"If it really were country first, John McCain would probably be walking around without one or two arms or legs — or he'd be dead."

By GottaLaff

Noun. Verb. POW truthiness. "Make-Believe Maverick" gives us the actual truth:

The Code of Conduct that governed POWs was incredibly rigid; few soldiers lived up to its dictate that they "give no information . . . which might be harmful to my comrades." Under the code, POWs are bound to give only their name, rank, date of birth and service number — and to make no "statements disloyal to my country."

Soon after McCain hit the ground in Hanoi, the code went out the window. "I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital," he later admitted pleading with his captors. McCain now insists the offer was a bluff, designed to fool the enemy into giving him medical treatment. In fact, his wounds were attended to only after the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a Navy admiral. What has never been disclosed is the manner in which they found out: McCain told them. According to Dramesi, one of the few POWs who remained silent under years of torture, McCain tried to justify his behavior while they were still prisoners. "I had to tell them," he insisted to Dramesi, "or I would have died in bed."

Dramesi says he has no desire to dishonor McCain's service, but he believes that celebrating the downed pilot's behavior as heroic — "he wasn't exceptional one way or the other" — has a corrosive effect on military discipline. "This business of my country before my life?" Dramesi says. "Well, he had that opportunity and failed miserably. If it really were country first, John McCain would probably be walking around without one or two arms or legs — or he'd be dead." [...]

Only two weeks after his capture, the North Vietnamese press issued a report — picked up by The New York Times — in which McCain was quoted as saying that the war was "moving to the advantage of North Vietnam and the United States appears to be isolated." He also provided the name of his ship, the number of raids he had flown, his squadron number and the target of his final raid.

Code of Conduct broken. Code of honor out the window.

John McCain - POW Bros

Snort.

P.O.W. Card: Don't leave home without it

By GottaLaff

Maybe Jim Webb and Russ Feingold should get one:

Noun. Verb. P.O.W.

H/t: Anonymous commenter

Rachel Maddow Puts The Hurt On Buchanan

She looked really tired, but did not give up. Very Rachel friendly crowd there.

Pocket Full Of POW

Advisors say if Obama gets "nastier" on that issue that opens the door for them. Advisors say the "Rezko deal stinks to the high heavens." They will be prepared to show McCain's "home" in Hanoi by using images of his cell. They claim they have not overused the POW element and insist they have "underused it." They say Americans think most people in presidential politics are wealthy and will point out that Obama "made himself a multi-millionaire after he entered public life."

I'm gobsmacked. VIA TPM & John Cole.

McCain Just Did It Again

Just now on FTN they played a clip of an interview McCain did yesterday- "I spent many years without a kitchen table" he tells Katie Couric when asked about the houses.

Even MoDo thinks he's overdoing it.

McCain Response To "Seven"? A Noun, A Verb, P.O.W.

Lame as lame.

"This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

Gotta covered it here.

Interesting note- at 11a when I caught the video right after it had been put up on YouTube it had 2 views. Now 4 and a bit hours later it is up to 75,379.