POW: Okay. President: No Way.
Posted by michellemoquin on September 18th, 2008
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KjsEs46C70&hl=en&fs=1]
This was posted in late August but I had never seen it until now. I thought maybe I should post it just in case some of you haven’t. The article below was written by Doctor Phillip Butler, also a POW residing at the Hanoi Hilton, the same time as McCain. I pulled this from AlterNet, a non profit organization.
John McCain is a long-time acquaintance of mine that goes way back to our time together at the U.S. Naval Academy and as Prisoners of War in Vietnam. He is a man I respect and admire in some ways. But there are a number of reasons why I will not vote for him for President of the United States.
When I was a Plebe (4th classman, or freshman) at the Naval Academy in 1957-58, I was assigned to the 17th Company for my four years there. In those days we had about 3,600 midshipmen spread among 24 companies, thus about 150 midshipmen to a company. As fortune would have it, John, a First Classman (senior) and his room mate lived directly across the hall from me and my two room mates. Believe me when I say that back then I would never in a million or more years have dreamed that the crazy guy across the hall would someday be a Senator and candidate for President!
John was a wild man. He was funny, with a quick wit and he was intelligent. But he was intent on breaking every USNA regulation in our 4 inch thick USNA Regulations book. And I believe he must have come as close to his goal as any midshipman who ever attended the Academy. John had me “coming around” to his room frequently during my plebe year. And on one occasion he took me with him to escape “over the wall” in the dead of night. He had a taxi cab waiting for us that took us to a bar some 7 miles away. John had a few beers, but forbid me to drink (watching out for me I guess) and made me drink cokes. I could tell many other midshipman stories about John that year and he unbelievably managed to graduate though he spent the majority of his first class year on restriction for the stuff he did get caught doing. In fact he barely managed to graduate, standing 5th from the bottom of his 800 man graduating class. I and many others have speculated that the main reason he did graduate was because his father was an Admiral, and also his grandfather, both U.S. Naval Academy graduates.
People often ask if I was a Prisoner of War with John McCain. My answer is always “No – John McCain was a POW with me.” The reason is I was there for 8 years and John got there 2 1/2 years later, so he was a POW for 5 1/2 years. And we have our own seniority system, based on time as a POW.
John’s treatment as a POW:
1) Was he tortured for 5 years? No. He was subjected to torture and maltreatment during his first 2 years, from September of 1967 to September of 1969. After September of 1969 the Vietnamese stopped the torture and gave us increased food and rudimentary health care. Several hundred of us were captured much earlier. I got there April 20, 1965 so my bad treatment period lasted 4 1/2 years. President Ho Chi Minh died on September 9, 1969, and the new regime that replaced him and his policies was more pragmatic. They realized we were worth a lot as bargaining chips if we were alive. And they were right because eventually Americans gave up on the war and agreed to trade our POW’s for their country. A damn good trade in my opinion! But my point here is that John allows the media to make him out to be THE hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals.
2) John was badly injured when he was shot down. Both arms were broken and he had other wounds from his ejection. Unfortunately this was often the case — new POW’s arriving with broken bones and serious combat injuries. Many died from their wounds. Medical care was non-existent to rudimentary. Relief from pain was almost never given and often the wounds were used as an available way to torture the POW. Because John’s father was the Naval Commander in the Pacific theater, he was exploited with TV interviews while wounded. These film clips have now been widely seen. But it must be known that many POW’s suffered similarly, not just John. And many were similarly exploited for political propaganda.
3) John was offered, and refused, “early release.” Many of us were given this offer. It meant speaking out against your country and lying about your treatment to the press. You had to “admit” that the U.S. was criminal and that our treatment was “lenient and humane.” So I, like numerous others, refused the offer. This was obviously something none of us could accept. Besides, we were bound by our service regulations, Geneva Conventions and loyalties to refuse early release until all the POW’s were released, with the sick and wounded going first.
4) John was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for heroism and wounds in combat. This heroism has been played up in the press and in his various political campaigns. But it should be known that there were approximately 600 military POW’s in Vietnam. Among all of us, decorations awarded have recently been totaled to the following: Medals of Honor — 8, Service Crosses — 42, Silver Stars — 590, Bronze Stars — 958 and Purple Hearts — 1,249. John certainly performed courageously and well. But it must be remembered that he was one hero among many — not uniquely so as his campaigns would have people believe.
