Posted on 05/14/2008 5:12:31 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate to become the next US president, is prone to uncontrollable fits of rage which those in his camp worry could be a liability, both in November's election and the job itself.
His wife has defended his outbursts as signs of "passion". But even some of his friends and supporters worry that displays of irrational anger could prove disastrous if he became the most powerful man in the world, with a thermonuclear arsenal at his fingertips.
A member of one of Washington's most respected Republican families told Sky News: "Everyone in Washington's political circles has a McCain story - a moment when they have suddenly witnessed him losing it for a few seconds.
"He flies off the handle without warning."
Stories of Mr McCain's flashes of temper are not new, which is why his wife recently felt obliged to defend him with the "he feels passionately about some things" comment.
But it has not quieted the concern that a man who may sometimes behave irrationally could soon occupy the Oval Office.
Some McCain supporters excuse his outbursts as a result of his years of torture as a prisoner of the Vietnamese more than 30 years ago.
That experience should make the Pentagon brass the senator's natural allies, but generals as high as the joint chiefs of staff have privately expressed concern about having Mr McCain as their commander-in-chief.
One was recently quoted as saying: "We really do not want someone calling the shots who reacts either in anger or passion.
"Decisions need to be taken dispassionately."
An American reporter who accompanied Mr McCain when he returned to Vietnam for the first time since he was a prisoner of war there tells a story of a Vietnamese boy who approached the senator and tugged at his arm to attract his attention.
"McCain lost it for a few seconds," he said.
"It was unexpected and irrational. Fortunately for him, there were no cameras rolling. His staff said he was tired. He was certainly aggressively angry," the reporter told Sky News.
Once the Democrats have settled on their candidate for November's presidential election, the campaign is likely to become nasty and personal, and Mr McCain's behaviour will come under much closer scrutiny.
Barack Obama is favourite to get the nod, even though Hillary Clinton has scored a crushing win in West Virginia's primary.
Senator Clinton vowed to fight on after routing her rival by 67% to 26%.
Regarding your tagline, what happens if Obama is elected with a fillibuster-proof congress?
What's new!
You McCain shills have been calling people on it for months.
CharacterCounts - embedded since 9/11/1998.
Sorry bud but I have been supporting this website for a long time, mainly financial, and I don’t post much. I vote conservative with my pocketbook and don’t need you to define me.
You vote McCain and I will vote for my favorite: Eugene the Mule. My buddy’s mule will make a great president. My buddy and I have decided he will be a better choice than the alternatives.
Count the owner of this website as a McCain hater as well (prayers for Jim and his family...).
And as for leftist media, McCain’s temper outbursts have been discussed by his own fellow Senators! Including Republicans! Give it a break.
Add CNN, MSNBC, the NYT, and a few others. That should get a few votes.
Wow! A McCain supporter calling everyone else stupid. What a shock! No one defends McCain: they only state that Obama is worse.
Let me introduce you to a word I teach my children about: principles.
One principle: don't berate people, be a gentleman. A second: don't reward bad behavior: let people live with the consequences of their actions.
No, in fact, we keep voting RINOs in and they keep stabbing us in the back. At some point it is time to say "I've had enough."
As I have stated, voting for John McCain will be like letting Lucy hold the football again. Do you really think she won't pull it away at the last moment!?!
I seem to recall one of the current candidates was once described as being prone to throwing household appliances at family members (well, one family member, to be precise). It wasn’t John McCain.
McCain has flaws, to be sure. I’m not sure his bad-ass attitude is one of them.
Again, Barack Hussein Obama could do more damage, with a Democrat Congress and Senate, than McCain could ever DREAM of doing. GROW UP.
Twice in a row I have been called a child. You McCain guys just keep on going like little bunnies, never imagining that there is a different, valid, opinion.
I have never even imagined calling you a child for voting for McCain. However, I will call you to task and ask for some level of maturity for debate. I doubt that will matter but there it is.
I would never allow my kids to talk to someone like the McCain supporters insist on dealing with other posters.
Here we go again...you couldn’t deal with Guiliani voters, can’t deal with McCain voters....you know what that’s called in the real world? BEING CHILDISH. So, I repeat..GROW UP. The Conservative candidates (such as they were) LOST. They lost. We have what we have, now it’s up to us to watch over McCain and actually do something.
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