Okay, this week should be a better blog. I chose the subject of our upcoming elections as my returning blog because it is such an important issue in these trying times that we are living. This will probably be my only political post because I try not to be political. I feel that in order to state your opinion you have to back it up with facts. I need to do more research. That being said I have been trying to keep up on this presidential race because this is going to be a powerful term. It was going to be a toss up (for me) if Hillary had gotten the democratic nomination. Being a woman with two young children I feel that this election will affect me the most of all elections. Now that Barack is the nominee...hmmm.
A little confession must be made. I usually vote for the same candidate as my parents. This is just because my dad is a crazed internet research background check person and my mom usually does her own separate research. They totally keep up on the political front and they usually vote for the same person. Local, state and national. I do not have the time to do this. Therefore I figure they want the best for me and my family so I vote with them.
This time I feel that I formed my own opinion.
For me the only thing that Obama has over the McCain campaign is his speaking voice. He can give a speech and rally people like no other. It's almost mesmerizing. Well now McCain has Sarah Palin. Wow!! Obama should be very scared.
When I first heard that McCain chose a woman as his Vice President I was ecstatic. And then I heard that she has a four month old with Down Syndrome. Being a young mother I thought, she should be home raising her family. And then I heard her speech. I became eager. So I began doing some research.
She began as a PTA member and now potentially could be the first women to hold a major office. She is known as a tax fighter. She is a member of the NRA and strongly supports the right to bear arms. Her husband is a blue collar worker. Her oldest son is being deployed to Iraq on Thursday, September 11th.
I know who I'm voting for and obviously I'm not afraid to say it. I'm voting for a man who loved his country so much that when offered and early release as a POW during the Vietnam War he refused, not wanting to violate the military code of conduct and knowing that the North Vietnamese would use his release as a powerful piece of propaganda. He is the recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. McCain is known to be a straight talker. I like that.
There you have it. No matter who you are voting for this November, please think about which candidate will to protect our borders and defend our nation. Who will keep our families safe?
A side note: I hate election time. They should ban all political commercials.(thank goodness for my DVR, I can fastforward through them) The candidates should tell us what they stand for and how they are going to make this a better Country/State in which to live. Not nitpick their opponent.
Video: Easter Parade
12 years ago
3 comments:
As a rebuttal, here's what one of McCain's fellow POWs recently wrote about him:
http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859,00.html
Why I Will Not Vote for John McCain
Phillip Butler | March 27, 2008
As some of you might know, John McCain is a long-time acquaintance of mine that goes way back to our time together at the U.S. Naval Academy and as Prisoners of War in Vietnam. He is a man I respect and admire in some ways. But there are a number of reasons why I will not vote for him for President of the United States.
When I was a Plebe (4th classman, or freshman) at the Naval Academy in 1957-58, I was assigned to the 17th Company for my four years there. In those days we had about 3,600 midshipmen spread among 24 companies, thus about 150 midshipmen to a company. As fortune would have it, John, a First Classman (senior) and his room mate lived directly across the hall from me and my two room mates. Believe me when I say that back then I would never in a million or more years have dreamed that the crazy guy across the hall would someday be a Senator and candidate for President!
John was a wild man. He was funny, with a quick wit and he was intelligent. But he was intent on breaking every USNA regulation in our 4 inch thick USNA Regulations book. And I believe he must have come as close to his goal as any midshipman who ever attended the Academy. John had me "coming around" to his room frequently during my plebe year. And on one occasion he took me with him to escape "over the wall" in the dead of night. He had a taxi cab waiting for us that took us to a bar some 7 miles away. John had a few beers, but forbid me to drink (watching out for me I guess) and made me drink cokes. I could tell many other midshipman stories about John that year and he unbelievably managed to graduate though he spent the majority of his first class year on restriction for the stuff he did get caught doing. In fact he barely managed to graduate, standing 5th from the bottom of his 800 man graduating class. I and many others have speculated that the main reason he did graduate was because his father was an Admiral, and also his grandfather, both U.S. Naval Academy graduates.
People often ask if I was a Prisoner of War with John McCain. My answer is always "No - John McCain was a POW with me." The reason is I was there for 8 years and John got there 2 ½ years later, so he was a POW for 5 ½ years. And we have our own seniority system, based on time as a POW.
John's treatment as a POW:
1) Was he tortured for 5 years? No. He was subjected to torture and maltreatment during his first 2 years, from September of 1967 to September of 1969. After September of 1969 the Vietnamese stopped the torture and gave us increased food and rudimentary health care. Several hundred of us were captured much earlier. I got there April 20, 1965 so my bad treatment period lasted 4 1/2 years. President Ho Chi Minh died on September 9, 1969, and the new regime that replaced him and his policies was more pragmatic. They realized we were worth a lot as bargaining chips if we were alive. And they were right because eventually Americans gave up on the war and agreed to trade our POW's for their country. A damn good trade in my opinion! But my point here is that John allows the media to make him out to be THE hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals.
