I don't think McCain was a hero

How in the world is being a POW a hero or a qualification for commander in chief?

If you were captured by a sadist, what would you do? You would probably do the same thing as McCain -- try to survive, maybe think about suicide a couple times, and sign a confession in order to get out. That's not heroism, that's survival instinct.

If you were a POW and did not yet love the United States, you would be like McCain and say, "I didn't really love America until I was deprived of her company." Of course, even Alaska secessionists would love our country if they were comparing it to a communist camp for prisoners of war!

If you were a POW, you would be like McCain and spend years in misery, gaining virtually no skills or knowledge that could serve you as President. What did McCain learn as a POW, except how to survive? It wasn't like he was studying or practicing international relations. In fact, it didn't even make him more compassionate. He has a poor record when it comes to helping our troops and veterans.

He was a victim. He was a survivor. But, he was not a hero. Heroes save people. McCain didn't have the opportunity because he became a POW just a few months after he entered the field of combat. That may not be fair, but life is not fair.

Let's save the word "hero" for people who go beyond the call of duty. Let's save the word hero for people who risk their lives not because they are doing their job, but because they elected to do something beyond the job requirements. And at the very least let's remember that being a POW is in no way a qualification for President.

McCain is a victim. He's a survivor. But, he's not a hero.

Republicans seem unwilling to ever concede that anyone other than a Republican can be a war hero.

But so what?

They're not sufficient to make him a better choice than Obama.

Is every POW a hero? Is a kidnap victim a hero? Is the person who is stuck in a car for 5 days before s/he is found a hero?

And what qualifications does being a POW provide?

a kid falls in a well. Everyone was calling him a hero except Lisa, who questioned the logic.

We need more Lisa's.

Plus I love the Simpsons! :rofl:

My FIL was a German POW and it rendered him suitable for nothing; in fact it changed his feelings about himself and his country forever. A hero? I'm afraid not... rather the opposite.

Merely putting on a uniform does not make you a hero. Doing what you have to do to survive does not make you a hero.

A hero is the person who puts him or herself at risk to help someone else. The people who risked their own lives to try and save Jews during WWII were heroes. The pilot who put his helicopter down between out of control troops and fleeing villagers at MyLai was a hero. But getting your plane shot down and doing what you have to do to survive in a prison camp doesn't make you a hero.

It's like John Stewart said the other night, if being tortured in a prison camp qualifies a person to be president then we should call Guantanamo a leadership camp.

:thumbsup:

He had to DO something to be a hero. From his speech, he claimed to have turned down an offer for an early release (I think that would have required him to provide propagada, but I'm not sure about that). Other than that, he didn't do anything the other POWs didn't do, too. They just tried to survive.

Of course, I am NOT unbiased - I think the guy is wrong to use the POW stuff for political advantage. Being a POW is not a qualification for ANY elected office. Gen. Wesley Clark said the same in an interview and just got crucified in the media.

IMO, here's McCain's military history: lazy son of a Navy admiral gets a spot in the Naval Academy via connections, arrives in a new corvette (see CNN bio on him), violates all the rules and makes bad grades there, but doesn't get kicked out (Daddy, again); graduates almost at the bottom of his class, but gets to be a pilot anyway; gets to dress up in sexy white uniform and chase women; goes to Vietnam; is reckless and gets shot down (a guy I know is a pilot and says he got shot down because he was careless); he is damn lucky he lands in a lake instead of on land; gets caught and is lucky he is not killed right on the spot, but is saved (again for propaganda 'cause of Daddy's position); and the rest of the POW tenure; then, he comes home, has affair with young, moneybags Cindy, ditches wife Carol, disfigured in car accident; gets plum liaison job (again, Daddy's connections); runs for office, blah, blah, blah. Votes with Bush 90% of the time. No "maverick" - just a SPOILED BRAT.

You nailed it.

I served along side A-4 pilots like McSame
and most of them were egotistic frat brat types
who imagined themselves to be heroic military figures.
Hero's? Hardly.
They drop bombs on people they can't even see,
fly back and dine on fine china w/linen napkins
at the end of the day like proper "gentlemen".

which would make you UNQUALIFIED to be President