Should we cut McCain any slack at all?

[11 Bravo]

I know I will be in the minority here, because I say yes. Will I vote for him? Hell, NO! His pandering to the Falwell wing of his party and his continued Bush sycophancy sicken me. I have never heard the siren song of the Presidency, but I still can't believe that instead of hugging *, McCain didn't kick him in the nuts. Still, I can't get past the fact that he spent years in a Hell you and I can't begin to imagine, and he always kept the faith. Because his dad was CinCPac he was offered early release from the Hanoi Hilton. His response was "Fuck you". And he continued to live by four simple words: "no confession without torture". That was the code. He knew he was going to lie his ass off eventually, but he made his captors wring it out of him. Perhaps I attach too much importance to his behavior as a POW, but while I will never vote for him, and have, in fact, lost a great deal of respect for him, I will also never belittle him.

[Monkeyman]

1. I won;t support him at all

But I know this vet won't attack him

[11 Bravo]

4. I think you and I are on the same page.

[Virginia Dare]

2. He lost my slack...

when he didn't stand up to the swiftboaters. SCREW HIM!!!

[Demit]

3. No.

This has been another edition of simple answers to simple questions. :)

[datadiva]

5. No. n/t

[indepat]

26. No, hell no, never, ever: caved on torture and don't like that photo of his worshiping W

[William769]

6. Not a snowballs chance in hell!

[Richard Steele]

7. His heroism was a long, long time ago. His WHOREDOM is current.

So, my answer to your reasonable, well-thought-out
question will have to be "no".

[Mythsaje]

8. Well, other than the fact that he climbed in bed with,

and continued to support, people who did precisely THAT (belittle him) during his run for the Republican nomination against Dubya, I'd say he's lost a lot of the points he may have gained by his previous display of courage.

Not to mention he has thrown in his lot with people who'd simply make what happened to him MORE common than it already is.

Ah, hell with it.

Fuck McCain.

[Greyhound]

9. No, he lost any possibility of gaining respect when he rolled over for

the idiot frat boy.

[Hubert Flottz]

10. He's a war criminal appeaser!

And even helped push Bush's criminal war in Iraq!

I think he's every bit as bad as Bush.

[Nite Owl]

11. No

really hell no!

He had his chance to be someone great and he lost it, he should have backed Kerry in '04 instead of dimson if he were someone who could really be admired.

[derby378]

12. He couldn't bring himself to stand up to neo-fascism

'Nuff said.

[Bucky]

13. I'm not a vet, but I can't see any point in going after McCain on the "nuts" issue like Bush did

McCain served his country and I won't disparage his service prior to his winning elective office. All the stupid shit he's said and done since then needs to be ridiculed, pilloried, disproven, or dismantled. I cut him no slack at all in politics. Wearing the uniform and enduring torture is not politics. I truly hope no DUers think implying he carries any cognitive disability from living thru that five year nightmare. His ability to carry on the life of a citizen since then is admirable and heroic. It's only his political judgment that sucks.

[iamjoy]

30. Yes, Slack In What Area

Anything related to his military service is off limits. He had more character and integrity in a single hair than most Americans have in their whole body.

His wife and daughter - off limits. They did a wonderful thing adopting that baby. But family should be off limits anyway.

But his political career is fair game. He's become just like any politician - he's waffled, flip flopped and refused to stand strong on principles, all the while playing like a "straight talker." The whole Keating 5 scandal - why not make that an issue too? No, McCain doesn't get a pass on everything.

[Bucky]

33. The problem with you (and me) is that we have a sense of what "fair game" is.

Democrats really do run a decent, fair game. We really try to live and let live in the best of the 60s liberalism. If Republicans would do that too, they'd pick up a LOT of moderate, professional class votes. The problem is that in the process they'd start to bleed white working class votes in much greater numbers. Opposition to opportunity is one of the key ingredients holding the Republican party together.

[Mz Pip]

14. I have tons of

sympathy for what he went through when he was a POW. But here he is, over 30 years later, wanting to send more troops into Iraq thereby possibly subjecting even more young men and women to his fate.

I don't get it. One would think it would be obvious to him that there are no do-overs in this war. It was a mistake that no amount of additional troops can make up for.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

15. No

A gutless wuss smeared as bad as anyone by Dumbya's Political Machine who spends his waking hours sucking up to him every way possible deserves no slack.

[Election]

16. Unless we want to lose in 2008, no

The question is can you accept a Republican President. I can't.

[twilight_sailing]

17. Respect for his military service, yes.

Slack for his actions in the political sphere, no.

[Yukari Yakumo]

18. Nope.

A flip-flop all the time. Too unreliable to be counted for anything.

He's gonna get clobbered he'll try to campaign on the national level.

[nosmokes]

19. why should he get special treatment?

or anyone else, for that matter? no one gets a hall pass any more.

[Straight Shooter]

20. Craven McCain?

I think there was a time I could have respected him. But he's a bush boot-licker, for sure, and he'd sell his daughter's soul to the devil if it would make him president. I can't respect that.

