Posted on 06/30/2008 6:30:18 AM PDT by kristinn
The highest voltage third rail of this presidential campaign may not be race, sex, or age, but Senator John McCain's military service.
McCain's campaign Sunday issued a pair of outraged statements after retired general and Barack Obama supporter Wesley Clark said he didn't think that McCain’s service as a fighter pilot and prisoner of war was relevant to running the country. Obama has consistently praised McCain's service, and called him "a genuine American hero."
But farther to the left—and among some of McCain's conservative enemies as well—harsher attacks are circulating. Critics have accused McCain of war crimes for bombing targets in Hanoi in the 1960s. Sunday, a widely read liberal blog accused McCain of "disloyalty" during his captivity in Vietnam for his coerced participation in propaganda films and interviews after he’d been tortured.
"A lot of people don't know… that McCain made a propaganda video for the enemy while he was in captivity," wrote Americablog's John Aravosis. "Putting that bit of disloyalty aside, what exactly is McCain's military experience that prepares him for being commander in chief?"
"Getting shot down, tortured, and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience," Aravosis wrote in the blog post, entitled "Honestly, besides being tortured, what did McCain do to excel in the military?"
McCain's camp responded sharply to the Americablog posting Sunday night.
"The American people know that John McCain's record of service and sacrifice is not a matter of debate. He has written about and discussed his service as a POW extensively—often in excruciating and painful detail," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers. "The American people will judge harshly anyone who demeans or attacks that service."
McCain has written repeatedly of his service, including a long 1973 magazine article and in his memoir, Faith of My Fathers. A Navy aviator from a military family, he was shot down on his 23rd sortie over Vietnam on October 26, 1967. His mission was to bomb a power plant in the North Vietnamese capital. Already suffering from broken limbs, he was beaten by a crowd before being taken to a POW camp. After being tortured there, he participated in some Vietnamese propaganda efforts.
"I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine," he later wrote.
But he later defied his captors by refusing to meet with anti-war delegations from abroad, he wrote, and also refused the most valuable special treatment he was offered: Early release.
"I did not want to go out of order," he later wrote. He was finally released on March 14, 1973.
Obama and the Democratic establishment haven't challenged McCain's record. Indeed, even Clark's words came in response to a direct question from CBS's Bob Schieffer on the specific relevance of McCain's service to the presidency.
West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller in April cut a bit closer, suggesting that McCain's days as a fighter pilot were themselves a critique of his character.
"What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground?" he asked. "He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."
Rockefeller promptly, abjectly apologized, praising McCain's "honorable and noble service to our country" and deploring his own "inaccurate and wrong analogy." His apology reflected a conventional political wisdom that McCain's heroism is too well established, and a climate of respect for soldiers too strong, for attacks on his service to do anything but backfire.
But Aravosis, who reiterated his criticism in an interview with Politico Sunday night, isn't the only one to test this line of attack.
The newsletter CounterPunch published this April an article by Doug Valentine headed "Meet the Real John McCain: North Vietnam's Go-To Collaborator."
Valentine suggested McCain contemplated suicide—something the candidate has written about, and attributed in part to his guilt at not withstanding torture—because he was a "war criminal" whose bombs fell on civilians.
McCain, who sought—along with Senator John Kerry—to debunk claims that Vietnam still held American prisoners into the 1990s, has been attacked in similar terms by leaders of POW/MIA movement, whom he and Kerry cast as charlatans.
That movement has produced the most outlandish attacks on McCain, including widely dismissed and unsubstantiated claims that McCain was not tortured and a smear casting him as a "Manchurian candidate."
But most of the attacks on McCain's war record are now coming from the left. In a Huffington Post blog, a former editor of Mother Jones magazine, Jeffrey Klein, called—in tones reminiscent of right-wing attacks on Kerry in 2004—on McCain to release elements of his Navy record that the candidate has not made available to the public or the press.
