Free Republic

John McCain, who has risen to political prominence on his image as a Vietnam POW war hero, has, inexplicably, worked very hard to hide from the public stunning information about American prisoners in Vietnam who, unlike him, didn’t return home. Throughout his Senate career, McCain has quietly sponsored and pushed into federal law a set of prohibitions that keep the most revealing information about these men buried as classified documents. Thus the war hero who people would logically imagine as a determined crusader for the interests of POWs and their families became instead the strange champion of hiding the evidence...

John McCain is finally getting his due respect from President Trump -- his body is being flown to Washington D.C. on an aircraft that had to be approved by POTUS. The late Arizona senator's casket was loaded onto one of the jets known as Air Force 2 -- which is often designated for the VP or First Lady's travel. As you know, 45 will not be attending McCain's service in D.C. ... reportedly because McCain wanted it that way. Still, Trump announced earlier this week he had greenlit military transport for McCain, saying, "At the request of the McCain family,...

John McCain is being hailed by the press as a "genuine war hero." But is he a war hero in the conventional sense like Audie Murphy and John Glenn? Or is his "war hero" status the creation of a very slick publicity campaign that plays on flag, duty, honor and country? For sure, McCain has the fruit salad - a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit for Valor, a Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars, two Commendation medals plus two Purple Hearts and a dozen service gongs. On a purely medal-count basis, he outweighs Murphy and Glenn, who both for...

One of the presidential nominating season's most unusual ideas was proposed again Tuesday, this time by one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress, when Sen. Joseph Biden advocated a "unity" ticket of Democratic Sen. John Kerry and Republican Sen. John McCain.