John McCain served his time as a POW with great courage, loyalty and tenacity. More than 600 of us did the same. After our repatriation a census showed that 95% of us had been tortured at least once. The Vietnamese were quite democratic about it. There were many heroes in North Vietnam. I saw heroism every day there. And we motivated each other to endure and succeed far beyond what any of us thought we had in ourselves. Succeeding as a POW is a group sport, not an individual one. We all supported and encouraged each other to survive and succeed. John knows that. He was not an individual POW hero. He was a POW who surmounted the odds with the help of many comrades, as all of us did.
I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate.
Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60′s and 70′s. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John’s age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.
I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.
It is also disappointing to see him take on and support Bush’s war in Iraq, even stating we might be there for another 100 years. For me John represents the entrenched and bankrupt policies of Washington-as-usual. The past 7 years have proven to be disastrous for our country. And I believe John’s views on war, foreign policy, economics, environment, health care, education, national infrastructure and other important areas are much the same as those of the Bush administration.
I’m disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not accurate. He is not a moderate Republican. On some issues he is a maverick. But his voting record is far to the right. I fear for his nominations to our Supreme Court, and the consequent continuing loss of individual freedoms, especially regarding moral and religious issues. John is not a religious person, but he has taken every opportunity to ally himself with some really obnoxious and crazy fundamentalist ministers lately. I was also disappointed to see him cozy up to Bush because I know he hates that man. He disingenuously and famously put his arm around the guy, even after Bush had intensely disrespected him with lies and slander. So on these and many other instances, I don’t see that John is the “straight talk express” he markets himself to be.
Senator John Sidney McCain, III is a remarkable man who has made enormous personal achievements. And he is a man that I am proud to call a fellow POW who “Returned With Honor.” That’s our POW motto. But since many of you keep asking what I think of him, I’ve decided to write it out. In short, I think John Sidney McCain, III is a good man, but not someone I will vote for in the upcoming election to be our President of the United States.
AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.
So readers, what do you think? This man was right there in the midst of it all with McCain. A very interesting piece of writing from someone who spent time with him. What really got to me the most however is the fact that so many of these POW men are not in good health and have died or are dying. That alone is a strong reason to note vote him in. In my opinion Palin is just not qualified to take over should he die during his term if he is the elected president.
PS: I wrote this last night as I had to leave early this morning. Just wanted to say, Anonz: I buzzed your comment briefly. I have to run. I think you have warned everyone already just by commenting. But just in case some readers don’t read the comments – which would be weird for this blog, but I have to say that when I read other blogs I don’t always. So..I think I will reiterate your words tomorrow after I do a thorough read of it later. Will comment on the rest of the comments later too if necessary. Have a good one…
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September 18th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I am an Obama fan, as readers probably have gathered. Although, when I was in 3rd or 4th grade I spent half a year in a alternative education school with a free study program, like Montessori or something. That year I ran an in school campaign for Nixon…but I digress…
IF McCant is able to win this election, then subsequently die like this POW in the blog states is happening at an early rate for POW’s than others, it will be the plan for the Repugnicants to kill off Sarah Palin. Oops, that won’t happen, as the next in line after Sarah is the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, A Democrat. So, Sarah will be sidelined and the Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense will be running the show, with an easy puppet named Sarah. The advisors, NON staff, of course will be Cheney, Rove and Rummy, as long as they are not in prison…
As yesterdays blog discussed the fact that not one person can make a difference, it should be noted that, although Palin is put in place to become a puppet if necessary, if she does not take
that role and decides for herself to take on the power position, she has exemplified to us already her refusal to participate in investigations on her actions, her racism, her lies and deceit, misappropriation of public funds, mismanagement of budgets, reduction of the freedoms of speech through book banning, reduction of womens rights, her disinformation practices, abuse of power….
Wait, was I talking about Bush, I got lost in my banter…?
September 18th, 2008 at 9:55 am
CRANBERRIES KEEP BACTERIA FROM DIGGING IN
Many women drink cranberry juice to prevent and treat the painful symptoms associated with urinary tract infections (UTIs)… and now a review of research from the Cochrane Collaboration adds more evidence that this does, indeed, work. Researchers analyzed the results of several studies that compared cranberry products with a placebo, juice or water and found that cranberries can prevent recurrent UTIs in women, reducing the annual incidence of UTIs by 39%, compared with those who didn’t drink it.