2) John was badly injured when he was shot down. Both arms were broken and he had other wounds from his ejection. Unfortunately this was often the case - new POW's arriving with broken bones and serious combat injuries. Many died from their wounds. Medical care was non-existent to rudimentary. Relief from pain was almost never given and often the wounds were used as an available way to torture the POW. Because John's father was the Naval Commander in the Pacific theater, he was exploited with TV interviews while wounded. These film clips have now been widely seen. But it must be known that many POW's suffered similarly, not just John. And many were similarly exploited for political propaganda.
3) John was offered, and refused, "early release." Many of us were given this offer. It meant speaking out against your country and lying about your treatment to the press. You had to "admit" that the U.S. was criminal and that our treatment was "lenient and humane." So I, like numerous others, refused the offer. This was obviously something none of us could accept. Besides, we were bound by our service regulations, Geneva Conventions and loyalties to refuse early release until all the POW's were released, with the sick and wounded going first.
4) John was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for heroism and wounds in combat. This heroism has been played up in the press and in his various political campaigns. But it should be known that there were approximately 600 military POW's in Vietnam. Among all of us, decorations awarded have recently been totaled to the following: Medals of Honor - 8, Service Crosses - 42, Silver Stars - 590, Bronze Stars - 958 and Purple Hearts - 1,249. John certainly performed courageously and well. But it must be remembered that he was one hero among many - not uniquely so as his campaigns would have people believe.
John McCain served his time as a POW with great courage, loyalty and tenacity. More that 600 of us did the same. After our repatriation a census showed that 95% of us had been tortured at least once. The Vietnamese were quite democratic about it. There were many heroes in North Vietnam. I saw heroism every day there. And we motivated each other to endure and succeed far beyond what any of us thought we had in ourselves. Succeeding as a POW is a group sport, not an individual one. We all supported and encouraged each other to survive and succeed. John knows that. He was not an individual POW hero. He was a POW who surmounted the odds with the help of many comrades, as all of us did.
I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate.
Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60's and 70's. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John's age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.
I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.
It is also disappointing to see him take on and support Bush's war in Iraq, even stating we might be there for another 100 years. For me John represents the entrenched and bankrupt policies of Washington-as-usual. The past 7 years have proven to be disastrous for our country. And I believe John's views on war, foreign policy, economics, environment, health care, education, national infrastructure and other important areas are much the same as those of the Bush administration.
I'm disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not accurate. He is not a moderate Republican. On some issues he is a maverick. But his voting record is far to the right. I fear for his nominations to our Supreme Court, and the consequent continuing loss of individual freedoms, especially regarding moral and religious issues. John is not a religious person, but he has taken every opportunity to ally himself with some really obnoxious and crazy fundamentalist ministers lately. I was also disappointed to see him cozy up to Bush because I know he hates that man. He disingenuously and famously put his arm around the guy, even after Bush had intensely disrespected him with lies and slander. So on these and many other instances, I don't see that John is the "straight talk express" he markets himself to be.
Senator John Sidney McCain, III is a remarkable man who has made enormous personal achievements. And he is a man that I am proud to call a fellow POW who "Returned With Honor." That's our POW motto. But since many of you keep asking what I think of him, I've decided to write it out. In short, I think John Sidney McCain, III is a good man, but not someone I will vote for in the upcoming election to be our President of the United States.
--- Doctor Phillip Butler is a 1961 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a former light-attack carrier pilot. In 1965 he was shot down over North Vietnam where he spent eight years as a prisoner of war. He is a highly decorated combat veteran who was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legion of Merits, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Heart medals.
After his repatriation in 1973 he earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at San Diego and became a Navy Organizational Effectiveness consultant. He completed his Navy career in 1981 as a professor of management at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is now a peace and justice activist with Veterans for Peace.
Nothing in the long article written by Phillip Butler made me change my mind about John McCain. Phillip Butler is a left wing radical, liberal college professor from the University of California at San Diego. He was the only POW that MSNBC could find to speak out against a brother POW and all he could come up with is John McCain’s temperament. That shows me the caliber of a person Butler has become. He sounds a bit jealous to me. "I was there longer, I have two silver stars, I was tortured longer than you were tortured and I didn’t get any credit..." John McCain admits he was a rebel rouser, probably like most of Amanda’s friends. In Butler’s own words when asked if he was a POW with John McCain, Butler replied, “No, John McCain was a prisoner with me.”
If you ask me McCain has every right to use his military service record. At least we know his record is true. (knock, knock John Kerry, it's been four years. Where are YOUR military records?) If I remember right John Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, George Bush Sr. (the youngest combat pilot in US Army Air Corps when he was shot down in WWII), all used their military service to help show their strength of character, which is a quality of utmost importance in an American President.
Wow... That was the longest most un-orginal rebuttal I've ever read. First of all I hope you don't believe everything you read. No self respecting person especially as a former POW would lessen the severity of someone elses captivity by saying "he was a POW with me". "he was only tortured for 2 years". And if he really did say that who would want to believe a single word he has to say. The article continously stated that there were so many other POW's and medals but remember who's running for president?? Them or McCain?
Politics are ugly. I personally think elections should last 3 months. TWO YEARS!!!! this has been going on way to long. I wish I had a job that I would get paid to do and also pay me for trying to find another one.
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