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Did John McCain Say He Didn't Really Love America?
Talking Points Memo ^ | 6/19/08

Posted on 06/20/2008 9:58:18 AM PDT by mngran2

Yes he did.

On his show tonight, Dan Abrams drew attention to a quote from John McCain in an interview with Sean Hannity that flew under the radar for the past 3 months:

HANNITY: -- and then I understand you didn't get any medical help for nine days. You spent two years of this five-and-a-half-year period in solitary confinement. What does that do to a person, to spend that much time in solitary confinement?

MCCAIN: I think it makes you a better person. Obviously, it makes you love America. I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company, but probably the most important thing about it, Sean, is that I was privileged to have the opportunity to serve in the company of heroes.

In light of all of the political hay that the repubs have made out of Michelle Obama saying that seeing such enthusiasm in this election cycle had caused her to be really proud of America for the first time in her adult life, I think it is worth giving a second look. Does anybody think McCain didn't love America before he was a POW? No. It's interesting that both McCain and Obama used the qualifier "really" in their statements... although Michelle's comments are oft repeated without the "really." It's interesting how when lines fit or don't fit particular scripts the are or are not noticed. Obama's comment were pounced upon almost immediately, while McCain's comment wasn't noticed for 3 months.


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2008; election; mccain; michelle; oppositionresearch; patriotism; rino
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To: pnh102
Obviously he was expressing that he did not appreiate the US, and took it for granted, before he was captured.

Marxist Michelle can stuff it!

She needs to denigrate a real American in order keep her cover?

We know who she is, and she will slip up again, never fear.

61 posted on 06/20/2008 10:34:45 AM PDT by roses of sharon ( (Who will be McCain's maverick?))
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To: mngran2

Talkign Points Memo blog is run by a liberal. It’s garbage.


62 posted on 06/20/2008 10:35:03 AM PDT by library user
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To: mngran2
Does this sound as bad to others as it does to me?

It would if I were a complete illiterate boob.

Does it pretty much put an end to the Michelle comments controversy?

Not hardly, sonny. Better luck next time.
63 posted on 06/20/2008 10:35:14 AM PDT by Antoninus (Every second spent bashing McCain is time that could be spent helping Conservatives downticket.)
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To: pnh102
I don’t see the big deal. A lot of Americans, when they go abroad for the first time to a turd world country for any reason, develop a newfound appreciation for this country.

Yep, I always get kind of a lump in my throat when the Customs person says, "Welcome home."

64 posted on 06/20/2008 10:35:29 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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To: mngran2

we haven’t left the word REALLY out of MO’s comments; she did. She said she wasn’t proud at 2 separate occassions. Once w/ really and once without.


65 posted on 06/20/2008 10:36:07 AM PDT by spacejunkie01
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To: mngran2

http://www.logicalfallacies.info/accent.html


66 posted on 06/20/2008 10:36:55 AM PDT by tumblindice
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To: A_perfect_lady

The men McCain was imprisoned with did all they could to survive the torture they endured. Tortures that the Obamas try to say are like the struggles that Black Americans faced in the 1960s.

But the men McCain was with did things like stitch together their own US flag. The man who made that flag was beaten by guards over it. And when they took it from him, he made another one.

The Obamas show open disdain for our flag. Have they suddenly come to love it and America? I think not.


67 posted on 06/20/2008 10:38:18 AM PDT by weegee (In 1988 Lenora Fulani was the 1st black woman to appear on presidential ballots in all 50 states)
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To: mngran2

I am one of the greatest McCain detractors on FreeRepublic and even I do not find problems with this statement and I understand what he meant.


68 posted on 06/20/2008 10:38:23 AM PDT by SoConPubbie (GOP: If you reward bad behavior all you get is more bad behavior.)
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To: mngran2

You’ll rarely find me in the position of defending McCain, as he is the bane of my conservative existance; HOWEVER, his statements, when compared to Michelle Obama’s have a totally different meaning.

First, the qualifier business is just asinine with respect to proud. Either you are proud or you’re not. People love things, without “really” loving them all the time. McCain’s point was, it wasn’t until he was separated from America’s freedoms, opportunities, comfortable way of life that he really came to a fuller appreciation of them.


69 posted on 06/20/2008 10:43:54 AM PDT by IMissPresidentReagan (In John McCain's eyes, conservatives are the Viet Cong of this generation and he treats us as such.)
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To: mngran2
Does this sound as bad to others as it does to me?

LOL - no. Actions speak louder than any self-proclaimed patriot's words, and John McCain was fighting for and sacrificing for his country when he came to his realization. Obviously he loved his country deeply, though he didn't realize how much till he thought he'd never see it again.

Does it pretty much put an end to the Michelle comments controversy?

The mainstream media has pronounced that controversy over, now that Clinton is out of the race. It's full court press for Obama now by the media.
70 posted on 06/20/2008 10:46:24 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: mngran2
This is really grasping at straws for the McCain haters. How anyone can make something out of McCain's statement about finding how much he loved America when he was a prisoner of war is beyond me.

What it does prove is the lengths some will go to when they have an irrational hate of someone else.

71 posted on 06/20/2008 10:46:57 AM PDT by billva
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To: mngran2

First, we know that no Democrat loves America because of their anti-American ideology. Second, Barak and Michelle Obama are Black nationalists determined to destroy America, so they hate our country even more than most Democrats. Third, what John McCain meant (and what he should have said) was that he loved America more when he was in VN than before when he was just a privileged, playboy, hot shot naval flyer.


72 posted on 06/20/2008 10:48:02 AM PDT by FFranco
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To: mngran2

No, he did not!


73 posted on 06/20/2008 10:48:45 AM PDT by 1035rep
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To: billva

Very nicely and accurately put


74 posted on 06/20/2008 10:48:45 AM PDT by Hegewisch Dupa
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To: johnny7
Properly put... to bad that FreeRepublic has to clean up for him.

Thank you. That was my point all along. I think there's clearly a difference between these two statements, but now you have to explain context, meaning, etc. to viewers/readers/voters so it doesn't make it as easy to simply play the Michelle quote and leave it at that.

75 posted on 06/20/2008 10:49:47 AM PDT by mngran2
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To: calex59

I lived in London in the 70’s as a young man. I had been conditioned by the MSM to think America was responsible for everything wrong in the world.

Being away changed all that. I wasn’t tortured either. I was just given perspective. McCain got perspective in much bigger doses.


76 posted on 06/20/2008 10:50:06 AM PDT by Soliton (Investigate, educate, then opinionate.)
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To: mngran2

He was making the classic “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” statement. Any other interpretation would be rooted in retardation.


77 posted on 06/20/2008 10:50:20 AM PDT by Niteranger68 (Obama is the feces created when shame eats too much stupidity.)
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To: TribalPrincess2U
Yes, same difference, so libs— try again, losers

Oh, and they will.   

78 posted on 06/20/2008 10:50:44 AM PDT by 1035rep
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To: txroadkill

I’m moved.

God is so good, isn’t He?


79 posted on 06/20/2008 10:52:28 AM PDT by spacejunkie01
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To: A_perfect_lady

I wish more people understood that...good explanation!


80 posted on 06/20/2008 10:52:44 AM PDT by FlashBack (www.proudpatriots.org/www.woundedwarriorproject.org/www.moveamericaforward.org)
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