It’s important to realize, however, that cranberry products don’t treat urinary tract infection and also that not all cranberry products work equally well. The sweetened “cranberry cocktail” that is most readily available on the supermarket shelves may, in fact, make matters worse for some women. Here’s what you need to know…
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Ruth Jepson, PhD, a senior research fellow in the department of nursing and midwifery at the University of Stirling in Scotland and a coauthor of The Cochrane Collaboration study, told me that cranberries seem to prevent bacteria, particularly E. coli, from sticking to the uroepithelial cells that line the wall of the bladder. “Without adhesion, E. coli cannot infect the mucosal surface of the urinary tract,” she said. While adult men also get UTIs, they are about 50 times more common in adult women. “This may be because women have a shorter urethra that allows bacteria to ascend more easily into the bladder,” said Dr. Jepson.
NOT SO SWEET
OK, so cranberries are good, but the number one source of cranberry consumption for most people is sugar-laden cranberry juice cocktail. Is it as effective as the unsweetened kind? That question hasn’t yet been answered, Dr. Jepson told me, noting that some studies used this kind of juice, but with a minimum concentration of 30% cranberries.
For more insight into how women can use cranberry to prevent UTIs, I turned to one of our resident gurus, naturopathic physician Mark Stengler, ND. He told me that one problem with the cranberry cocktail beverages is their sugar content, which can exacerbate vaginal infections if yeast is present… the other issue is that these concoctions may not have much cranberry. “If the cranberry content is diluted, women may not get enough of the proanthocyanidins, which is the compound believed to have the preventive effect,” he explained. Dr. Stengler’s advice: Buy unsweetened “straight” cranberry juice. He suggests that women with a history or susceptibility to UTIs try drinking four ounces of unsweetened cranberry juice diluted in water twice daily, before or with meals. After several months go by in which you haven’t had a UTI, he says you might try reducing intake to two ounces twice daily.
WHAT ELSE HELPS?
Are cranberry capsules effective for women who do not like the taste or cannot tolerate cranberry juice? Dr. Stengler says they work for some, citing a study that found that “daily treatment with an encapsulated cranberry concentrate (400 mg twice per day) for three months significantly reduced the recurrence of urinary tract infections compared with women taking a placebo.” However, Dr. Jepson noted that there isn’t a consistent research finding, since products vary. A physician trained in natural medicine can provide guidance as to what products and dosages would work for you.
Source(s): ?
Ruth Jepson, PhD, is a senior research fellow in the department of nursing and midwifery at the University of Stirling in Scotland, United Kingdom.??Mark A. Stengler, ND, is a naturopathic physician and leading authority on the practice of alternative and integrated medicine. He is director of the La Jolla Whole Health Clinic, La Jolla, California, and adjunct associate clinical professor at the National College of Natural Medicine, Portland, Oregon. He is author of the newsletter Bottom Line Natural Healing, http://www.DrStengler.com.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Regardless of your politics, I think this is a
must read -
………………………….
Subject: Tim Wise: White Privilege, White
Entitlement & the 2008 Election
For those who still can’t grasp the concept
of white privilege, or who are
constantly looking for some easy-to-understand
examples of it, perhaps this
list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at
seventeen like Bristol Palin
and everyone is quick to insist that your life
and that of your family is a
personal matter, and that no one has a right to
judge you or your parents,
because “every family has
challenges,” even as black and Latino families
with similar “challenges” are
regularly typified as irresponsible,
pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a
“fuckin’ redneck,” like
Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk
about how if anyone messes with
you, you’ll “kick their fuckin’
ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot
shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a
responsible, all-American boy (and a
great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four
different colleges in six years
like Sarah Palin did (one of which you
basically failed out of, then
returned to after making up some coursework at
a community college), and no
one questions your intelligence or commitment
to achievement, whereas a
person of color who did this would be viewed as
unfit for college, and
probably someone who only got in in the first
place because of affirmative
action.
White privilege is when you can claim that
being mayor of a town smaller
than most medium-sized colleges, and then
Governor of a state with about the
same number of people as the lower fifth of the
island of Manhattan, makes
you ready to potentially be president, and
people don’t all piss on
themselves with laughter, while being a black
U.S. Senator, two-term state
Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means
you’re “untested”.
