New McCain ad: "This is the prison cell where McCain was starved, beaten, & maimed for life..."

[Bluebear]

To our knowledge, this new ad from the South Carolina Republican Party is the first ad to focus exclusively on McCain's POW captivity.

The spot is set to run in Minneapolis starting tomorrow and through the GOP convention, a South Carolina GOP spokesperson confirms. It hits directly back at Obama for his criticism of McCain's number-of-houses flub:

(YouTube link)

"This is the story of a John McCain home you might not know about," the ad opens, and follows with footage dramatizing McCain getting shot down. After showing shots of a prison cell, the spot continues:

"This is where John McCain was starved, beaten, tortured, and maimed for life. So the next time Barack Obama talks about one of John McCain's homes, remember this one."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/new_ad_from_south_carolina_gop.php

[ailsagirl]

1. I'm getting sick and tired about this POW thing... are they ever

milking it.

I appreciate what he did a zillion years ago, but WE NEED A LEADER NOW

:kick:

[Midlodemocrat]

2. Maimed for life? First I heard of that.

Unless they're talking PTSD, which I can completely believe.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Does he have trouble with his arms not being fully functional?

[closeupready]

16. Yes. He can't lift them above his head.

Though I don't completely understand how they did that, but I guess it is associated with the means by which he was tortured.

[global1]

28. I Understand If He Lifts His Hands Over His Head.......

his pants will fall down.

[ailsagirl]

61. LOL!! Let's hope he doesn't forget and raise them!!

[KamaAina]

82. Actually, no...

his pants will fall down.

No, they'll catch on fire. :P

edit: italics

[Changenow]

31. He was maimed in the crash

that led to his capture. He was not given proper medical care, so he can't move his arms today.

I'm not sure whether the denial of medical care is torture.

[closeupready]

40. That last sentence is ripe with potential, but it would be tacky to go there.

n/t

[yardwork]

55. If the denial of medical care is torture, it may be news to the 50 million Americans without care.

Also, nothing that was done to McCain is considered torture by McCain himself, as evidenced by his recent votes on Congress. Neither the president, nor the Justice Department, nor Congress, nor the Supreme Court have classified what happened to McCain as torture. In fact, it's all good.

So what's McCain complaining about?

[beac]

60. Not unless it leads to organ failure, according to the current Administration,

McPOW was just in a "prolonged stress position." :eyes:

[JuniperLea]

33. The stories are varied...

But there are several in the InterTubes, in McCain's own words, saying he broke them ejecting from a plane he was about to crash. There are pictures of him lying in a hospital bed with both arms in casts. Some of the dates don't seem right... it's hard to tell if this was before or after his capture. If you Google "McCain broken arms" you will find a lot of stuff, though.

[notadmblnd]

39. he was injured when he was shot down, is my guess for his disability.

They knew he was an Admiral's son, I have my suspicions in regards to his torture.

[kestrel91316]

54. I have an old neck injury from a skiing accident in 1978.

I was maimed, too. Makes it hard for ME to lift my arms above my head without them going all tingly and hurty. Does that qualify ME for president?

[rebel with a cause]

79. His arms were injured when his plane crashed,

The Viet Cong supposedly pulled his arms out of his shoulder sockets, dislocating them, repeatedly. Anyway, that is the version I heard of this story.

I am sorry that this happened to him and the other men that were taken prisoner over there, but it happened a long time ago and it should not be used to get him elected any more than it should be used to degrade him, which the republicans did in 2000.

Just a thought, but since they are using Hillary's words against Obama in ads, I wonder if there are any old republican adds from then that they could run (whether they should or not) against mccain? "This is what bush and rove said about mccain in 2000, now they want him to be your president." :evilgrin:

[Midlodemocrat]

20. Well, I know he has trouble with his brain not being fully functional

but this is the first I heard of his arms not working totally.

I fell down the cellar stairs when I was 23 and my right wrist doesn't work as well. Should I run for PResident? Apparently that's all the qualifying you need.

[rebel with a cause]

80. I injured my back with I was a teenager (about fifteen,)

and because it is in my muscles I re-injure it routinely. I have suffered for almost forty years with a bad back, can I be your VP?

Then I injured my foot ten years ago and have a torn aguilles heel. So maybe I will run against you in a primary.

Oh, I have a bad heart too. That should make me Queen.

john mccain, your service is no longer needed.


Edited to add that when I was about four, my sister was pretending I was her baby and turned a bottle of water upside down over my face as I laid on the bed, sending water rushing out. Can I then claim water boarding according to the bush definition? I sure felt like I was drowning for a spit second.

