Gramm-pa McCain's POW Friend: Obama = "A Demagogue," Warns of Holocaust

By GottaLaff

Buzzwords galore:

A former POW companion of John McCain's, campaigning for him yesterday in Pennsylvania, invoked the holocaust in warning about Barack Obama. Colonel Tom Moe, who occupied the adjacent cell to McCain at the Hanoi Hilton, called Barack Obama a dangerous demagogue whose rhetoric could cause a new holocaust while speaking in Harrisburg at the Republican Party headquarters.

So now we have two former POWs who apparently share PTSD symptoms.

The story was reported by David Spett of Capitaolwire (subscription only) yesterday following the controversial event:

"All we have to do is open up the history books and look at what the fruits of demagoguery are," Moe said. "When any individual or group tries to pick up a target of opportunity to blame social problems on ... the results can be catastrophic. And you can choose any point in history that you want."

Asked whether Obama's statements could cause an event like the Holocaust, Moe responded: "If you like."

Abe Amoros, communications director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party:

"Using the Holocaust as a political tool is absolutely reprehensible and, at best, tasteless, disrespectful and insulting," Amoros said. "McCain is no doubt a war hero. But in terms of character, Sen. Obama has demonstrated his character over and over again. He was raised by a single mother, put himself through school, and went to Harvard Law. Here's a guy who knows what it's like to struggle."

Be afraid. Be very afraid. One of the Three Stooges is smearing Obama. What next, a pie in the face and an eye-poke?

H/t: Paddy

Gramm-pa McCain, 1974: "I got a better chance of getting laid."

By GottaLaff

I've just begun reading this piece, thanks to Commenter Mainsailset. As I get further, I'll undoubtedly post more excerpts, but here's a humdinger:

At Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation's capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two former POWs. It's the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that, according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam. [...]

"I'm going to the Middle East," Dramesi says. "Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran."

"Why are you going to the Middle East?" McCain asks, dismissively.

"It's a place we're probably going to have some problems," Dramesi says.

"Why? Where are you going to, John?"

"Oh, I'm going to Rio."

"What the hell are you going to Rio for?"

McCain, a married father of three, shrugs.

"I got a better chance of getting laid."

Dramesi, who went on to serve as chief war planner for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and commander of a wing of the Strategic Air Command, was not surprised. "McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man," Dramesi says today. "But he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in."

I can't wait to read the rest. Stay tuned.

Sydney Schanberg Writes Massive Piece on John McCain Hiding 'POW Secrets'

By GottaLaff

Look what's coming to a Nation near you (apologies ahead of time for the length of the post):

Sydney H. Schanberg, the longtime New York Times reporter and editor and Newsday columnist -- and author of "The Killing Fields" -- has written a 9000-word investigative piece on John McCain and his longstanding efforts to, as Schanberg asserts in his lede, "hide from the public stunning information about the live Vietnam prisoners who, unlike him, didn't return home."

Part of the piece has just gone up at The Nation web site (www.thenation.com) and will appear in its Oct. 6 issue. A full version, with graphics, appears at The Nation Institute site. [...] Now Schanberg criticizes the press for allowing this whole subject to be swept under the rug for so long.

The new piece details the evidence that hundreds may have been left behind, along with McCain promoting federal prohibitions that keep key evidence classified. Schanberg also reveals that he received a personal briefing in 1992 from high-level CIA officials who said intelligence suggested that many men were not freed -- and later executed. He raises several questions about why McCain has acted the way he has but, in any case, strongly believes that McCain owes the voter "some explanations." He also urges reporters to "dig into" the archives and complete "the historical record."

The Nation:

Thus the war hero people would logically imagine to be a determined crusader for the interests of POWs and their families became instead the strange champion of hiding the evidence and closing the books. [...] McCain doesn't talk about the missing men, and the press never asks him about them. [...]

This imposing body of evidence suggests that a large number--probably hundreds--of the US prisoners held in Vietnam were not returned when the peace treaty was signed in January 1973 and Hanoi released 591 men, among them Navy combat pilot John S. McCain. [...]

Two defense secretaries who served during the Vietnam War testified to the Senate POW committee in September 1992 that prisoners were not returned. [...T]hey based their conclusions on strong intelligence data--letters, eyewitness reports, even direct radio contacts. Under questioning, Schlesinger chose his words carefully, understanding clearly the volatility of the issue: "I think that as of now that I can come to no other conclusion...some were left behind."

It goes on in some detail. More eye-popping excerpts:

McCain, whose POW status made him the committee's most powerful member, attended that hearing specifically to confront Alfond because of her criticism of the panel's work. He bellowed and berated her for quite a while. His face turning anger-pink, he accused her of "denigrating" his "patriotism." The bullying had its effect--she began to cry.