White privilege is being able to say that you
support the words “under God”
in the pledge of allegiance because “if it
was good enough for the founding
fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and
not be immediately disqualified from
holding office–since, after all, the pledge
was written in the late 1800s
and the “under God” part wasn’t
added until the 1950s–while believing that
reading accused criminals and terrorists their
rights (because, ya know, the
Constitution, which you used to teach at a
prestigious law school requires
it), is a dangerous and silly idea only
supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun
enthusiast and not make people
immediately scared of you. White privilege is
being able to have a husband
who was a member of an extremist political
party that wants your state to
secede from the Union, and whose motto was
“Alaska first,” and no one
questions your patriotism or that of your
family, while if you’re black and
your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11
memorial so she can be home with
her kids on the first day of school, people
immediately think she’s being
disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of
community organizers and the
work they do–like, among other things, fight
for the right of women to
vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour
workday, or an end to child
labor–and people think you’re being pithy
and tough, but if you merely
question the experience of a small town mayo r
and 18-month governor with no
foreign policy expertise beyond a class she
took in college–you’re somehow
being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white
women who don’t even agree
with you on any substantive issue to vote for
you and your running mate
anyway, because all of a sudden your presence
on the ticket has inspired
confidence in these same white women, and made
them give your party a
“second look.”
White privilege is being able to fire people
who didn’t support your
political campaigns and not be accused of
abusing your power or being a
typical politician who engages in favoritism,
while being black and merely
knowing some folks from the old-line political
machines in Chicago means you
must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend
churches over the years whose
pastors say that people who voted for John
Kerry or merely criticize George
W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is
an explicitly Christian
nation and the job of Christians is to bring
Christian theological
principles into government, and who bring in
speakers who say the conflict
in the Middle East is God’s punishment on
Jews for rejecting Jesus, and
everyone can still think you’re just a good
church-going Christian, but if
you’re black and friends with a black
pastor who has noted (as have Colin
Powell and the=2 0U.S. Department of Defense)
that terrorist attacks are
often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who
talks about the history of
racism and its effect on black people,
you’re an extremist who probably
hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush
Doctrine is when asked by a
reporter, and then people get angry at the
reporter for asking you such a
“trick question,” while being black
and merely refusing to give one-word
answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly
means you’re dodging the question,
or trying to seem overly intellectual and
nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your
experience as a POW has anything
at all to do with your fitness for president,
while being black and
experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has
referred to it, a “light” burden.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing
that could possibly allow
someone to become president when he has voted
with George W. Bush 90 percent
of the time, even as unemployment is
skyrocketing, people are losing their
homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is
increasingly isolated from world
opinion, just because white voters aren’t
sure about that whole “change”
thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and
ill-defined, unlike, say, four more
years of the same, which is very concrete and
certain.
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
———————————————-
Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me
(Soft Skull, 2005, revised 2008),
and of Speaking Treason Fluently, publishing
this month, also by Soft Skull.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Nadia,
Azir read your comment and privately e-mailed me a few times. He thinks (and I understand to a degree) that you are mixing up islam religion with ME male mentality too much (again, to a degree), since he has been polite and really doesn’t plan to engage in not being so, I’ll post his comment for you, you can feel free to respond…I will post it for you on my site.
‘Yes dear Lillian that is what I meant,they mix culture with religion,the media shows you only the bad side of “Muslims” i saw some beat the woman in Avghan in streets maybe they stoled something but they should not beat them like that,it is absolutely not Islamic,but the media is showing you the fake Muslims and than they say “hey everybody these are Muslims,this is islam”,and than you have the impression that all the Muslims are like that because “Islam” is telling us to behave like that.You know that is a very good trick that the media often uses,they can make good out of evil and evil out of good.That is the problem,anyway the Arabs in Avghanistan are bad Muslims as i can see clearely,Pakistan also is not good,and some parts of Irak,it depends where you live,so their acts can not represent Islam.Quran is cool prefect but some of the people who follow it might not be cool cause they aren’t following it as they should.