[Ecumenist]

21. Ummmm, let me think here....

nope.. He has no honour....PERIOD.

[MrCoffee]

22. I'm still waiting for him to kill himself like he promised.

[Felinity]

29. Huh? n/t

[Felinity]

23. Not just "NO" Edit to Rec--how about a few more?

HELL NO!!!

Just because someone once behaved valiantly, with honor, does not give them a free pass when they have obviously succumbed to the greed for power the way McCain has. I went over threshold when he "let it slide" after the Rethugs went after him AND HIS FAMILY (was that South Carolina) to put B* in office.

But when he caved on denying Habeas Corpus to anyone B* didn't like; it was clear at that point that he had drunk the kool-aid every day since then. He has sold his soul and I will take no prisoners now, there will be no more torture for McCain. He deserves political death.

Greed for Power is the new cocaine. Once you get hooked, there will never be enough, and there will never be anything more valuable to you than POWER. McCain needs to go into Rehab for a decade or two.:nopity:

[eviltwin2525]

24. NO!

[LSK]

25. no, look at his voting record, he hates the middle class like most Repukes

http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=S0061103

[NEDem]

27. He lost that opportunity the minute he set foot on the Liberty Univ. campus.

I say no way, he will be treated as any other extremist should be treated.

[TheCowsCameHome]

28. Absolutely. Like an extra-long bungee jumpers cord.

[Imagevision]

31. none! nada- ZERO

[rocktivity]

32. No.

And I'm looking forward to his "indpendent maverick moderate" act being skewered with this pic for the next two years.

:headbang:
rocknation

[roguevalley]

34. he has no honor. he changed his 'views' because of his greed for

the White House. He's a war hawk, an adulterer, a liar and a buffoon. Too bad. He had a conscience once I'm told.

[Mira]

35. No -Never-not possible. I am concerned about his health, too.

He looks like a dough boy and not well. I think something very strange is going on with him.
I can't possible overlook his unreliability.

[Tellurian]

36. NO- McCain should cut his own slack by

dumping the GOP and jumping over to the DEMS..

At least he could be himself as a Dem, rather than
continue allowing the Repubs to disgrace him as they
have in the past. They will do it again..

So, get out now, while the gettings good.
Your mental health is more important than their prestige.

[BootinUp]

37. The issue is not about his service to this country

its about his very conservative record that is too often painted as "maverick". McCain is not loved by the conservative wing, it reamins to be seen if he can win the nomination. Just now on Tucker there was a pundit talking about why McCain does not get the support from the fundies/conservative wing. Its because hw doesn't speak their language and he comes off too negative to them. I actually agree with that analysis.

As for his service in the military, I salute him.

[11 Bravo]

38. Thank you for actually reading the OP and responding thereto.

For a minute there I thought I had suggested a "McCain for President" thread.

[BootinUp]

40. I guess you need to define how you see him being "belittled"

I assume you are proposing we go easy on him politically becuase of his service.


I read your OP the first time. As I said, I don't even know why you brought up his service, who has belittled his service? Bush maybe. :think:

[Disturbed]

41. McLame is a fraud.

John McCain Hypocrite
by Doug Ireland

John McCain, the media's darling, has found a clever way around his own campaign finance reform law to take big corporate bucks in furtherance of his political ambitions while carrying water for the corporate mammoth providing the dough. But the national press is ignoring the story.


The Associated Press first ran the story of John McCain's odorous but lucrative Senatorial service to the communications giant Cablevision on the afternoon of March 7. But, while some local papers in McCain's home state (like the East Valley Tribune) have run the story, nothing has as yet made it into the print editions of the New York Times, the L.A. Times, the Washington Post, or any of the half-dozen other big city dailies I checked (although, if one searches the hundreds of AP stories available on the Post's website on its Politics page by clicking on "Latest Wire Reports," one can find it there--but how many readers would bother to do that?) One notable exception: the Kansas City Star.


Here's what the AP's investigation found:


McCain repeatedly intervened on behalf of a policy Cablevision favored -- one which "congressional and private studies conclude could make cable more expensive" -- while his chief political adviser, Rick Davis (who's masterminding McCain's probable '08 presidential rerun) solicited $200,000 in contributions from Cablevision to an institute that promotes McCain and pays Davis a $110,000 annual salary.


The Reform Institute was set up to promote McCain and his issues--especially campaign finance reform, embodied in the famous McCain-Feingold law. This Institute is "a tax-exempt group that touts McCain's views and has showcased him at events since his unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign," and it "often uses the senator's name in press releases and fund-raising letters and includes him at press conferences," the AP says. And, of course, it provides a cushy sinecure with no heavy lifting for McCain's main man, Davis, as he prepares the pontificating Senator's next presidential run. Cablevision's contributions account for a whopping 15% of the Institute's budget.


http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0309-35.htm

[TankLV]

39. Absolutely NOT- he's a fucking lying hypocritical sack of shit - a REPUKE!

He doesn't deserve the light of day...

