The L.A. Times in all its "wisdom" has decided that because Presidential Candidate John McCain is receiving a disability pension for the U.S. Navy that he may not be "fit" to serve a President.
And in a further insult to a man who was tortured for his country as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, they question the pension's tax-free status.
As a POW, Lt. Commander John S. McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, instead torturing and interrogating him to gain information. Only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral did they give him medical care. McCain spent six weeks in the Hoa Loa hospital, receiving marginal care. McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week. In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.
In July 1968, McCain's father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam Theater. McCain was immediately offered early release. The North Vietnamese wanted a worldwide propaganda coup by appearing merciful, and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well.
In August of 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery and McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession". He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he would later write, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine. "His injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. He subsequently received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements. Other American POWs were similarly tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements, with many enduring even worse treatment than McCain.
This is a man who has endured, survived, accomplished and excelled despite his wartime injuries. For the "Socialist" L.A. Times to infer that Senator McCain is not fit to be President is an insult to all who've served this country. Would this paper have ever dared to make the same claim of President Franklin D, Roosevelt back in the '30s and '40s? Would this "newspaper" ever have the balls to publish photos or print stories of FDR in his wheelchair or his struggling to stand upright with his crutches? I doubt it.
And in a further insult to a man who was tortured for his country as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, they question the pension's tax-free status.
As a POW, Lt. Commander John S. McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, instead torturing and interrogating him to gain information. Only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral did they give him medical care. McCain spent six weeks in the Hoa Loa hospital, receiving marginal care. McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week. In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.
In July 1968, McCain's father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam Theater. McCain was immediately offered early release. The North Vietnamese wanted a worldwide propaganda coup by appearing merciful, and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially. McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well.
In August of 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery and McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession". He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he would later write, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine. "His injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. He subsequently received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements. Other American POWs were similarly tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements, with many enduring even worse treatment than McCain.
This is a man who has endured, survived, accomplished and excelled despite his wartime injuries. For the "Socialist" L.A. Times to infer that Senator McCain is not fit to be President is an insult to all who've served this country. Would this paper have ever dared to make the same claim of President Franklin D, Roosevelt back in the '30s and '40s? Would this "newspaper" ever have the balls to publish photos or print stories of FDR in his wheelchair or his struggling to stand upright with his crutches? I doubt it.
