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McCain is NOT a hero; he is a survivor.
Aug. 21st, 2008 09:17 pmHeroes save others; survivors save themselves. Being a POW alone does NOT make one a hero. What did he do that saved any skin besides his own?
McCain's actions have always been selfish. Being born into military brass sheltered him from a hardscrabble existence. Little Johnny McCain the Third didn't have to work hard to get into Annapolis. His admiral grandfather and admiral father's legacy ensured him a slot. He certainly didn't work hard to distinguish himself academically by virtue of his graduaing 894th out of a class of 899. Woo hoo! The bottom tenth of his class. Yet somehow he managed to get a billet as a pilot, normally reserved for the top ten percent of Naval Academy graduates. Strings had to be pulled for that cushy spot.
No accounts of his early career show him to have been anything more than a hard partier, drinker, brawler and womanizer. Why should he have to do anything for others? His name alone was synonymous with two admirals. He must have thought the rank automatically came with the name. In fact, a friend of mine who served under him in the Navy said he acted like he expected to advance to higher rank without going through lower ranks. She is a lifelong Republican, but wouldn't vote for McCain because he was a shitty commanding officer when she worked for him.
Let's reclaim the actual meaning of words. People who survive horrific shit are not heroes, unless they have also performed altruistic deeds for others as well. Victims who make it through horrific shit are survivors, nothing more. Nobody would argue that the broken, twisted survivors of childhood rapes are heroes, not even the ones who punched their attackers in the 'nads and escaped. The same argument applies to victims of torture. Often, they are so damaged by the traumas, they find functioning difficult. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a reality for many of those victims. Stop giving that privileged old man credit he is not due.
McCain's actions have always been selfish. Being born into military brass sheltered him from a hardscrabble existence. Little Johnny McCain the Third didn't have to work hard to get into Annapolis. His admiral grandfather and admiral father's legacy ensured him a slot. He certainly didn't work hard to distinguish himself academically by virtue of his graduaing 894th out of a class of 899. Woo hoo! The bottom tenth of his class. Yet somehow he managed to get a billet as a pilot, normally reserved for the top ten percent of Naval Academy graduates. Strings had to be pulled for that cushy spot.
No accounts of his early career show him to have been anything more than a hard partier, drinker, brawler and womanizer. Why should he have to do anything for others? His name alone was synonymous with two admirals. He must have thought the rank automatically came with the name. In fact, a friend of mine who served under him in the Navy said he acted like he expected to advance to higher rank without going through lower ranks. She is a lifelong Republican, but wouldn't vote for McCain because he was a shitty commanding officer when she worked for him.
Let's reclaim the actual meaning of words. People who survive horrific shit are not heroes, unless they have also performed altruistic deeds for others as well. Victims who make it through horrific shit are survivors, nothing more. Nobody would argue that the broken, twisted survivors of childhood rapes are heroes, not even the ones who punched their attackers in the 'nads and escaped. The same argument applies to victims of torture. Often, they are so damaged by the traumas, they find functioning difficult. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a reality for many of those victims. Stop giving that privileged old man credit he is not due.
