McCain should be ashamed of himself.  He was not alone in that camp, nor was he there the longest.  Of course, he's a hero.  No one is disputing that.  But the shameless way he has been using it, knowing it plays so well, has cheapened what these men endured.

Kelly, you mentioned below that vets do support Obama, but I thought people might also be interested in seeing to whom military personnel have donated:

These are the latest numbers from The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group:

Obama $335,536 (859)
McCain $280,513 (558)

As with the donations to these two in general, it is always interesting to look at the number of people making contributions.  There is a difference of about 35%, although the amounts are relatively close.  Obama supporters can't afford to give as much (IMO), but they give in greater numbers whatever they can. 

Thank you, thank you!  I couldn’t agree more.  Did you read any of the comments?  They were very interesting..  One said she/he had heard that prisoners cannot accept an offer of release when other prisoners are not offered.  So if that is true, then his claim, that refusing release was the most agonizing decision he ever made, was not true, because he would have been breaking military law if he had accepted. I need to find out if that rule is true.

I hope Biden uses the same phrase he used on Giuliani; all McCain is about is a noun and a verb and I was a POW.

I know to  this day he still collects disability pay and yet he voted against money for education for vets, because it would encourage them to leave the military.  To summarize another comment; he didn’t have to worry when he came back because he had a total and complete support system and didn’t have to pay for meals in Veteran hospitals and endure third world standards in care facilities.  It’s always about him as if he was the only POW. 

Replies: (list all replies)

Yes, I did read comments, including one almost incomprehensible one that attempts to tear apart the logic/argument. And you're welcome, Viv! I thought I pretty much struck gold this morning when I saw it on HuffPo. Vets DO support Obama; they recognize McCain's empty rhetoric where they're concerned, despite him being 'one of them'. His voting record has not borne that out, to be sure. But if he keeps playing the POW card, there will always be those who will forgive him everything, including screwing them over. It's bizarre. eom Kelly Oh!!

I found an article written by Philip Butler, with whom McCain was a POW. Among other things, he said: *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. I'll put the link to the complete article inside. //Shea

Kelly, please see above for military contributions thus far. // Shea

Thanks so much, Shea - much appreciated! How interesting about the donations to date. And I wonder how many of our soldiers serving in Iraq feel about all this - I realize their active deployments may preclude them from saying anything perceived to be 'unpatriotic' publicly, but I do believe there are Obama supporters over there as well. Maybe more than most of us think or imagine. eom Kelly Oh!!

So saying he agonized over the decision was total BS. Shea, where above to you mean? I saw something a couple weeks ago that showed vets had contributed much more money to Obama than to McCain. That should be put out there all the time for everyone to see. Also, this is something else I saw a vet say, but it is hard to believe. He said he was in the same prison at the same time and McGramps was actually treated very well as soon as they found out who his father was. From his injuries it doesn’t seem feasible. He said they always treated sons of important people well, so as to look good to the Americans. Shea, I see you must mean in the link. I haven’t looked there yet. / Vivian

Which brings me to another gripe! The stupid chain email that says Obama did not visit troops in Iraq. Then who were in those adoring crowds wearing uniforms and smiling ear to ear standing around him while he was over there? Just because they didn't show it on Fox doesn't mean it didn't happen. // Shea

What gets me is no matter how many times you send those phony emails back with the real facts, people still believe what the emails say. The other day Chris Matthews said while he was on vacation a woman told him she would not vote for Obama because he is a Muslim. Matthews told her no, it was proven that he isn’t. She said, yes he is and she wasn’t going to believe that he wasn’t. Come to think of it, I saw a woman being interviewed in some rural area, who said the exact same thing. She said she chooses to believe that he is. That’s like saying I do believe that the earth is flat, because that’s what I choose to believe. / Vivian

Some of the emails even say things like *I checked this with Snopes and it is true* even when Snopes says it isn't. I understand there is ignorance of the facts out there. We do, after all, live in a country where 15% of voting age people don't even know who the President is. However, it is the complete indifference to the facts that boggles my mind. // Shea

More and more of them are saying it's been checked it by Snopes, even when it hasn't. I think those that believe it or say they do are a lost cause and don't want it proven to them. It's their excuse for not wanting him because of his ethnicity. At least the ones they interview from the Appalachians just come right out and say they would never vote for a black. / Vivian

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