:sarcasm: in every word I said in case someone does not recognize it.

[NMDemDist2]

12. he lost some range of motion in his arms

not sure how or how much

[leftchick]

22. I thought that happened when his plane went down

.

[Midlodemocrat]

26. Which time? Not much of a pilot was he?

:hide:

[PA Democrat]

35. Yeah, I heard he broke both arms when his plane crashed, and then

did not get medical treatment from his captors.

[kestrel91316]

56. WHICH plane? He crashed several of them.

[leftchick]

66. how many crashes? Anyone have a link?

I have seen the multiple crashes posted before but I have yet to find a source for it. Not that I doubt it but damn, how many chances does a person get??

[kestrel91316]

74. Apparently 4 or 5. Having Dad and Granddad as admirals

does have its advantage.

[JaneQPublic]

42. Maimed but still alive, unlike over 4,000 servicemembers...

...who died in a misquided and unnecessary war in Iraq that John "I Never Met a War I Didn't Like" McCain helped push through.

[dkofos]

50. Well, he does get $58000 a year in disability from uncle Sam.

[LynneSin]

72. Last I checked THIS is maimed for life yet repukes compared him to Bin Laden

and questioned his patriotism and his injuries

[rebel with a cause]

81. Some more republican ads that should come out about now.

As long as it didn't hurt Max. I wouldn't want to do that because he is a nice guy.

Da**, Da** republicans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[C_U_L8R]

3. And yet, McCain STILL can't get his houses straight.

Wasn't his staff supposed to go check it out??

[Bluebear]

8. And no mention of the house he shared with Carol McCain, also "maimed for life": so he LEFT her.

[NewJeffCT]

4. George Bush would only call it enhanced interrogation

stop calling it torture!

[Matariki]

30. That would actually be a strategic response to this ad

Pointing out that in spite of the fact that McCain was himself tortured, he STILL voted against the water board ban.

Disgusting. http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/13/mccain-waterboarding-fail/

[thunder rising]

5. And of course that excuses everything from flip-flops to gassy grin.

[Solly Mack]

6. Don't they mean...this is the prison cell where frat pranks were conducted?

where enhanced interrogation techniques were used in the interests of national security?

[Dawgs]

9. Right, because that prison cell has what to do with being President?

McCain being out of touch with America for not remembering the number of homes he has is why he's unfit to be President.

Fucking bastards!!

[Puzzler]

10. This is not the POW card it's the PITY card!!!

Yeah... that's right, they want us to pity him.

[gatorboy]

36. More like the "Don't you feel guilty now?" card

People were laughing at his house goof and now he wants to shame them for it.

Anything to sweep his huge house blunder under the rug.

[yardwork]

57. Freeps don't feel pity.

The Rethuglican base likes seeing people suffer. They have nothing but contempt for the victims of violence.

[yardwork]

58. dupe

[my2sense]

11. I wonder how the hell that has any relevance to him running for the

highest office in the land. I'm so sick of MCan't.

[Orrex]

13. He was a POW?!? How DARE the Democrats run a candidate against him?!?

We should just give the Oval Office to him, for life. Anything less would be unamerican and would dishonor servicemen everywhere, not to mention the great insult to his time spent in the tiger cage.


Holy shit, John--enough already. If you're still actually this torn up about it decades after the fact, then you need intensive therapy; the last thing you need is the stress of a Presidency.

[Brotherjohn]

14. And the response to that would be:

"So why, then, does he think it's okay for the United States to torture?"

[gratuitous]

15. Phew!

That was close. I didn't think McThuselah was going to trade on his POW status. You all know how much he hates to talk about it . . . more than five or six times a minute. Of course, all this hagiographic imagery begs the question: How does this qualify John Sidney McCain III to be president?

And, considering how much McThuselah prattles on and on about his time as a POW, why in the world would his campaign think for even a second that we "might not know about" it? That's kind of a shot out of nowhere to the willing lackeys and mouthpieces who have so faithfully carried water for the McCain campaign these last several months.

[TwilightGardener]

37. This is a shark jumper. You don't refer to your own heroism and beg for pity and gratitude.

You let others do that for you.

[atreides1]

17. What about showing us...

The place where he sang like a bird to get medical treatment, or where he taped his speeches about how the US was intentionally bombing hospitals, schools, and other civilian targets.

Are they going to show us those places as well???

[KansDem]

18. "Tortured?" Don't they mean "enhanced interrogation?"