After a pause Alfond recovered and tried to respond to his scorching tirade, but McCain simply turned and stormed out of the room. The PAVE SPIKE file has never been declassified. We still don't know anything about those 20 POWs. [...]

McCain has insisted again and again that all the evidence has been woven together by unscrupulous deceivers to create an insidious and unpatriotic myth. He calls it the work of the "bizarre rantings of the MIA hobbyists." He has regularly vilified those who keep trying to pry out classified documents as "hoaxers," "charlatans," "conspiracy theorists" and "dime-store Rambos." Family members who have personally pressed McCain to end the secrecy have been treated to his legendary temper. In 1996 he roughly pushed aside a group of POW family members who had waited outside a hearing room to appeal to him, including a mother in a wheelchair.[...]

It's not clear whether the taped confession McCain gave to his captors to avoid further torture has played a role in his postwar behavior. That confession was played endlessly over the prison loudspeaker system at Hoa Lo--to try to break down other prisoners--and was broadcast over Hanoi's state radio. Reportedly, he confessed to being a war criminal who had bombed a school and other civilian targets. The Pentagon has copies of the confessions but will not release them. Also, no outsider I know of has ever seen a nonredacted copy of McCain's debriefing when he returned from captivity, which is classified but can be made public by McCain. [...]

But even without answers to what may be hidden in the recesses of someone's mind, one thing about the POW story is clear: if American prisoners were dishonored by being written off and left to die, that's something the American public ought to know about.

This guy has so many secrets and is unscrupulous in so many ways, it makes one's head spin. Yet he's being portrayed as a war hero and fawned over endlessly. His military service should not make him immune to questions, and we should not be deprived of honest answers, if that's even possible.

Quote-O'-The-Month: P.O.W. edition

By GottaLaff

From the Department of Suh-NAP:

"I think I can say with authority that the prisoner of war experience is not a good prerequisite for President."

-- Philip Butler, who served as a prisoner of war in Vietnam with John McCain.

How unpatriotically unAmericanly inexperiencedly presumptuous of Philip Butler. Who does he think he is, a P.O.W.?!

Never mind.

People in glass mansions shouldn't throw infantile retorts

By GottaLaff

[Laffy Note: If you want to keep this story going, please Reddit/Digg/Stumbleupon this post by clicking on Share below the post]

John Sidney McCain's Big Pithy Retort to his inanely out-of-touch, memory-challenged ("I think - I'll have my staff get to you...It's condominiums where - I'll have them get to you.") moment: "Oh... Oh yeah? Well, everything you say bounces off me and back on to you, 'cause I'm the sponge and you're the glue! Ha!" That's some comeback, Wittle J Sid.

[T]he press should focus on Obama's house. "It's a frickin' mansion. He doesn't tell people that. You have a mansion you bought in a shady deal with a convicted felon." Says an Obama aide: "It's his Bush grocery scanner moment - but far worse." [...] "That's fair game now," [a McCain spokesman] said. "You are going to see more of that now that this issue has been joined. You'll see more of the Rezko matter from us."

Damage control much? And they're going back to Rezko? Really?

"The reality is they have some investment properties and stuff. It's not as if he lives in ten houses. That's just not the case," Rogers said. "The reality is they have four that actually could be considered houses they could use."

Those four include an apartment in Arlington, a ranch in Sedona, and two condos, in California and Phoenix, he said. The others include "some investment properties and things like that."

Let's see how other Americans invest their money-- oh wait, they don't have any. Here are some examples now! (Is living in 4 boxes elitist?):

He also added: "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," referring to the prisoner of war camp that McCain was in during the Vietnam War. [...] "In terms of who's an elitist, I think people have made a judgment that John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type based on his life story."

Oh no, seriously? They're actually going for the P.O.W. angle on this one? Oh, please, please keep doing that. We arugula-eating, pointy headed professor types would love to see how you tie that to your insignificant four (he thinks) houses and six (he believes) investment properties. While J Sid is rolling in dough, there are a whole lot of veterans who are rolling in wheelchairs. For life.

Now Ambinder's take:

So Obama and the Democrats must use this moment to convince Americans in real time to think differently about McCain. That's one reason their new ad airs on national cable. Cable ads aren't persuasion ads; they're agenda-setting ads.

If McCain's gaffe had been somehow age-related, then they'd have an easier time. The groundwork for the impression already exists.

(Although... Obama's team does accuse McCain of not being able to "remember" how many houses he has...hmm.)

Hmmm. Jugular time.

John Sidney McExploitPOWStatus

By GottaLaff

I took a walk down Memory Lane today. I ran smack dab into June 30, 2008, when MSNBC's Kelly O'Donnell said:

"He [McCain] has refrained from using his P.O.W. status as a credential."

