Jack Kelly of Irish Pennants points to a startling editorial column by former CIA Counterterrorism official Michael Scheuer. It's startling to me, anyway. I had Scheuer pegged as your typical grandstanding lefty, out to make hay on anti-Bush sentiment. His book Imperial Hubris came out around the same time as a string of books that disputed administration claims or second guessed war on terror strategies. Well. Listen to this.
What to make of Mr. McCain? His behavior raises the question of whatever became of U.S. veterans who never sought to make political or economic hay from their wartime records. Former Sen. George McGovern and the actor Jimmy Stewart flew, respectively, 35 and 25 combat missions over Nazi Germany. They and tens of thousands of other World War II veterans chose not to draw attention to their own bravery and combat records. In Mr. McCain, we have a man who has been dining out on his POW experience for a quarter-century, and is now using it to grandstand on the so-called "torture" issue to advance his campaign for the presidency. This is not to question the Arizona senator's personal bravery and patriotism -- there is no question on these points -- but merely to reflect on his tawdry, self-serving behavior in comparison to men like Mr. McGovern, Mr. Stewart, and their contemporaries. The senator's "no-torture campaign" reveals him for what he is: A little man, with mediocre intelligence, a taste for bullying and an appalling temper who thinks the presidency is his birthright.
Mr. McCain's attack on "CIA torture" will have the same impact as The Post's: It will kill Americans.
Excellent post. McCain is an insufferable ass.
Posted by: Bullington | December 26, 2005 at 09:58 AM