Can't have it both ways, GOP!

on edit: Solly Mack in response no. 6 says it best...:rofl:
McCain wasn't "starved," "beaten," or "tortured." He was simply the recipient of "frat pranks."

[TomInTib]

19. They should have stayed away from the house issue.

Owning six or seven houses is not that big of a deal. Making a big fuss of that only serves to alienate a bunch of people who happen to have money.

Heck, a neighbor of mine (Phillipe Kahn - inventor of the cellphone camera) has 60 houses for his personal use. I know quite a few people who own 8 or 10 houses.

[TwilightGardener]

29. It's not that he's rich, it's that he doesn't even know his own financial situation.

Doesn't need to know, apparently. That's a clue into his managerial style.

[TwilightGardener]

21. Embarrassing. Holy shit.

[global1]

23. And Look How He Used That Incident To Parlay It Into A Political ....

career. Dump his invalid first wife. Marry a wealthy heiress. Involve himself in a financial scandal (Keating 5). Go on to own seven homes that he can't keep track of. And become a nominee of a party that 8 years ago dragged his name through the mud. Once a so-called Maverick - he's now become nothing but a figurehead and mouthpiece for the neocons. Hothead. Warmonger.

Maverick or Just Another Cowboy?

[GoesTo11]

24. Will MSM air this ad for free during the DNC?

You bet your ass.

[JuniperLea]

25. Sure, what we really need is someone who has been tortured

and starved.

I'm sorry this happened to him, but I fail to see how this makes him anything more than suspect for being mentally ill.

Human beings who are tortured and such have been known to be a few cards short of a deck. No fault of their own, that's just how it is.

[d_b]

27. and this is the brown daughter

that persuaded you to choose George Bush in 2000.

gimme a break.

:puke:

[Hubert Flottz]

32. This is George Bush's Ass 97% of the time McSame's nose has

been buried to the hilt in it...

[truebrit71]

34. Fine, what does this have to do with the price of tea in China? Big friggin' deal....

POW? WGAF....It doesn't mean you have the necessary experience to be President...I still fail to see how destroying five naval aircraft, graduating at the bottom of your class on the basis of your last name and being shot out of the sky whilst bombing innocent civilians makes one either a "hero" or "fit to be president"...???

We'll remember that one, right after we see pictures of the ones he can actually remember...

[global1]

38. The Response Ad Should Be That Of Cheney Saying.......

"So".

[Frosty1]

41. Leave the poor old senile duffer alone

it's all he has.:cry:

[MemphisTiger]

43. This crap is getting old ...

I appreciate his service.... blah,blah, blah


BUT, being a POW doesn't qualify you to be president. He runs ads talking about how Washington is broken, YET he's been a part of the problem for 30 years. He's like the successful guy at the family reunion that everybody loves until he gets a few drinks in him and the mean side comes out.


"Maimed for life"? How so?

[ailsagirl]

63. See post #16-- apparently he can't lift his arms above his head

But how many of our soldiers are truly maimed for life???? The stories I've heard are heart-rending...

:cry:

[liberal renegade]

44. n/t

:nopity:

[Jim__]

45. When I saw the thread title, I thought it was a joke.

I guess having been a POW is really his only "qualification" to run for president.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

46. You are shitting me

So now they _are_ his homes? I thought they were Cindy's.

What a contemptible whiner.

[Philosoraptor]

47. America has surrendered to surrealism.

[ColbertWatcher]

48. "This is a picture of the wife John McCain left ..."

"... She got fat and wasn't pretty enough to stand next to a narcissistic, yet failed Navy man just returning from duty."

"When you think of McCain, don't think of the beer heiress, whose jets ferry him from fund raiser to lobbyist to TV taping and back again."

"Think of the woman, who so hated her country, she refused to stay attractive for a recently freed POW."

"Is this the kind of woman we want to see on TV, day in and day out?"

"Remember that the next time you mention someone going bald, Cindy."

"John McCain doesn't need you or your beer money now that his lobbyist-wife got him connected to Georgia!"

"He's gonna rake in the cash, so learn your place, you trollop-make-up-wearing c*nt! 'Cuz Johnny "POW" Mac is gonna rule the Caspian Sea oil! Whoo-hoo!"

"I'm John McCain, and as a POW, I approve this message."

[sinkingfeeling]

49. I think it's a pretty lame ad. Somehow it seems to 'elevate' McCain way above the

55,000 American soldiers that didn't get to 'come home'. On my second viewing, I find myself actually getting angry at this blazon 'look at poor me, the POW' shit.

