Yes John, We All Know You Were A POW
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, History, McCain, Video, WarListen to McCain’s answer to Couric’s question about forgetting how many homes he owns…
Frankly, I don’t think McCain does himself any favors by continuing this POW talk. Because it makes it sounds like it was one of his life’s greatest achievements and that he hasn’t moved on since then.
And he is right when he says that he’s blessed, but let’s not kid ourselves that McCain picked himself up by his bootstraps and acquired all of these homes himself. None of this would be possible if he hadn’t married Cindy. That’s why the McCain’s have so many homes and investment properties…because she’s an heiress. That’s not to begrudge her or John their properties, but that’s the reason why, plain and simple.
Moving on…
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August 24th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Wow…. this guy’s messed up.
A vote for him will doom the USA…. cause he will destroy it.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Justin,
I agree that McCain may be over-playing the POW card sometimes, but I don’t see what’s all that wrong with this response.
He admits that he’s “blessed” to have what he has, he even says it’s all due to what his father-in-law accomplished.
What else is he supposed to do ?
Say he’s going to give it all away and live in a cardboard box ?
This is why I find the whole house debate bothersome…..why should anyone, whether it’s John McCain, or Bill Gates, or Bill Gates’ children, have to apologize for being the beneficiaries of the successes created by free market capitalism ?
August 24th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Only as poor a candidate as McCain could overplay being a POW more than TWO MONTHS before the election. Since that’s McCain’s only strength, he’s in big trouble when his media sycophants are even mocking him for using it to excuse every gaffe and every weakness.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Doug,
Let’s be honest. It’s not the owning, it’s the forgetting. Forgetting how many houses you own is not like forgetting the pairs of shoes or something else like that. To the vast, overwhelming number of Americans actually forgetting houses. is just astonishing.
And as for why anyone should apologize for benefiting from free market capitalism I think you paint it too broadly. What about the beneficiaries of the multiple frauds of Enron? What about the coal companies that are not responsible in their mining practices like the ones that cut corners until miners die or remove the tops of mountains and destroy the local environment with the remains? Shouldn’t there be a tinge of embarrassment along with those success stories?
August 24th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Yeah, because that’s exactly what I meant. Doug, come on…
As Jim pointed out, it’s not the owning. As I said, I don’t begrudge the McCains their properties. And, to me, it’s not even the forgetting. Personally, I don’t care, but it does make McCain seem out of touch. Does that mean he IS out of touch? Well, possibly, but I’ll leave that up to the voters.
However, was IS galling is the fact that he brings up the POW comment to provide cover for this home thing. I mean, do any of us need to be reminded that McCain was a POW again? And as if that excuses him forgetting? It just doesn’t square.
August 24th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I am so impressed by the candidate of the “family values” party. I personally like him holding up his father-in-law (Cindy’s father) as a role model. This is the father-in-law who met another woman while married, divorced his wife and left behind his toddler daughter upon his return from serving in World War II. See http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93708729
But of course John McCain doesn’t see that as a problem — because he did the exact same thing! Even better, McCain dated Cindy for more than half a year before he even separated from his wife and then lied about it in his 2002 memoir:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-divorce11-2008jul11,0,539385,full.story
Apparently, though, all should be forgiven because he was a POW? Please. He had no choice about becoming a POW, but he’s had plenty of choices about what kind of man to be since that time.
August 24th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Anyone who genuinely believes that either of these candidates is actually “in touch” with what the average American’s life is like is being willfully self-delusional. Next issue.
August 25th, 2008 at 4:13 am
Well, like I said, I think McCain is over-selling the POW story to the extreme so we agree there.
Of course, there is a segment of the public for whom stuff like that resonates and you’d better believe that they’ll keep emphasizing that aspect of his biography if they think it will work.
Also, like I said, I don’t really think that an answer where someone acknowledges the fact that they’ve been lucky to have what they have is really all that bad.
I guess for me the question is — do any of us need to keep being reminded of how many houses John and/or Cindy McCain own or have an interest in ?
It’s irrelevant.
Move on to the next topic.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Typical politician response… a non-answer. Why can’t the interviewers (including reporters at press conferences) just say, “You didn’t answer the question! Now, please DIRECTLY ANSWER the question I asked you! Oh no, can’t have that! Still, the less McCain answers the question(s) THE WORSE HE LOOKS, and he looks pretty damn bad already.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Did he ever actually answer the question? Apparently his answer is:
“I have a lot of homes because in America you can succeed like my Father in Law.”
How is this an answer to the question: “How many homes do you own?”
August 25th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Doug, Bill Gates is *self made*. He worked very, very hard for it. Obama is the main earner in his family as well. Its his book sales and political career. McCain’s wealth is largely inherited!! You see no difference there ? Successes created by free market capitalism, my foot! I make a very good living, but I worked every step I got, barring of course the good schools I was allowed to go to, courtesy of the scholarship of parental units and other good benefits I received growing up. But that’s a far cry from inheriting the money. When he married the 25 year old Cindy he was in his 40’s and she made him sign a spousal agreement, because he didn’t have a dime. How *in the world* can you compare that to self-made guys like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett or even Obama. Give me a break. Sorry, to be so aggressive, but I am in business myself and when I heard you’re comparison of McCain to Bill Gates or Obama and above all attribute it to the *free market place* (yeah, the free market place of picking up chicks), I lost it. Sorry.