

Why does being a POW (or having any military service) translate into an "expert" on military affairs? Abe Lincoln had no military education background but Jeff Davis did (West Point, Mexican War, etc.). The south came very close to winning except Jeff kept sticking his nose into affairs, coddling incompetent generals who were friends, etc. Abe, once he selected "someone who would fight" (Grant) promised not to interfere in Grant's work. A year later Grant, and his right hand Sherman, delivered the south on a silver platter to Abe. Bottom line: I thought one ran for "President of the US". I didn't know CIC was on the ballot. It comes down to having the brains once one goes into the Oval Office to select people who know their job and are not there just to kiss ass (note: Abe's cabinet was the "Team of Rivals". They were men who openly opposed Abe but Abe didn't want ass kissers. He wanted real info and guidance). Johnny is not "entitled" to be President just because he was a POW.

for that matter, a military career is not a prequisite, either.

being voted in (or appointed by SCOTUS) is about the only qualification you need, as we've seen.

Indeed, as long as you got the Supremes in your pocket it doesn't even matter if you were AWOL!

And it definitely does not make one a hero when they have been a POW. There is no record of McCain saving anyone while a POW or while on active duty.

I wonder how many on the ships he was stationed on will vote for him?


I really despise it when hero is used loosely. Referring to sport players as heroes.

and an immediate release because of his father - and didn't take it. That is an incredible thing to have done - even though he didn't know it would be 5 years - after all getting out was in BOTH party platforms in 1968.

It does relate to character - but it is not alone a good reason/

Its something I dont understand, but something that is hard to say in public.

which he did, sometimes in writing. I assume you have read the brilliant book, "Team of Rivals". Shows what an inspired leader can do to put people behind his cause. Obama can and will do the same thing, I think.

I have an unusual hobby for a woman (well, me and the president of Harvard). I'm a Civil War buff. I read the book. I've read 10's of thousands of pages on the war, attended seminars all over the country, walked battlefields, graveyards, dug through the official records of the war (battlefield order by battlefield order) and dug into the politics of it all...........good god, has it given me an even deeper understanding of what we are up against (the mentality) of this nation. It's in the nation's DNA. Had an author (who is associated with another well known author) fly in for a visit a few days ago because of something I dug up in a graveyard that he is interested in and because of a piece of info I found in a letter of Lee's that highlights an after-the-war realtionship he had (or didn't) with his #1 general. If George had been leading the south, Abe could have won in 3 weeks!!!

I wrote my first "book" at age five--a history of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. My grandmothers told of their grandparents fighting during the War, and the hardships they suffered because of it. Both fought for the North, btw. When I was older, I obtained the pension application records of my great great grandfathers and their brothers and brothers-in-law, and actually traced where one of them served. I have been to Civil War re-enactments--bet you know how excited re-enactors get when a descendant of someone who served in their regiment comes around. I have been to long forgotten family cemeteries to play "Retreat" and have saluted the graves. I have known and sung Civil War songs since I was five as well. Love to read about your doings!

I've been raising exactly the same question... no disrespect intended, but ya know???

He graduated 5th from the bottom of his class at the Belly Button Academy (which probably had to admit him as the son and grandson of admirals).

He wrecked at least three aircraft including two A4 skyhawks.

It is estimated that he spent less than one day in combat before being shot down.

That was a story in his bio that I was unaware of until recently. They almost lost the entire ship when his plane caught fire. Is he just cursed with bad luck, or what?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_USS_Forrestal_fire

How often this thought has gone through my mind...........remember Ann Coulture (sp.?) remark about Max Cleland having his limbs blown off because he was "clumsy" and all the red necks thought it was great to taunt a vet like that? Well, then cannot we ask "maybe Johnny wouldn't have been shot down if he was any kind of pilot and knew how to fly a plane". Had a relative who was a fighter pilot over there at the same time and flew untold missions with dog fights every day. He did several tours and duty and never shot down once.

Crashed a plane into Corpus Christi Bay while in training but graduated anyway.

Lost another one in Spain when he flew too low and became entangled in some power lines.

Dumped one into a grove of trees on a flight to the army-navy game in Phila and parachuted onto a nearby beach.

An A4 occupied by McCain was struck by a torpedo on the deck of the Forestall and caught fire (this one probably wasn't his fault).

Was shot down in October 1967 in another A4.

I feel bad that he was imprisoned for five years but could a better pilot have avoided it?

Some estimates are that McCain actually spent less than 24 hours in combat before being captured.

His conduct revealed certain very positive aspects of his character ...

But that is irrelevant to the question: Does this man have a sense of how to lead the country out of this tar pit, or are his policies doomed to mire us more deeply? McCain is a good guy for a conservative ... the problem is, he has no freakin' idea how to clean up this mess. We need a change.

As a prisoner of war, Senator McCain declined an offer of early release by his Vietnamese captors, extending his stay at the Hanoi Hilton by almost four years and nine months. During that time, his father continued to approve air strikes against Hanoi, knowing his son was there. Now comes Jimmy McCain, putting himself in the line of fire even as his father calls for more troops to be sent to war.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1220528,00.html

the fact is that the United States government policy of going to war against communism remains to be a total failure. You have to wonder how a Vietnam vet looks at the fact that Walmart and Toy R Us are filled with items from communist China. We are now doing business with Vietnam and South Korea wants normal relations with the North and the efforts against Cuba remains to be a failure. IMO policy wars are never justified. We should only go to war when another country attacks us, not a band of criminal terrorists.

Check out this article:

http://www.counterpunch.org/valentine06132008.html

He did a one or two month stint with Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War.

Shooting guns and dropping bombs doesn't guarantee one has learned any important lessons.