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Getting to Know John McCain
WSJ ^ | April 30th, 2008 | KARL ROVE

Posted on 04/29/2008 10:04:33 PM PDT by The_Republican

It came to me while I was having dinner with Doris Day. No, not that Doris Day. The Doris Day who is married to Col. Bud Day, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton.

As we ate near the Days' home in Florida recently, I heard things about Sen. McCain that were deeply moving and politically troubling. Moving because they told me things about him the American people need to know. And troubling because it is clear that Mr. McCain is one of the most private individuals to run for president in history.

When it comes to choosing a president, the American people want to know more about a candidate than policy positions. They want to know about character, the values ingrained in his heart. For Mr. McCain, that means they will want to know more about him personally than he has been willing to reveal.

Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I told you I would make you a cripple."

The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at "a goofy angle," as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; mccain; nocinmoh; rove

1 posted on 04/29/2008 10:04:33 PM PDT by The_Republican
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To: The_Republican
One night, a Vietnamese guard loosened his bonds, returning at the end of his watch to tighten them again so no one would notice. Shortly after, on Christmas Day, the same guard stood beside Mr. McCain in the prison yard and drew a cross in the sand before erasing it. Mr. McCain later said that when he returned to Vietnam for the first time after the war, the only person he really wanted to meet was that guard.

Goosebumps.

2 posted on 04/29/2008 10:11:18 PM PDT by T. Buzzard Trueblood ("a wee bit silly." -Lord Trimble on Hillary Clinton's claim of foreign policy "experience".)
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To: The_Republican
Thanks for the post TR, a very moving report.
3 posted on 04/29/2008 10:18:34 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: The_Republican

Getting to know McCain is irrelevant. He is the republican offering to the general public, we have no other choice as conservatives. He is a liberal in sheep’s clothing.. Our other choices are even worse. Just because he suffered, suffered beyond anything most of us could survive, doesn’t make him the best choice for POTUS, just our only choice.

I know I will get hammered for this post; however, the future of the US is at stake, and we have no choices!


4 posted on 04/29/2008 10:24:18 PM PDT by doc1019 (Acts 16:31, Romans 10:13 ... nuff said.)
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To: The_Republican
That is such a great story, It almost makes me forget about the Keating 5, and the Gang of 14, and “it's not amnesty,” and every shiv in the back, from the selfish whore Sen. John McCain. Any nobility he may have had in his soul, he sold to the highest bidder years ago. He's as evil as Hillary but with a smaller pair.
5 posted on 04/29/2008 10:28:44 PM PDT by Ratblaster (HILLARY 08 Bring Back the Crooked Hillbillies)
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To: The_Republican

I’m going to vote for him, I’m just not going to enjoy it.


6 posted on 04/30/2008 1:59:08 AM PDT by muir_redwoods (Free Sirhan Sirhan, after all, the bastard who killed Mary Jo Kopechne is walking around free)
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To: The_Republican

Interesting stories...certainly gives us a glimpse into the John McCain of 35 years ago.


7 posted on 04/30/2008 2:12:25 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat (Just Say Nobama!)
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To: doc1019
We have choices: McCain, the Democrat candidate (somehow, it will be Hillary), not voting, or voting for a fringe candidate.

McCain and Hillary are close on a lot of issues.

So conservatives can moan that the Republicans haven't nominated one of us (who would lose), but rather a "maverick", who does appeal to some Democrats and independents.

This article tells us McCain has, or at least had, a lot of integrity, honor and faith. We know Hillary has none of the above.

For me, that's a no brainer in the voting booth.

8 posted on 04/30/2008 6:51:45 AM PDT by Dilbert56 (Harry Reid, D-Nev.: "We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war.")
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