I always respected John McCain. I'm too young to really remember that whole Keating Five thing and despite the fact I disagreed with him on many things, he always seemed like a guy I could be OK with if I had to be. He reminded me of my Grandfather-- He leaned pretty rightward...mostly because that was the way of his generation and he couldn't help himself...but he was basically a good guy. At least as good as you can be as a life-long politician. I've been increasingly disappointed by him in recent years and last week was the last straw for me.
Senator McCain,
That’s it. I’ve had it. I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt ever since I started my exploring my political beliefs in the 90s. Your service to your country and yes, your so-called "straight talk" from back in 2000 when you ran against our current "Decider" went a long way in my book even if I didn’t agree with you on many things.
Since 2000, I have been saddened by your gradual de-evolution into just another wing-nut. Apparently, at some point after 2000 someone pulled you aside and told you that if you just got in line and supported our Preznit that you’d be anointed next. (I suspect they would’ve told you anything to shut you up.) For a while I saw through your act. Despite the fact that my own political development led me down the path to the dirty fucking hippies and phony soldiers despised by your friends, I knew you were just saying and doing what you thought you had to do in order to feed your increasingly consuming desire to be the next Decider. I was uneasy, but deep down I hoped you were still the same honorable guy I came to like back when I was trying to find my political identity.
But after your refusal last week to back Senator Webb’s improved GI Bill because it’s "too expensive" and might "affect retention" I am disgusted with you.
Where was your indignation to excess expense when pallets of cash were being dispensed with little or no accountability? Where was it when contractors were overcharging the government and/or delivering substandard products and services to our guys and girls overseas? What happened to your financial sensibilities when you flip-flopped on Preznit Decider’s tax cuts for the wealthy during a time of war?
As for retention, ignoring that better benefits might actually encourage more people to join the military in the first place...at least enough to offset any potential losses...you might want to think through your position a little more. It’s my experience that getting shot at (again) on your most recent tour while guys you went to high school with barely know there’s a war on is plenty of incentive to leave. Or how about while on one of your rotations home visiting with a maimed buddy who asks you to help because he can’t get the same basic treatment or therapy YOU would expect and deserve if your places were reversed? That was a pretty big one for me. Or how about the undeniable reality that countless months away from your family don’t make you feel like you have helped anyone other than your buddies who are stuck there with you?
As to your critique of Senator Obama...where was your righteous indignation about a civilian with no military experience speaking up on military and veterans matters when Feith, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, et al. were defining our strategery that has yielded so many positive results? Where were you then?
I’m waiting. I really want to know. But I know you can’t give me an answer because the truth is simply that you are not the Man I thought you were. You’ve lost this vet.
You have spit on the memory of your friends that have died in the service of their country. You have sold out to the modern aristocracy. You have betrayed the bonds of brotherhood, camaraderie and trust that were hard won by an honorable service to your country.
Fuck you, John McCain. You go to hell.