For John McP.O.Dubya, does "POW"= "Politician of War"? Should he be pressed to sign Standard Form 180 just as John Kerry did

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Should he be pressed to sign Standard Form 180 just as John Kerry did, to authorize releasing hundreds of pages of McCain's sealed Navy records to the press, with no deletions?

IMO, McCain's continual use of "POW" as his primary qulification and as a mantra for quashing any embarrassing question is like HRC's touting her First Lady experience as full preparation for the Oval Office. IMO, McCain should be forced to release his service records just as Kerry was and just as HRC was forced to release White House records.

It seems surreal to me that a candidate would claim a certain kind of experience as primary qualification to be President, while simultaneously withholding most documentation of that experience.

IMO, while Obama must steer entirely clear of seeming to question McCain's "POW" claim on the Presidency, some Obama supporters outside the campaign must not neglect going straight after McCain's primary selling point to voters. If the "press corpse" were doing its job, we wouldn't have to, but in their absence, somebody's got to step in and confront this supremely arrogant cover-up of documents relevant to the most important election in decades.

(1) What do you think?

And (2) what is McCain trying to hide in those secret Navy records? There are several articles out in the blogosphere about five destroyed Navy aircraft that had been entrusted to McCain, from his training days in Pensacola to his 20 hours of combat bombing in Vietnam. There also are accounts of possible McCain collaboration with his Vietnamese captors, to the detriment of fellow POWs who were trying to resist their prison conditions. After Vietnam, POW/MIA activists through the early 90s seem to have been outraged by McCain's quashing the same kinds of homefront activism that had led to McCain's own release from captivity.

See accounts of McCain's antics on the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in the links at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/28/114523/989/295/577363 , and Jeffrey Klein's article in The Nation at http://www.nationinstitute.org/ifunds/79/mccain_s_secret_questionable_record .

[ProgressiveEconomist]

1. Another good link is a dailykos search that will turn up all new posts on this subject

http://www.dailykos.com/tag/POW

[ProgressiveEconomist]

8. The hardest-hitting DK post I've seen on this topic is at URL

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/27/114540/597/213/576428

[ProgressiveEconomist]

9. Chicago Tribune: RNC will stress McCain's POW experience next week in St Paul

See http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-mccain-interviewaug31,0,2905936.story , and a DK post about the article at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/203542/440/6/580703 .

[JaneQPublic]

2. McSame can't release his military records without revealing PTSD.

Oh, and by the way, in the case of McSame, "POW" = "Piece of Work."

[ProgressiveEconomist]

3. Great point. Did McCain ever receive ANY kind of mental-health treatment after coming home from Vie...

Does anybody know? And is there a military protocol for debreifing and treating mult-year POW captives? Was it followed for McCain? Has anybody read any McCain biographies that covered this point?

[JaneQPublic]

4. I'm thinking how could he not have PTSD?

His military records, particularly the medical records, are being kept under lock and key, and for good reason. What little info is out raises all sorts of questions about his stability, temperament, and general health.

Of course, his bios don't touch much of anything negative.

It would be nice if there was someone in the news media willing to actually do some investigative research, but everything in this man's past has been labeled "Off Limits." This is sheer hypocricy considering the way they dragged Kerry's record through the mud, on basis of lies, not facts. Reporters won't even touch the facts of McCain'history.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

5. 'Reporters won't even touch the facts of McCain's history' Maybe tomorrow they'll

finally make a start.

For the first time in McCain's political life, there will be a national convention over several days focusing on McCain's story. And he's sure to make "POW" a big part of that story.

At long last, some of the better print media who still do "fact-checking" will be forced to examine documentation and lack of documentation of McCains claims.

How many people know that McCain's naval combat career was short and disastrous, that he desrtoyed FIVE aircraft including at least one during training, that he was assigned a coveted aircraft-carrier bomber slot despite his disastrous training and ranking 894th out of 899 in his Annapolis class, and that "pull" from his 4-star admiral dad and 4-star admiral granddad explain how he even got into Annapolis in the first place?

[JaneQPublic]

6. You are more optimistic than I regarding media coverage of McCain

But I applaud your research on this subject. Let's hope these issues do receive the covereage they deserve.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

7. What I don't understand on this board is why 90% of page 1 posts are about Sarah Palin,

and maybe 2 percent about John McCain, on the day before the Republican Convention opens.

Talk about "taking the bait" from Rove!

[ProgressiveEconomist]

10. Another good link--to find posts on this topic at HuffingotnPost--is URL

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/search2?searchtype=0&sp_q=pow