Rolling Stone has published a long article, "Make Believe Maverick", dissecting the realities of John McCain's military service. Its a subject as touchy as an IED, loaded with downside reaction, and avoided by the corporate media. However McCain and Palin's willingness to pander to rabid supporters on the verge of inciting violence brings their essential characters and judgements into question. Since Palin is the very junior and inexperienced partner of this would-be superhero duo, it is John McCain's judgement and character that should be scrutinized. We all know that McCain spend five and half difficult, painful years as a captive of North Vietnam after being shot down during a bombing sortie, but their are aspects of his military service that are revealing but not as well known. The Rolling Stone article provides some details.The son and grandson of Navy admirals, John did not have to overly exert himself to recieve a commission at Annapolis and climb his way up the Navy hierarchy. In his final year at Annapolis he nearly "bilged out" because of excessive demerits. His mother intervened with the Academy commandant who relented and allowed the "spoiled" midshipman to finish fifth from the bottom. He was, in his rebellious dissolution, eerily similar to another scion of fortune, George W. Bush. McCain's flying record would have grounded a less connected pilot. He crashed more planes than W (3). Despite his poor flight record he wrangled a combat assignment to Vietnam. McCain's A-4 Skyhawk was involved in the fire that disabled the USS Forrestal. The fire was started by a haywire missile that hit the armed jet next to his, exploded, and caused a fuel fire and the release of two 1,000 pound bombs. One of the bombs blew, incinerating sailors and blowing a crater in the flight deck. The conflagration killed 133 men. After escaping their burning jets, some fellow pilots helped seamen fight the blaze. McCain escaped from his cockpit with minor injuries and went below to watch the battle on closed circuit TV. He left the badly damaged carrier with reporters for some R & R in Saigon.
On his twenty-third mission off the USS Oriskiny in October, 1967 he was shot down while bombing a well defended Hanoi power plant. His captors referred to him as "the crown prince" because McCain told them he was the son of an admiral. In military circles it is well known that
John McCain collaborated with the enemy by signing a confession allegedly under torture in August, 1968 and making a radio broadcast (a violation of Section 104, UCMJ). McCain admitted he was "an air pirate" and had bombed civilian targets. McCain may have received special medical treatment from a Soviet physician for his broken bones. He met with foreign delegations, and was interviewed by the North Vietnamese national hero, General Vo Nguyen Giap. Other POWs resisted cooperation and attempted repeated escapes despite horrific punishment when recaptured. His missions totalled about 20 hours over enemy territory. McCain was awarded 28 medals including a Silver Star and DFC. Some grunts logged as much as 7,000 hours of combat. Senator McCain has carefully crafted a public image of a hardened warrior-statesman who does not compromise his principles under pressure or for gain. Those familiar with his career as a connected military officer and opportunistic politician say the reality is much different. "John has made a pact with the devil," says Lincoln Chafee, the former GOP senator, who has been appalled at his one-time colleague's readiness to sacrifice principal for power.Back stateside and enjoying promotions in his Navy career through family influence, McCain was serially unfaithful to his former model wife, Carol Schepp. She was disfigured in a terrible car accident while McCain was a POW. Adultery is not permitted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Nevertheless, he romanced his second socialite wife Cindy while still married. The Reagans were upset with his shabby treatment of Carol, so Nancy Reagan gave her a job in the White House. His penchant for attractive, tall women obviously remains with him in his old age.
As a Senator, McCain was courted by the powerful banker Charles Keating who sought influence against what he considered meddling by federal regulators. Savings and loans had been deregulated in 1980, allowing them to invest in areas such as commercial real estate that had previously been prohibited. Keating went hog wild, mounting up $650 million worth of violations of the direct investment rule, the largest in FTC history. Keating, by his own admission, paid $1 million in contributions to five senators to be immunized from regulatory violations. McCain accepted $112,000 from Keating in poltical contributions. McCain and his family took at least nine free trips at Keating's expense, and vacationed nearly every year at the mogul's estate in the Bahamas. Keating also hired Alan Greenspan to deliver a favorable report recommending Lincoln Savings be exempted from certain regulations. The attempt failed. As a result of Keating's many risky investments with insured deposits, his bank's holding company went bankrupt in 1989. Twenty-one thousand depositors, many elderly, lost their life savings (total: $285 million). Deposit insurance did not cover the loses because the deposits were assets of the holding company and not Lincoln Savings which was an FDIC insured institution. Later, Keating plead guilty to multiple federal felony charges in exchange for a sentence to time served.
McCain's credentials as a mainstream conservative legislator are extensive. "When jackasses like Rush Limbaugh say he's not conservative, that's just total nonsense," says former Democratic Senator Gary Hart who befriended McCain when he was Navy liaison officer to the Senate. McCain sought military spending increases for the Navy during the Carter administration, sought to cut taxes for the wealthy, voted to abolish the department of Education and Energy, voted for Clarence Thomas and Robert Bork for the Supreme Court, supported the Nicaraguan contras, voted twice against campaign finance reform, and in "his greatest legislative victory" voted for a bill that abolished catastrophic health care for seniors. He also voted against the Martin Luther King holiday, a position he clung to until 1989. More recently the former victim of torture supported the CIA's use of water boarding on detainees in the 'global war on terror'.
At least three of McCain's GOP colleagues have gone on record to say that they consider him temperamentally unsuited to be commander in chief. When he was a toddler, John the Third exhibited a volcanic temper when thwarted. He would hold his breath until he literally turned blue and passed out. To dissaude him from this destructive behavior, his parents would dunk him in a bathtub of cold water. The upcoming election results may be the biggest tub of cold water John McCain has experienced in his privileged life.
[image credit: Rolling Stone]
[photo: Green Berets Smith and McClure were prosecuted for violating the military code of conduct while POWs. The charges were eventually dropped. They were dishonorably discharged.]