Just most of them.

But one (indeed the only one I've encountered) has written a piece criticizing John McCain and arguing against his election to the presidency. He is Phillip Butler, who served this nation honorably and spent 8 years in the same hellish conditions that John McCain endured during his time as a POW. I honor that service.

He concludes as follows.

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.

There are two sets of arguments at work in this commentary. The first set goes back to McCain's time at the Naval Academy and as a POW.

• John was a bit of a wild child during his late teens and early 20s. Of course, you have to ignore that having been a half-century ago to consider it to be relevant, but hey -- what is intellectual honesty.
  
• John McCain wasn't the only guy who suffered -- but then again, that is only relevant if you consider some unique experience of suffering to be a requirement to be president. In addition, John McCain's experience as a POW was not unique -- but then again, no one has ever claimed that it was.
  

All three of those arguments are irrelevant -- and come frighteningly close to an effort to denigrate McCain's service and experience as a POW. I presume that is not Butler's intent -- but given a point I will make later, I think it is important that I note it.

But Butler's other arguments are not irrelevant -- age, temper, and ideology. Let's look at them.

1. Age -- yes, many of the POWs are dying off, some at a younger age than their contemporaries, due to their treatment in Vietnam. But any number of them are still in great health -- and McCain is clearly one of them. Besides, there is nothing to say that 47-year-old Barack Obama won't drop dead of a heart attack tomorrow -- just like a 49-year-old former colleague of mine did the other day while attending an in-service session in the district where he worked.
   
2. Temper -- yeah, McCain has a temper. He's a passionate man. But there is nothing in his character that shows his temper is not restrained by intellect and morality. He may yell, and raise his voice -- even curse -- but he has time and again demonstrated that he acts in a rational fashion.
   
3. Ideology -- for all some of us on the right might find McCain to be a bit less conservative than we like, it is clear that the Left finds him much more conservative than Barack Obama. So you have a choice -- a strong liberal or a moderate conservative. Take your pick.
   

Of course, one might consider Butler's biography beyond his time as a POW.. His biography includes his work as a "peace and justice" activist -- and member of "Veterans for Peace". yeah -- that Veteran's for Peace. You know, a group that objects to military recruiting and the Blue Angels. In other words, a group of extreme Leftists who regularly attack and insult our troops. I'm not hanging that tag on Phillip Butler -- he hung it on himself. So if you read his opinion piece and think it sounds like it belongs on Kos or DU, please recognize that its author would be welcome and comfortable on either of those two sites.

UPDATE: Looks like Obama surrogates are now using Butler against McCain. Can you say "Swiftboat"?

Here are my questions:

1. Will Obama try to get these ads pulled?
   
2. Will he seek to get those behind the ad jailed, as he has those running the Bill Ayers ad?
   
3. Will he threaten to use the FCC to punish stations that air this ad?
   
4. Given that no one on his side heeded his call to lay off Bristol Palin, is the statement by its sponsors that they will not pull the ad even if Obama asks them to simply more evidence that Obama is not even taken seriously by his supporters, much less America's enemies abroad?

On the other hand, significantly more of McCain's brothers in arms support him. Proof once more that Butler is what pollsters call an "outlier"..

H/T Hot Air, Don Surber

Posted by: Greg at 02:22 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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