OMG--I'm sure I am probably the last to know this, but this is unreal

[1corona4u]

John Fucking McCain crashed FIVE planes?!? Unreal...WTF?? And he thinks he's a Maverick????

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_mccain_lost_five_u.htm

[FreakinDJ]

1. Not to mention 32 taped confessions

Not 2 or 3, but 32 taped confessions

What - did the guy think he was a "movie star" or some thing

[eShirl]

6. what?

now THAT, I did not know

[FrenchieCat]

2. They called him John Wayne McCain while he was in Annapolis

but they stopped at some point!

[panader0]

3. Hence his nickname given by other navy pilots

Ace Mccain (a fighter pilot, which johnny was not, needs five "kills" to be an ace.) My buddies dad was one in WWII.

[FreakinDJ]

7. "Ace McCain" was a joke about the 5 planes he crashed

[krkaufman]

16. Yes, the 5 planes he took out were his own.

So, he ...

- graduates at the bottom of his public-funded Naval Academy class (894th out of 899)
- crashes 5 planes
- participates in influence peddling corruption; Keating 5
- advocates for the biggest strategic blunder in American history
- reverses positions on innumerable positions since losing the Republican nomination in 2000

I'm thinking maverick isn't a good thing.

(Good lord, I'm watching a 'McCain Revealed' program on CNN, and McCain's a total partying loser. Wow.)

edit: p.s. His erratic selection of Palin, without any rigorous vetting, needs to be associated with his early, lazy behavior. McCain doesn't do the work needed to get results.

[krkaufman]

18. I'm curious... how many other Navy pilots have crashed 4+ planes?

Maybe we're being harsh, and crashing 4+ planes is perfectly normal.

[FreakinDJ]

19. Many don't get a second chance

[Ichingcarpenter]

29. The son of a powerful admiral did

My Dad worked for the Joints Chiefs of Staff

He's not voting for McCain absolutely can't stand him.

[Lugnut]

30. My cousin was a US Navy Lieutenant Commander

And carrier pilot. He never crashed any US Navy aircraft.

[casus belli]

31. Anybody know whether there's any merit to the story...

about McCain's arm mobility issues being related to an improper ejection from the plane, rather than torture? I have seen it brought up before, but never verified.

[TomInTib]

4. Reverse Ace McCain

He was a bonehead as a pilot.

Without his Father and Grandfather (both Admirals), he would have been stripped of his wings early on.

[krkaufman]

17. Yet another reason he's more of the same.... just like W.

A pilot in the Texas National Guard only because of his father's connections.

[Union Thug]

5. "Mavrick?" No, just an incompetent jackass pretending to be a hero. n/t

[1corona4u]

10. That's for sure...

[GCP]

8. To be fair, the 3rd and 4th incidents weren't his fault

If you read the story, the 3rd one was a flameout which he tried 3 times to correct before having to eject. The 4th was when he was waiting to take off from the USS Forrestal. His plane was hit by a rocket - it doesn't say how that happened, but the resulting explosions killed 134 men, destroyed 20 planes and almost sank the ship.

It does suggest to me that he's an unusually unlucky man. His political career including this campaign has been one problem after another. He planned a campaign event on an oil rig that had to be cancelled because of weather. He lost the first day of the convention to weather. He chose a running mate who seems to have the monopoly on skeletons in closets.

[1corona4u]

11. Yeah, I know...but it seems trouble follows him...

[chicagoexpat]

15. y'know, those 3rd & 4th DUI's I got weren't my fault, either

[ladjf]

24. I have read eye witness accounts of the Forestall incident that

claimed McCain was the cause of the horrible tragedy and that the truth was covered up by the Navy.
These claims, however, don't appear to be substantiated.

Crashes number 1 and 2 were of student trainers. Number 3 involved running into low power lines, knocking out electricity in a large area of Spain.

[caraher]

27. The Forrestal accounts like that trace back to the Washington Times

part of the 2000 Rove smear campaign. I don't buy them at all. There were other fires on other carriers from the same type of rocket whose misfire caused that disaster; McCain was not the cause.

Crash 1 happened during training, but crash 2 was of a trainer that he was flying to a football game. It wasn't really a training flight per se. #3 was inexcusable; I think the son-of-admiral card had to have helped there.

[Democrats_win]

9. Sometimes Maverick = reckless. See George W. Bush.

[Marsala]

12. Not to mention the "Wet Start"

God help McCain if the media get mad enough to start digging this stuff up again.

[Resuscitated Ethics]

13. I recently learned of his presence at the USS Forrestal disaster

Seen tragically here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chuiyXQKw3I

After that much bad luck I would think a desk would have been mighty appropriate but those were different times.

A LOT of bloggers have strong opinions on the culpability of McCain on that sad day. No one argument has convinced me either way. After McCain entered politics is when I can start really resenting him.

[1corona4u]

21. This is a documentary, but they have actual footage blended in...

and it's a bit easier to see..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MVXRng2VCc&feature=related

[libertad]

22. My dad, who is a retired Naval Officer, told me about it.

John McCain was not very successful in his Naval career.

[BlueIdaho]

14. How else

Does an admiral's son of an admiral's son lose his job as a jet jockey flight school trainer and end up flying the friendly skies over Hanoi?

The kid was a fuck-up from the get go.

[catnhatnh]

20. Sorry, but the whole thread is bullshit....

He was shot down once in combat, and that has happened to many better pilots (see: Richtoffen, Manfred V.). "Wet Start" is a flat out lie, he was hit across the deck of the Forrestal by a missile from another airplane-his planes tail faces the ocean. Flame-outs occur even to the best pilots though they can be induced by poor airmanship.

So yes, he lost 5 planes, but no he did not "crash" 5 planes...one never left the ground and another eventual struck the ground without a pilot due to combat damage. In a third case, again the plane struck the ground pilotless.

We keep saying words have meanings and that words matter. I find John McCain corrupt (see:Keating Five) and contemptible (see:his political career). We will spend all our time till the election trying to convince voters and calling out the republicans by parsing their prepared comments and pointing out their factual lies...so why give them ammunition when the truth is so easily found?

[ladjf]

25. I don't think that this thread is "total bullshit".

At the very least, he crashed two student trainers and collided with low power lines in the third incident. The Forestall incident was not blamed on McCain by the Navy although there are some who claim to have been eyewitnesses who thought that he was culpable.

No one claims that the shoot down was his fault.

He has been involved in an inordinate number of aircraft incidents. At best one would have to say that he has had some terrible luck.

[Hutzpa]

23. He is Goose

the only difference is, he is still alive.......


:evilgrin:

[Radical Activist]

26. Get another plane McCain

was another nickname for him back in his navy days.

[RoadRage]

28. I know.. Maverick never crashed ANY planes.. he did a couple of "Fly Bye's"

and pissed a couple of people off, and it was sad that goose died and all but... you know, really McCain is making Tom Cruise look bad by taking on the whole "Maverick" thing - and it's hard to make Tom Cruise look bad anymore - he does a pretty good job all by himself!