[yardwork]

51. So what? Why would that make anyone want to vote for McSame?

Vote for me because you feel sorry for me because I was beaten and maimed for life?

That's not exactly a winning message, especially for the Rethuglican base. They're low on empathy. They like "he-men." Why would they care that somebody was beaten and maimed? They LIKE it when people get beaten and maimed!

[ima_sinnic]

65. exactly what I was going to say--SO WHAT? vote for him b/c we feel sorry for him??

I guess when you've got NOTHING else to run on, you play the pity card. But how can we pity someone who's been the victim of frat pranks?

[ProgressiveFool]

52. How could we possibly not know about it at this point?

He uses it as an excuse to get a discount on his fucking coffee at this point.

[Fuzz]

62. You can do that?

What else works? ;)

[kestrel91316]

53. This is where John McCain was abused to the point where he became

a dangerously volatile and insane man who should NEVER be allowed in a command position or access to The Red Button.

[Marr]

59. He was not tortured. He had an enhanced interrogation session, that's all.

I mean, sheesh!

[kitkat65]

64. Mr. McCain, doesn't hiding behind your POW experience to deflect criticism of you in the present

somehow cheapen the heroicism of all POWs?

I think it does and it makes you look like a puss . . (er) coward.

Pathetic.

[johnaries]

67. It couldn't have been too bad, since he thinks it's allright

for us to do to our prisoners.

[ogneopasno]

68. "The is the story of a John McCain home you might not know about": BEST LINE EVER.

"You might not know about." Oh, that's AWESOME.

[Bluebear]

70. It really is, isn't it??? Welcome to DU!

[ogneopasno]

71. Thanks much!

I posted long ago but lost the login. Lurked for awhile and am back in it now.

[moondust]

69. delete

[Disturbed]

73. POW then, Asshole now!

John McCain embraces GW Bush & his failed policies.

The short list

For overturning Rove v Wade

Iraq,

Top end tax cuts

Privatization of Social Security

Unraveling employer based health care,

Cuban embargo.

Illegal Spying on Americans

Busholini Policy of Torture

Against new GI Bill

Offshore oil drilling

Big Tax Breaks for Oil Corps

Denying Habeous Corpus

[crimsonblue]

75. If McCain were a better pilot

then he wouldn't have been in that home. Also, why did he never try to escape? Attempting to escape is a near official military policy.

[frylock]

76. This is the story of a John McCain home you might not know about..

ummmmmmm.. we've heard all about. in fact, that's all we ever hear about, but you were saying?

[depakid]

77. At some point down the line, this backfires bigtime

because it starts to become transparent and pathetic. Ask John Kerry.

[varelse]

78. This is ALL he's got, isn't it? He was a POW in Vietnam.

that's why it's in all his ads, and it's his campaign staff's standard answer to every one of his gaffes.

Does he have a health care plan, any comprehension of foreign policy, any answers to the energy crisis, the upcoming water wars, or the looming environmental meltdown? Any plans to restore our constitutional rights, STOP our own military and government employees and contractors from murdering, exploiting, enslaving, and torturing people? Anything?

No - just... POW. Wow. Not.

[adamuu]

83. he's totally unashamed. n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

84. My favorite line is "this is a story you may not know about"

Cuz it's not like John McCain talks about it every two minutes.

[Jennicut]

85. POW! POW! POW! A noun, a verb, and ......yes...a POW!

That is all he has, he is desperate.

[jberryhill]

86. McCain was a POW?

I'd never heard that before.

[Canuckistanian]

87. Does America want someone who's been beaten, tortured and maimed for lfe?

Usually people like that end up wandering the streets, shouting at squirrels.

We know about his "rattling keys" phobia, but has anyone ever seen his reaction to squirrels?

[SammyWinstonJack]

91. ...

:yoiks: :scared:

[noamnety]

88. Can you imagine a woman running

based on being raped?

"It doesn't matter if I have 10 houses. I was raped."

"How dare you question my qualifications on human rights. I was raped."

etc.

[SammyWinstonJack]

89. Ah geeze.

:puke:

[Sewsojm]

90. He now collects $58,000.00 tax free a year in disablitly pay,

how does someone that makes $169,300 a year as a US Senator also collect $58,000.00 a year tax free in disability pay???

[LeftishBrit]

92. It's awful this happened to him, but it doesn't automatically qualify him to be president.

You get the impression from the Republicans that ALL that is needed is to have been a POW.

Bizarre.