The only coherent thing that McCain mentioned in that attempted speech Thursday night was the fact that he was a POW in Vietnam. Of course we already knew that because the campaign has mentioned it eight million times. The heroic war story is the only thing the Senator has got going for him because his old ideas borrowed from George Bush do not work with the American people anymore.
Another thing that McCain is known for but is never talked about on the Straight Talk Cynicism Express is the Senator's temper. There have been a few stories here and there in the past, such as him cursing Sen. Cornyn to his face and calling his wife a c*nt and a trollop, and as bad as those are, they do not compare to how he treated a group of veterans and their relatives when he was the one that was supposed to help them.
From McClatchy:
Back in Washington, families of POW_MIAs said they have seen McCain's wrath repeatedly. Some families charged that McCain hadn't been aggressive enough about pursuing their lost relatives and has been reluctant to release relevant documents. McCain himself was a prisoner of war for five-and-a-half years during the Vietnam War.
In 1992, McCain sparred with Dolores Alfond, the chairwoman of the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen and Women, at a Senate hearing. McCain's prosecutor-like questioning of Alfond — available on YouTube — left her in tears.
Four years later, at her group's Washington conference, about 25 members went to a Senate office building, hoping to meet with McCain. As they stood in the hall, McCain and an aide walked by.
Six people present have written statements describing what they saw. According to the accounts, McCain waved his hand to shoo away Jeannette Jenkins, whose cousin was last seen in South Vietnam in 1970, causing her to hit a wall.
As McCain continued walking, Jane Duke Gaylor, the mother of another missing serviceman, approached the senator. Gaylor, in a wheelchair equipped with portable oxygen, stretched her arms toward McCain.
"McCain stopped, glared at her, raised his left arm ready to strike her, composed himself and pushed the wheelchair away from him," according to Eleanor Apodaca, the sister of an Air Force captain missing since 1967.
The press has largely avoided stories like this because they see an old, affable man on the campaign trail. It conflicts with the image he provides them, but for those that know McCain, this is hardly surprising material. Even the candidate himself writes about his temper (in Faith of my Fathers) as a young child who would pass out from the rage that lives inside of him. Though cursing at other Senators in a heated moment is far different from this episode when he barely contained himself from striking a helpless woman in a wheelchair. Those six witnesses couldn't touch the Senator for his actions, but the American people can stop him from bringing that violence to the White House. We know far too well that there has been more than enough of that caused by the current President.
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