"Some of the unreleased pages in McCain's Navy file may not reflect well upon his qualifications for the presidency," he wrote. As to why, Klein speculated that "From day one in the Navy, McCain screwed-up again and again, only to be forgiven because his father and grandfather were four-star admirals."
David Fenton, a prominent progressive public relations executive who works for MoveOn and other groups, also inquired about details of McCain's Navy sorties, a source familiar with the inquiries told Politico. Fenton declined to comment on the inquiries, and a person familiar with them said they were unconnected to his work for MoveOn.
Some anti-war activists link McCain's current position on Iraq to his time in Vietnam.
"I wouldn't characterize anybody who fought in Vietnam as a war hero," said Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of the theatrical anti-war group Code Pink. "In 23 bombing sorties, there must have been civilians that were killed and there's no heroism to that."
"Anyone who can't look back and admit how wrong it was to be in Vietnam and be killing civilians deserves to be challenged," she said, though she stressed that her group is more focused on McCain's present support for the war in Iraq than on his past.
Benjamin said she had her doubts about whether criticism of McCain's record could catch on, and she's not the only skeptic. Even Valentine, the CounterPunch author, said McCain's wartime experience could only be questioned "off-Broadway."
Others, however, disagree, and the increasing buzz of emails and blog posts—the new equivalent on the left of what, in the 1990s, would have been stirrings on conservative talk radio—suggest that this line of attack won't go away, at least not from elements of the energized pro-Obama grassroots, and from parts of the anti-war left.
A search of Obama’s community website, my.BarackObama.com, finds two posts calling McCain a “war criminal.”
Noam Chomsky, the linguist and activist, said in an email that he thought Americans should question the relevance of McCain's torture in an unjust war to his campaign.
"The questions could scarcely even be understood within the reigning intellectual and moral culture—though I don't doubt that much of the population would understand," Chomsky said.
And Aravosis was unapologetic about his charge of "disloyalty," citing the similar charges levied at Kerry from the right in 2004.
"McCain is running for president of the United States, not the student council. He should stop feigning shock and outrage and start answering some very legitimate questions about his character and his experience," he said in a message to Politico. "Well, the Republicans sported Band-Aids to mock John Kerry's medals from Vietnam. They mocked his injuries in war."
"McCain isn't being mocked, he's being questioned," he said.
For now, that is a minority view on the left. Democrats took from the Vietnam era the lesson that they should not attack soldiers' service, and McCain's Senate colleagues of both parties—including Obama— have expressed deep respect for his service and his suffering. He also worked after the war to heal some of its open wounds, winning the unexpected appreciation of some anti-Vietnam war stalwarts, who are now damping down the attempts to attack his war record.
"I know and like McCain," Tom Hayden, a former California State Senator and prominent anti-war activist, told Politico in an email. "From my own perspective and that of many anti-war activists of that era, the fact that he bombed North Vietnam some 25 times, probably killing civilians, gets blurred with the facts that he suffered through that long prison ordeal, then also went on to promote diplomatic relations between the two countries."
"It's like asking a guy that served his jail term here—you'd say he's done his time so that's behind him," Hayden said.
“Critics have accused McCain of war crimes for bombing targets in Hanoi in the 1960s. Sunday, a widely read liberal blog accused McCain of “disloyalty” during his captivity in Vietnam for his coerced participation in propaganda films and interviews after he’d been tortured.”
They can’t have it both ways.
I think they are hard pressed to make anything bad out of his war record since he spent most of the war as a POW.
But they are welcome to try. I think they will just make fools of themselves, and distract the electorate from its focus on a message that the Dems have any realistic chance of winning.
That pantywaist Wesley Clark may be good at writing papers and looking spiffy in uniform, but he's no warrior. I guess he's trying to kiss a$$ and get the VP slot.
You will eventually hear ALL of Ubama’s supporters trash McCain’s .mil record. All except Ubama himself. And even if the chosen Muslim does slip, the press will cover for him.
blog posts—the new equivalent on the left of what, in the 1990s, would have been stirrings on conservative talk radio—suggest that this line of attack won’t go away, at least not from elements of the energized pro-Obama grassroots, and from parts of the anti-war left.
