McCain’s Cone of Impunity
Given that John McCain’s political career was launched by the fact that upon his return to the United States his extraordinary wartime service made him a minor celebrity, it’s no surprise that references to that service have continued to play a large role in his political endeavors. Not only is it unsurprising, it seems appropriate as clearly it was a major turning point in his life and according to his books a major touchstone for his worldview. But beyond that, his campaign has started doing two very odd things. One is its habit, somewhat ludicrously, of insisting that McCain doesn’t like to talk about his POW experience when, in fact, he and his campaign do it all the time. Another, more disturbing habit, is the tendency to use references to his wartime service to deflect any and all questions the campaign doesn’t feel like answering.
One comical example of this was McCain citing his POW experience as the reason he likes Abba, saying “I’ve got to say that a lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane and never caught up again” even though his favorite song, “Dancing Queen” was released years after his return to the United States. A more serious example concerns the “cone of silence” Saddleback controversy. The Rev. Rick Warren asked Senators McCain and Obama substantially the same questions. Warren joked repeatedly that this wouldn’t give McCain an advantage because he was being held in a “cone of silence.” It turns out that that’s not actually true, McCain was in a car in transit to the event and, in principle, could have been listening to Warren’s questions and/or getting briefed on them. So naturally McCain’s campaign got asked about this:
Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.
“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.
Wallace is being ridiculous here. If it’s not true, it’s not true and the campaign should say it’s not true. But I don’t think what McCain is being asked about here would even constitute “cheating” if he did it. Certainly it’s not out of bounds to ask questions about the circumstances. The only thing outrageous here is the insinuation that McCain out to be exempt from even the most rudimentary scrutiny on the basis of courage he showed decades ago in an unrelated context.
57 Responses to “McCain’s Cone of Impunity”
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August 18th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Yes, it is clear that to suggest that a veteran of the Keating 5-led destruction of the U.S. Savings & Loan division of our banking system could possibly have failed to play by the rules is to directly insult a POW for his service to his country.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:23 am
“John, have you been cheating on me?”
“Why no, how could you even think that? I’m a former POW!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, that must be how the conversation went.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.
Ahhhhh….. but she didn’t say he hadn’t be briefed on the questions. Big difference.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Atrios is right to resurrect Biden’s Rudy-ism on the McCain farce: The campaign says three things – a noun, a verb and POW. That’s all they got; and, to them, its the answer to everything.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Hey, Matt, check out the polls: it’s working . . . it always does. We’re seeing in slow motion a version of what happened to Al Gore and to John Kerry. Unless the polls are undersampling Obama’s support, unless his ground game in key electoral states is unprecedented, John McCain will be our next President. All because of this vile crap.
The idea that this just can’t work because all the factors are aligning in a particular way is naive.
Since the Wesley Clark episode I’ve wondered why the MSM has played along with the outrageous lies and smears, the stupid myths about McCain, the legitimization of Corsi, etc. And the only answer I can come up with is that they believe that a McCain victory is better for their careers, as it would preserve the status quo and show the uppity blogosphere Who’s Really Boss. Obama’s defeat defeats the blogosphere. And the Jake Tappers and the Charlie Gibsons and the Cokie Robertses love love love their careers above all else.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:31 am
One thing I want brought up is that John McCain, years after he returned to the US, had no problem engaging in public corruption that hurt his country. Arizonans know this about the man, but certainly it would be news to much of the national electorate.
If Bill Ayers’ conduct during the late 60’s and early 70’s can be a campaign issue, certainly McCain’s conduct during the 1980s can be as well.
Obama needs to start punching.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:35 am
According to my leading source on this subject (Hogan’s Heroes), POWs are actually quite accomplished at trickery.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I think if McCain had been briefed on the questions, he would have had a better answer ready for the “3 wise advisors” question.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Where are Obama’s surrogates?
Where is Obama?
Dems candidates are all so stupid. They never
learn from previous fiascoes.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:43 am
McCain is effectively asking to be elected president, despite every possible shortcoming as a measure of affirmative action for torture victims. Let’s just write the rest of his answers for him:
Do I understand the economy? No. My ability to add and subtract three-digit numbers was lost when my head hit the instrument panel in my flaming cockpit.
My understanding of marital fidelity was consumed in a ball of fire and went up in smoke with the rest of my downed plane.