So please make Muslim friends and if you can not,than go to youtube and make Muslim friends talk with the girls,just see how they would react,talk with them normal btw if you insult them surely they’ll insult back,so talk wormal and you see how they are cool people.
Here is the link of the converts there are many more but these videos is what I like:
http://fr.youtube.com/profile_video_blog?user=azir111 Let me know i something is wrong there.’
http://www.lilliandevin.com/ ‘Do the Tibetan shuffle, do it for your karma’s sake’ a response to the universe at large given all the depressing political info I’ve read here lately, too big to conquer/change so I’ll just keep breathing…
Ciao, Zen
September 18th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Michelle
Just so you and your readers know. The appearance that the stock market has “bounced” back with a 400 plus gain today is a orchestrated presentation by the bush administration. The gain was another give away of the taxpayers money.
Bush had the federal government provide the banks free money to loan to people who wanted to borrow. This money could be borrowed at ridiculously low rates. The banks were given the money for free to loan out. They could loan it out for any % without losing a dime.
The billionaires lined up to use that money to buy up the stocks that cost the average investor his 401K and ruined those that had to play by the rules to invest in the market. I now own so much more of the stock market. I am almost embarrassed that I bought it with taxpayers money given to me today by bush for less than 2% on the dollar.
I actually made 2.3 billion dollars on my purchases today. It was sickening watching my fellows wolf down the companies that they targeted with free money given to us by the bush administration to keep the market from tanking. Ah it’s so good to be rich because under bush the rich just keeps getting richer. I would feel embarrassed, but America, you elected him. Don’t blame us for looting the market. You elected this administration not once but twice. And your bigotry may elect this administration twice.
Lady Lilly
I hope you can understand that I am holding back because if this country elects this administration for a third term, I want to be on the side of the people who intend to profit by it. I intend to vote for Obama not because I want a black man in the White House, but because I truly believe that the White House will be the Big house if these crooks get another shot at the people’s treasury.
More importantly, we know that McCain has no foreign policy experience. He is a hot headed fool whose father used to say he wanted him serving the nation as a pilot because that’s the only place where he could serve the nation without endangering it. The joke was that that was only true if you pointed him in the right direction when he took off.
Everyone knows that it was his fuck-up that caused the biggest destruction of an aircraft carrier in US history. If his father hadn’t been an Admiral at the time he would have been court marshaled. His father forced him to get right back in uniform after he recovered from his injuries that his screw up at the controls of his aircraft caused.
Now he has the nerve to use that as an example of his wanting to serve his country. Just as he uses the fact that he elected to remain in captivity when the enemy offered him to leave. Hell, check the records of the other 600 plus prisoners that were in captivity as long, and some years longer, in the same camp, NONE accepted that offer to leave early. McCain would have been declared a coward if he had been the only one who accepted that offer. Yet, he dishonors the other 600 plus by presenting his denial as if it was a special sacrifice that he made personally.
The guy has no honor. I have been held against my will. I do not claim to be a hero because of it. Anybody held against their will is there because it is precisely against their will. That does not make us heros. The definition of a hero is an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances, who despite the odds being stacked against him or her, does something the ordinary person wouldn’t or couldn’t do to prevail.
What McCain did was to return from a prisoner of war camp. So did 600 plus others return from that same camp. Some were there for a shorter period and others were there for a longer period than he was. But they all were there. They returned as ex-prisoners of a war, not heros unless they received medals for deeds that attest to an action separate from just being a prisoner of war.
I am not belittling the pain he suffered as a prisoner of war. I can testify to the cruelty of man to his fellow man when he has absolute power over him. But McCain’s presentation of his ordeal implies that he suffered something unique to him. And that that suffering made him a patriot. That is insulting to the other 600 plus prisoners of war that suffered the same way that same camp. He is an unprincipled man.
My Lady Lilly, I do not wish to pale in your eye, but I am what I am. I am a man who hopes he has learned that he has lived his life at the expense of the less financially fortunate, and politically connected.
While I hope this new awareness will allow me to rise to a level that I can respect as a man who recognizes that I have wronged my country, fellow man, and myself as a human being, I have no intention of giving back what I have amassed to those who have not had such an epiphany. That would be stupid. Money and power will be the only tools I will have to defend myself and those who I wish not to help from these greedy bastards.
So my Lady, I ask a bit of understanding while I sort out this mess.
Anonz