They will just be talking to themselves except for the occasional moment when one of their rants gets aired and they end up looking like idiots to the general population.
I'm still waiting for some one to tell me something of Obama's experience that is relevant to running the country.
yep.
tom hayden makes me wanna puke.
they treated us like dirt at the university after our military service.
I’m not a McCain fan at all, but the Democrats going after McCain’s military record will backfire on them. Even Bob Beckel said that (former General) Wesley Clark needs to shut up. What sort of military experience does Obama have? LOL!!
Change!
What’s new? I’ve seen critics on this forum (F.R.) attack McCain for making those propaganda films, not lately, thank goodness but I have seen it.
Wasn’t Clark the guy who wanted to start shooting at Russian soldiers at an airport in the Yugoslavian conflict?
Talk about sound judgement. (s)
That’s probably it, Obama is strongly considering Clark as VP. This in their minds lets them neutralize McCain’s service.
What were Kerry's "injuries"?
They are grasping at straws...
And there is nothing in John Sidney McCain's experience that is relevant in running the country. McCain is also loony tunes, but since he has no chance of winning, this is largely ignored.
Both have shown their dislike for this country. Why else vote AGAINST barring terrorists and other criminals from entry into US?
How can you get any further to the left than Obama? Check his voting record, if he moves any farther left he'll fall off the edge of the earth.
Clark is a mouthpiece for the Clintons. If he’s attacking McCain’s war record, its either because the Clintons are trying to play the role of Obama’s attack dog (to ingratiate themselves for post election goodies), or they are trying to sabotage Obama by creating a backlash.
General Hugh Shelton would say of Clark during his 2004 campaign that "the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. I'm not going to say whether I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I'll just say Wes won't get my vote."
Wesley Clark’s military career as the Perfumed General left his nose with the characteristic tint common to those who had theirs up close and personal with Billy Clinton’s orfice.
I'm a veteran and in my case, it already has. I am not happy with McCain and was "undecided" until this happened. I'm not "undecided" anymore. It wasn't very bright for a bunch of liberal punks to attack McCain on this subject. Especially when they have a list a mile long of things that we are not allowed to attack their boy Obama on. Chalk me up for McCain.
Weasely Clark’s nose is so brown, he has a tan..............
So much for not getting personal...
I respect his military service and thank him for his sacrifices. I never claimed I could have done better than he did. However, you can read his own account in his own words in his own book. The man that wants to close Gitmo and claims that torture is ineffective... broke under torture. His message is inconsistent and has been throughout his political career.
He is a man who takes the path of least resistance. I have no respect for him as a politician and fought hard to keep him from the nomination.
However, I am stuck with the choice of him or Obama. McCain is light years ahead of the opposition.
I’m still not voting for McCain.
But as far as his time in the military is concerned, the guy's a f#cking stud....an ass-kicker who endured more than any man should be asked to.
Going after the military record of anyone who lived through what McCain lived through is the most nefarious type of cowardice there is.
I am not a big McCain fan, but attacking McCain’s service to our country is beneath contempt. Democrats have NO love for this country or for those who served.
LOL. I am still not voting for him either.
Not just the democrats, I expect that of them but if you read the replies on this thread you will see that it can be said of some who call themselves conservative.
2. "In a Huffington Post blog, a former editor of Mother Jones magazine, Jeffrey Klein, called—in tones reminiscent of right-wing attacks on Kerry in 2004—on McCain to release elements of his Navy record that the candidate has not made available to the public or the press."
McPain could get a lot of mileage over this issue by challenging B.O. to release both his entire medical records and history going back the same number of years (which to my knowledge he has thus far, refused to do; and,
If Juan had a pair, he would also insist that in order to put the same type of rumors to bed, Obama should release a certified copy of his Birth Certificate.
