John Mc Cain

Pa ElGrande

In his bestselling 1999 autobiography, Faith of My Fathers, McCain says he felt bad throughout his captivity because he knew he was being treated more leniently than his fellow POWs, owing to his high-ranking father and thus his propaganda value. Other prisoners at Hoa Lo say his captors considered him a prize catch and called him the "Crown Prince," something McCain acknowledges in the book.

Also in this memoir, McCain expresses guilt at having broken under torture and given the confession. "I felt faithless and couldn't control my despair," he writes, revealing that he made two "feeble" attempts at suicide. (In later years, he said he tried to hang himself with his shirt and guards intervened.) Tellingly, he says he lived in "dread" that his father would find out about the confession. "I still wince," he writes, "when I recall wondering if my father had heard of my disgrace."

He says that when he returned home, he told his father about the confession, but "never discussed it at length"—and the Admiral, who died in 1981, didn't indicate he had heard anything about it before. But he had. In the 1999 memoir, the Senator writes: "I only recently learned that the tape... had been broadcast outside the prison and had come to the attention of my father. "

In 1996, McCain roughly pushed aside a group of POW family members, including a mother in a wheelchair, who had waited outside a hearing room to appeal to him. Is McCain haunted by these memories? Does he suppress POW information because its surfacing would rekindle his feelings of shame? On this subject, all I have are questions.

Many stories have been written about McCain's explosive temper, so volcanic that colleagues are loathe to speak openly about it. One veteran Congressman who has observed him over the years asked for confidentiality and made this brief comment: "This is a man not at peace with himself."

He was certainly far from calm on the Senate POW committee. He browbeat expert witnesses. who came with information about unreturned POWs. Family members who have personally faced McCain and pressed him to end the secrecy also have been treated to his legendary temper. He has screamed at them, insulted them, brought women to tears. Mostly his responses to them have been versions of: How dare you question my patriotism? In 1996, he roughly pushed aside a group of POW family members, including a mother in a wheelchair, who had waited outside a hearing room to appeal to him.


But even without answers to what may be hidden in the recesses of McCain'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.

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They wanted a statement saying that I as sorry for the crimes that I had committed against North Vietnamese people and that I was grateful for the treatment that I had received from them. This was the paradox — so many guys were so mistreated to get them to say they were grateful. But this is the Communist way.

I held out for four days. Finally, I reached the lowest point of my 5 1/2 years in North Vietnam. I was at the point of suicide because I saw that I was reaching the end of my rope. I said, O.K. I’ll write for them.

They took me up into one of the interrogation rooms, and for the next 12 hours we wrote and rewrote. The North Vietnamese interrogator, who was pretty stupid, wrote the final confession, and I signed it. It was in their language, and spoke about black crimes and other generalities. It was unacceptable to them. But I felt just terrible about it. I kept saying to myself “Oh, God, I really didn’t have a choice.” I had learned what we all learned over there.” Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine.

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Not even his own stories of his capture and torture are consistent. The Pentagon has a copy of the confession but refuses to release it thanks to John McCain’s self-serving legislation.

CruelCoin

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

He had that looper from alaska as his running mate.

He mentioned in a book recently released how he regretted taking her on, and then she was told to stay away from the funeral.

2 Scoops

rossie1977 wrote: »

It's incredible how far to the right the Republicans has shifted in a decade.

According to Pew Research, the opposite is true. It's the Liberal Democrats who've become more extreme in the past 20 years.

http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/10/05162647/10-05-2017-Political-landscape-release.pdf

nacho libre

Irish Praetorian wrote: »

That sarcastic post was exactly the kind of lazy vision I was talking about. From that post one might ascribe the clapped out narrative of the US being in Vietnam for the purpose of just being evil for evil's sake. I would also disagree with your characterization of my view on history; my posts demonstrate quite amply I've no problem criticising US conduct and policy throughout history - simply refuse the simplistic 'good v bad' vision others proffer.

i wonder if a thread was opened up about Russia, with the, as you put it, simplistic good v evil narrative proffered by others, would you go on similar crusade to show the situation was a bit more nuanced than depicted by some right-wing posters denouncing Russia as evil incarnate.

Taytoland

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

Being anti mass-murder is 'hard left'?

What a truly dumb way to think.

Interesting you don't have any issue the words American terrorism or think that's silly at all.

Looks like we have another one here.

Or the IRA which he drools over.