Kelly was wrong. I know that because Memory Lane led me directly to June 30th. June 30th was very fruitful. Oh yes, there were videos and photos, and this very quote:

In the ad, McCain says: "Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war. ... I was shot down over Vietnam and spent five years as a POW. ... I hate war. And I know how terrible its costs are. I'm running for president to keep the country I love safe. I'm John McCain, and I approve this message."

But Memory Lane ended, and here I am on July 28, 2008:

On Monday, though, Mr. McCain and his wife, Cindy, both spoke about it at a fund-raising lunch here in California. [...]

Cindy McMealTicket (in part):

“But what this also brought to mind for me, and put it all in perspective, is that my husband spent five and a half years in a prisoner of war camp,’’ she said. “He was mistreated. He won’t say it, but I will. He was mistreated during those times. He came home and overcame, much like those women did, overcame what had been done to him and what had happened. He reconciled..."

And Exploity McPOW, who "won't say it"... said it:

And one of the times I had that test was years ago, and far way, in a North Vietnamese prison camp, when our North Vietnamese captors came to me and said: You can go home early,’’ he said. “Well my friends, our code of conduct said that we go home in order of capture.’’

For an honorable man, he sure lies a lot.

The Swiftboating of Wesley Clark: The video

By GottaLaff

This pretty much sums up the gigantic ball of ridiculous that all began with this post.

John Sidney McCain: Secretary of P.O.W.s

By GottaLaff

I love Mark's writing. He sums issues up so well, including the needlessly crescendoing Clark story:

On Face the Nation this weekend, Gen. Wesley Clark made the obvious observation that John McCain’s captivity in a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp was not a qualification to be president. McCain’s ordeal was certainly horrific, but not leadership training. Clark’s comments will no doubt be controversial, but the reality is that living in a hut for five years, far removed from any management or policy development responsibilities, does not prepare one for executive leadership positions. McCain has other experience to promote, like his tenure in the Senate, but if he is considered to be qualified to be president solely on the basis of his time spent in jail, then Martha Stewart is qualified to be his Attorney General and Snoop Dogg his Secretary of State.

Or Jack Abramoff as Secretary of the Treasury. Oh, but that would be nepotism.

John Sidney McCain didn't refrain from using POW status after all, now did he?

By GottaLaff

"He [McCain] has refrained from using his P.O.W. status as a credential."

Oops. I guess John Sidney McCain didn't refrain hard enough:


Oh, and this one's no longer available on YouTube:

In the ad, McCain says: "Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war. ... I was shot down over Vietnam and spent five years as a POW. ... I hate war. And I know how terrible its costs are. I'm running for president to keep the country I love safe. I'm John McCain, and I approve this message."

I'm sure there are lots more examples out there. But those would all be erroneous. He's been Swiftboated, but he'd never exploit his P.O.W. status, never. Kelly O'Donnell said so, so it must be true.

MSNBC: "McCain refrained from using POW status as credential"

By GottaLaff

Is this some kind of parallel universe? I just heard this, prior to Obama's speech, on MSNBC (I believe it was Kelly O'Donnell), regarding McCain and the kerfuffle over Clark's remarks:

"He [McCain] has refrained from using his P.O.W. status as a credential."

Ummm...

If I could sit up long enough (shoulder's still fighting me), I'd start digging up YouTubes to the contrary. Paddy?

Oh, and one more tiny inconsequential little detail. Let's clarify something. Swiftboating John Kerry included disputing the facts, his military record, and smearing him with lies. Let's not confuse that with Wes Clark's opinion that being a P.O.W. is not necessarily a qualification for the presidency. Let's not confuse viewers by equating lies and smearing with a statement that did not-- I repeat, did not -- alter the truth.

We can argue about McCain's qualifications, and we should. However, nobody lied about his past. Nobody disputed his P.O.W. status. But arguing about whether that status makes him a better candidate, or a worse one (PTSD, anger management), or discussing whether McCain's stint in the military gives him stratospheric credentials, is perfectly legitimate.

Note to the media: Understanding and reporting the distinction is crucial to fairness and accuracy.

McCain adviser: Public financing dilemma like being POW

By GottaLaff

McCain campaign adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer equates the situation of a candidate locked into public financing with that of a prisoner of war facing possible torture. :

"...John McCain, who wouldn’t take the easy way out, even when his life was on the line as a prisoner of war and he was offered early release and special treatment and he refused to take it because that wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Tell that to all those P.O.W.s and their families. They'll confirm that taking $85 million and being tortured are interchangeable.

What a wonderful spokesperson Ms. Pfotenhauer is.