3. Next, he should unload on Weasel Clark and publish all the dirt and failure this moonbat was involved in including his almost getting us into a shooting war with Russia; his getting fired from NATO, etc., and make a point of asking is this the type of person who should be speaking and advising B. O.?
4. Last but not least, he should point out B.O.'s never having worn the uniform and question what he (as well as Bill Clinton) had done to qualify them to be Commander-in-Chief?
The guys who knew McCain and experienced the same things he did, have nothing but praise for his behavior.
Barack Obama was supposed to be another matter. Obama has ascended on a cloud of pure moral superiority and nothing else. That has now evaporated, thanks to impolitic comments from his wife and the news that he has for two decades belonged to what amounts to a racist cult. Obama has nothing else to offer in the way of experience or achievements. Beyond his current difficulties, there lie his continuing and as yet unexplained entanglement with Tony Rezko (He barely knew the man, he insists. All he did was show Rezko his new house before closing. I always clear major purchases with people I scarcely know, don’t you?), along with pending revelations concerning his relationship with Bill Ayers, a former terrorist who began his career as one of the driving forces of the Weather Underground.
Obama’s response, his “Kennedyesque” speech on race, was in fact purely Clintonian in that it attempted to transform his failings into virtues while placing the blame on the country as a whole.
The question becomes one of judgment, character, integrity, honesty and intelligence.
Barack Obamas political FRAUD against the American People continues
It did for me. I was one who wasn't even sure I could hold my nose, but after seeing how they are treating his military record (which is a reflection of the left's treatment of the military in general), I've decided I'll do whatever I can to keep that cabal out of the White House, even if it means actually supporting McCain, not just pulling the lever.
We have democratic friends and the husband was also a pilot and flew missions in Vietnam. He says McCain was shot down because he screwed up so he shouldn’t be called a hero.
It was inevitable that the media-left would deploy its cherished Vietnam myth on behalf of Obama.
This will reach massive proportions before the election, probably with tear-jerker interviews of alleged victims of McCain’s missions, and the whole panoply of 70s and 80s veteran-bashing.
Medea Benjamin’s statement is straightforward Radio Hanoi propaganda from that period, while Valentine’s claim that McCain comtemplated suicide because of guilt over bombing civilians is a classically pure invocation of the myth.
The left seethes with jealousy because the feet of clay on their war ‘heroes’ like Kerry reach all the way up to the neck.
Well, Clark did command an infantry company in Vietnam and win the Silver Star for valor...but that doesn’t make him any less of a scumbag dillweed.
And this simpleton has been a Senator for how long? These are the dolts in charge of our nation and the Demoncrap party. Congratulations Mr. Rockefeller, that might be one of the single most idiotic statements I've ever seen a politician make. I don't care if you "apologized" for it later. What a dunce.
What happened when we left Vietnam and abandoned our promises to them? Millions died, Senator. Do you care about that? Probably not, since they were killed by your bloodthirsty commie pals.
Maybe after McCain shot his missiles and dropped his bombs, he should have bailed out each time to check for civilian casualties.
“’I wouldn’t characterize anybody who fought in Vietnam as a war hero,” said Medea Benjamin’”
I wouldn’t spit on this pig if she were on fire. There is still time to settle with Vietnam era traitors like Benjamin, Hayden, and Chomsky (though probably not with Ted Kennedy). Give it ten years and the media-industrial complex will be weakened to the point where real justice can be done.
Do what you must.
You know, it has occurred to me tht there may be a catfight brewing in the Obama camp between Clark and the equally odious and useless Merrill McPeak.
It gets worse: I’m pretty sure that if Clark is the VP choice, Merrill McPeak goes to SecDef. If not, Clark is SecDef and McPeak is SecAF. That’s a nightmare scenario, it’ll be close order fussing about at the Pentagon for four years minimum.
Nice to see Chomsky's still an egalitarian man of the people.
I think the Obama Bus still has a little room underneath it for Weasley. Barry may need to kick his whitey grandma over a little though.
So, you’ll be writing in George Wshington?
Welcome to the party and thanks for your service.
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