[Crunchy Frog]

42. No. n/t

[BootinUp]

46. That was short and sweet.

;)

[Jim Warren]

43. Slightly more

than bush/rove gave him in 2000 South Carolina primary.

But ONLY slightly more.

[in_cog_ni_to]

44. NO. In fact, I think the Democrats need to start going on the attack NOW

with The Keating Five scandal. He should be ashamed of himself for what he did to his friend, John Kerry over that dumb ass joke he screwed up. McCain is a LOSER.

[Sapphocrat]

45. No. n/t

[oasis]

47. "Mr. Straight Talk" McCain said "those who call the president a liar are

themselves liars". The same "hero" bends over backwards to kiss the respective asses of Bush and Jerry Falwell. He then proceeds to stab his "friend" John Kerry in the back over the botched joke.

I'm done with John McCain.

[AngryOldDem]

48. I respect his service, and that's about it

To think that he could be the GOP nominee just galls me. I once saw him as one of the few voices of reason within that party, but he sold out big time.

[immoderate]

49. That was then, this is now.

He accrued much honor from his Vietnam experience. Then he squandered it, and then some. If we give him a pass, why no Duke Cunningham? :shrug:

His political record sucks. He can only damage the country.

--IMM

[hsher]

50. I think I covered that question HERE

Thanks, cartoon Jon Stewart, for saying it for me. I don't hate the guy, but... seriously, he's all Tinfoil Hat and no mental.

[emulatorloo]

51. He has no integrity -- the way he lied about his friend John Kerry

during the "botched joke" nonsense put the nail in the coffin of his credibility and integrity. He of all people knows that Kerry would not dis the troops. Yet he ran out and did Rove's Bullshit bidding.

[Zodiak]

52. As an American who made them work to get a confession,

he was very brave in unimaginable circumstances, and I deeply respect that.

That being said, one cannot neglect the fact that McCain has voted 95% of Bush-supported legislation through Congress, including issues that concern the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions, and yes, the war on the middle class and poor. And this man aspires to be President based on the false notion that he is a "maverick" and will meet his opponents across the aisle (instead of those across the aisle that share his proto-fascist ideology). It for for both of these reasons that he needs to be opposed vehemently.

That's politics.

Of course, if McCain changes his stripes and gets kissy-face with the bulk of the Democratic Party rather than the right-hand DLC fringe (face it, right-wingers getting together with right-wingers isn't bipartisanship..its collusion), and allows us to pass some good Democratic legislation this next two years, then I will consider not plastering that sickening picture of his rapturous man-hug with monkey boy all over the Internet in 2008. I will still oppose his candidacy, though.

[bobbie]

53. No he's a cowardly sack of shit with no honor or humanity.

He's one of the worst of the worst.

[in_cog_ni_to]

55. No kidding. The man has NO pride, no self respect at all. He let the repuke party

spew horrid crap about his wife being a drug addict, he let KKKRove get away with the whisper campaign about his "black baby", and then they called McCain himself "mentally unstable" because of his Vietnam torture....then he proceeds to kiss the BFEE asses and that Bush/McCain hugging picture is PATHETIC. McCain looks PATHETIC and WEAK in that pic. PLUS, the SOB ate BIRTHDAY CAKE with the psycho-in-chief while Katrina victims were DROWNING!:grr: McCain surely IS the worst of the worst.

[bobbie]

57. EGG-zatc-ly. Let them attack his *family*, and just rolled over

Man, have you heard Randy Rhodes rant about what a cowardly curr he is for that? She hates him. And I can't contradict the Goddess. :)

[novalib]

54. For One Thing, He's ANTI-CHOICE!!!

He was to take away a woman's right to choose.

What other rights does he want to take away????!!!!

NO SLACK FOR McCAIN!!!!!

NONE!!!!

[B Calm]

56. Cut McCain some slack! ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY! He's

a hard core wacko right-wing nut

[yurbud]

58. He would be less of an embarrassment than Bush, but that's comparing him to worst in history

That's like saying the new pastor seems more honest than Ted Haggard.

[marlakay]

59. NO NONE nt

[Giant Robot]

60. Short answer...No

I want to like a conservative so I can at least feel that side of the political spectrum is being represented by someone that the liberals can work with, and every so often he seems like a stand up guy. I respect his service and I am sure he has done something as a politician I can appreciate. The problem is he continually goes back to showing what a spineless whore for the Republican party he is, and I can't respect that.

[Zavulon]

61. Then I'll belittle him for you.

If we were talking about such a pompous gasbag with that sort of voting record who WASN'T in the military and a POW, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. John McCain was an honorable man once, but he got to Washington and turned into a festering turd. Fuck him.

The slack he earned with me was used up years ago. You can't ride a POW term forever if you're now nothing but a self-promoting piece of shit.

[WI_DEM]

62. Absolutely not