This is getting way out of hand. Yet another Obama supporter is taking pretty nasty shots at John McCain’s military career and I”m getting really freaking tired of it. Here’s Rand Beers, who we last saw advising John “Global Test” Kerry.
Sadly, Sen. McCain was not available during those times, and I say that with all due respect to him…I think that the notion that the members of the Senate who were in the ground forces or who were ashore in Vietnam have a very different view of Vietnam and the cost that you described than John McCain does because he was in isolation essentially for many of those years and did not experience the turmoil here or the challenges that were involved for those of us who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam war.”
“So I think…to some extent his national security experience in that regard is sadly limited and I think it is reflected in some of the ways that he thinks about how U.S. forces might be committed to conflicts around the world.”
Barack Obama said in a speech today about John McCain, “And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides.” That appears to be so much typical Obama bloviating, considering that he did not call out any one of the five men who have attempted to “devalue” John McCain’s service before his speech today.
You didn’t know about those five? Two of them were US Senators who ran for President at least once. Two of them are former Generals, one of whom ran for President. One of them is running for a seat in Congress right now. We’re not exactly talking about anonymous people whose names haven’t been pretty prominent in the news before. To quote Ron White, “We’ve met”.
After the jump, I pulled and linked the comments each of the slimy weasels made. If you want the shorter version, with just the names and a few links, Jim Geraghty has a good list. He includes talk show host Ed Schultz, but I’ll let that “warmonger” comment pass as typical leftist hyperventilation.
April 3, 2008 – Former Senator and Presidential candidate Tom Harkin
I’ve been on the receiving end of it [John McCain's temper],” Harkin said. “And yes, I’ve seen it, and yes, everyone here knows about it.”
When asked if McCain’s reported eruptions should be considered disqualifying for a president, Harkin said, “Well, it can be scary.”
Harkin said McCain is known for “flying off the handle.”
…
“These are the kinds of things that could cause problems,” Harkin said. “An order given in anger might not be corrected.”
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“Anybody to this day who believes we could have ‘won’ the Vietnam War by just killing a few more Vietnamese, that’s kind of scary if that’s the kind of mindset someone has who is running for the presidency,” Harkin said. “What does that say about Iraq and other countries? All we’ve got to do is just bomb them back to the Stone Age and we’ll win.”
April 7, 2008 – Senator Jay Rockefeller
“Senator McCain does have a temper. But today, he speaks in a monotone on the campaign trail…McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn’t know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.”
April 19, 2008 – Former Senator and Presidential candidate George McGovern
John, you were shot down early in the war and spent most of the time in prison. I flew 35 combat missions with a 10-man crew and brought them home safely every time.
May 16, 2008 – Tom Harkin (Again)
I think he’s trapped in that [the military tradition of his family]…Everything is looked at from his life experiences, from always having been in the military, and I think that can be pretty dangerous…[I]t’s one thing to have been drafted and served, but another thing when you come from generations of military people and that’s just how you’re steeped, how you’ve learned, how you’ve grown up.”
May 19, 2008 – Congressional candidate Bill Gillespie
Gillespie noted that McCain was the son and grandson of admirals and called him part of the “Navy royalty.”
“Admirals’ sons…were treated like royalty. They were privileged people. They were given a silver spoon. Their careers were prepared for them.”
McCain, Gillespie added, was “somebody who needed to stand out, someone that needed to draw attention to themselves and … was usually out for themselves.”
“After that [McCain's years being tortured as a POW]…he was somewhat of a celebrity and it went to his head. … I think he was a self-promoter for the last four years (in the Navy.)
June 26, 2008 – Obama supporter and retired General Tony McPeak
“He was fresh out of jail, you know…Skinny kid. All beat up of course, physically. But quite thin. They weren’t feeding him very well in Hanoi. He’s done very well at the dinner table in Washington.
June 29, 2008 – Obama adviser, former Presidential candidate, and retired General Wesley Clark
“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn’t a wartime squadron…”
“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”
Not exactly proud moments for any of them. Ugly comments from ugly-minded, little men.