Is Senator McCain Really A "War Hero" Candidate?

[Better Believe It]

What does it mean to call McCain a 'war hero' candidate?
McCain is running as one, but those who oppose dishonorable wars are also heroes.
By Charles Derber and Yale Magrass
April 14, 2008 edition
Christian Science Monitor

When we call McCain a war hero, we engage in moral discourse about the Vietnam War and now Iraq. We also give McCain – currently the country's most celebrated war hero – the ultimate political weapon: power by virtue of heroism and the ability to discredit opponents as weak or unpatriotic.

McCain's heroism stems entirely from Vietnam. McCain was brave in captivity, but he and his fellow pilots dropped more bombs on Vietnam than all those dropped in World War II, leading to the conclusion that "we had to destroy Vietnam in order to save it." But he did not acknowledge the war itself as immoral. Had he engaged in such "straight talk" about the war itself, or if we had a more enlightened concept of heroism, he might not be getting so close to becoming the next president.

This language of war heroism is used unfairly to confuse unjust wars and their architects with the honor of brave soldiers. By promoting the idea that Vietnam was an honorable war and denigrating antiwar Democrats as too weak to "stay the course," Richard Nixon won the election in 1968. He then kept the war going for another five futile years, sustained by that myth.
Playing the war hero card has long been a political strategy to elect Republicans; legitimize imperial wars; and portray Democrats and peace activists as weak, cowardly, or traitorous. John Kerry, also a courageous soldier, was swift-boated as a traitor because he became a peace activist in Vietnam.

Republicans even did the same to Daniel Ellsberg, a real hero of the Vietnam era. Ellsberg was a war planner who turned against the war and in 1971, at great personal risk, released to The New York Times the "Pentagon Papers," the military's internal and damning history of the war. But as there are no peace heroes, only war heroes in the American moral discourse, President Nixon tried to indict him and many still brand him as a traitor.

Please read the entire article at:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0414/p09s01-coop.html?page=2

[YOY]

1. I like how pubs can't mention him without mentioning his military service

Kinda like pointing out that the car blatantly careening towards a cliff has a fantastic paintjob!

[PerpetuallyDazed]

3. ...because maybe that's the only decent thing about the man?

I mean, what exactly has he accomplished next to his military service?

[YOY]

5. Married well?

But that's really a question of taste, isn't it?

I wish my wife had several million attached to her (quite nice) butt!

[madokie]

18. that is if money is everything, it isn't

on the other hand I married well because I have even after all these years, 17, a most pleasant wife who I will guarantee that she will never be a, the B word, as so many of my girlfriends turned out to be.

[CBGLuthier]

16. What the fuck is dso decent about dropping bombs

You know Vietnam didn;t have a lot of cities. What exactly were we bombing the shit out of other than human beings. Men, women, and children.

To hell with him, there is nothing decent about him.

[PerpetuallyDazed]

19. Did he drop bombs?

I really don't know his history, nor do I know WHY he entered the service (I suspect for political ambitions and his father being an Admiral?) which is why I ask... but I take it you are addressing U.S. policy and not necessarily the actions of the service members in Vietnam (at least I hope) because all they can do is follow orders, y'know?

[PerpetuallyDazed]

2. Good question! Also:

Why's he called a "maverick"?? Please, someone explain that one to me...

[maui9002]

13. McCain Feingold and the McCain/Kolbe/Flake comprehensive immigration reform bill

are the primary reasons he's detested by some Republican conservatives. But McCain has also voted against a number of Republican backed measures, including the Telecommunications Act and the securities reform act (which made it harder to bring class actions for alleged securities violations), and the Bush tax cuts (although he's flip flopped on that one to attract conservative voters). He's also well known for being against pork barrel legislation and was one of the principal sponsors of the line item veto act. Finally, he was one of the gang of 14 that fashioned a compromise to Supreme Court nominations (much to the chagrin of many Republicans). That being said, he's pretty consistent in voting with Reagan and both President Bushes; in other words, despite the fact that he's regarded as a maverick and independent (in a negative way) by many conservative Republicans, he is by no means a friend of progressives.

[tularetom]

4. How is he anymore of a "hero" than Kerry?

Just because he came to his senses and realized the thing was a clusterfuck and McCain is so stupid he never did?

[Frustratedlady]

6. How much truth is there to the co-POWs who had a different story...

as to McCain's stories and treatment? I've only seen it once and didn't read the entire article, but it didn't look too complimentary.

[KSinTX]

7. Yes he is. They're not mutually exclusive concepts of heroism

"Brave soldiers in just and unjust wars may be heroes, if we refer purely to personal courage and sacrifice in battle. But it is critical that we recognize that those who oppose dishonorable wars are also heroes." For example, both Cindy Sheehan and her son Casey are war heroes.

[deaniac21]

8. He has stolen Kerry's Campaign!

[cayuga]

9. McCain is a hero...only in his wildest imagination

He graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. He lost five planes during his short Naval aviator career. He was captured and made propaganda films for the VC. He is blocking information from Vietnam re: POWs for a very special reason. If he had nothing to be ashamed of, he should be the first person in line to ask for records to be de-classified about POW/MIA information.

So the answer is a resounding "NO'. He is not a war hero...no more than his buddy George.

[Richard Steele]

10. Hello, not_this_time.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[deaniac21]

12. Guess what they call the guy that graduated

last in my med school class.

[leftynyc]

17. I imagine they still call him doctor (n/t)

[DavidDvorkin]

11. No, he's a war criminal

But no one will say so publicly.

[chat_noir]

14. McBush is a self-confessed war criminal

In a 1997 “60 Minutes” interview, McCain said of his involvement in bombing missions: “I am a war criminal. I bombed innocent women and children.”

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/04/09/mccain-shows-disregard-law-us-constitution/

[DavidDvorkin]

15. Interesting.

I wish the Democrats would talk about it.

[PerpetuallyDazed]

20. Catch-22 for a military person... n/t