Czechoslovakia? Damned if I know. My knowledge of Eastern European countries and world affairs was fixed forever and frozen in time on the day that first KGB-trained captor broke my arm.
I learned to take bribes in that Vietnamese prison camp, where bribery and smuggling were the only means of survival.
Sure these military actions seem reckless. But when you spend years in a Vietnamese prison camp, you learn life is cheap.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:45 am
The POW thing is an advantage for McCain – why shouldn’t he try to use it wherever and whenever he can? Let’s stop pretending that electoral politics is about taking the high road. It is up to the Obama camp to call him out on the “can’t question a war hero” bs. They (Obama camp) need to start getting a lot more aggressive. This is not Hillary Clinton they are dealing with anymore.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:45 am
I love the comment that falsely asserts that b/c McCain was a POW he cannot be a cheater. Huh? By what logic is that made? When in doubt, the McCain campaign just drops in “He was a POW” as if it’s a cure-all for every idiotic thing he/they do.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Where are Obama’s surrogates?
Watching the Olympics. Like the entire fucking American population apart from a small percentage of political junkies.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Not if you are playing to the crowd and telling them what you think they want to hear instead of answering candidly.
How did McCain know there was going to be a three part question on teachers and merit pay before Warren asked it?
August 18th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I don’t know what that photo is from, but I love it.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I’m sure the new Corsi book “Swift Pilot POW’s for Truth” will equalize this effect.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I don’t know what that photo is from, but I love it.
The original Get Smart, hence its remaking in the remake.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Anybody who watched McCain give quick, pre-packaged answers to Warren’s questions, as opposed to Obama trying to actually think them through, can’t help but think that McCain had an idea what questions were coming up. Great preparation or listening to the broadcast in the motorcade? Who knows but the non-denial attack by Nicole Wallace to the question of if he was listening makes me even more suspicious.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:22 am
I think the primary reason they use the POW thing as a defense for everything is to deflect the Rovian strategy of attacking the opponent’s strengths. Of course, as Wesley Clark said, getting shot down and taken prisoner does not mean you deserve to be president, but the McCain campaign in concert with the MSM has made pointing that out completely out of bounds.
So now any reference at all by the Obama campaign to the POW experience has been ruled out as well. “POW” is a way of ending the conversation, because the McCain people know the Obama people can’t respond to it. The Obama camp can’t say, for instance, that being a POW has nothing to do with whether you like ABBA or not, because the MSM will report that as attacking McCain’s service.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:31 am
You’re joking, right? It wouldn’t have been cheating if McCain had done it? Uhhhhh … yes, it would
August 18th, 2008 at 11:37 am
The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous.
Besides the fact that being a former prisoner of war doesn’t make you any more or less likely to cheat, and hence is entirely irrelevant, Nicole Wallace may want to think about McCain’s behaviour towards his ex-wife before saying something quite so absurd.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I think the whole attack had more to do with the fact that Andrea M. delivered the news. Until she went on Obama’s world tour she seemed oblivious to the McCain reliance on the press to cover his ass. They can’t lose her, or maybe they have lost her, now they need to attack. I don’t think it will work, she has a habit of effectively defending herself and NBC.
I don’t think McCain did anything more than guard against an unexpected question. The unexpected is his real nemesis. Given even a few seconds he can pick the right tape to play back as an answer. And that is what we got.
But another question was about a difficult decision he had to make. His answer was his decision to remain a POW.
I must not understand the whole story here, but is it actually possible to make this decision? Or was McCain deluded into thinking that he could make it? If the Vietnamese wanted to return him to the US, could he refuse to go? Couldn’t they return him and claim that he spilled the beans and so they let him go?
What is the story with this decision?
August 18th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Haven’t these people seen Hogan’s Heroes??? POWs are sneaky, man!
Not only that, McCain was in the Navy. McHale’s Navy has conclusively demonstrated that guys in the Navy are serious connivers.
Finally, McCain may be “a former prisoner of war”, but he’s a current Republican. And current Republicans are all liars and/or fools.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Why is the insinuation outrageous ? He cheated on his first wife, after all.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
As a former prisoner of war, John McCain (a former prisoner of war) is hesitant to speak of his experiences while a prisoner of war.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I laughed out loud when I read the McCain spokesperson’s statement. They have to remind us that he’s a POW?! He’s the most famous POW in the world.
Waiter: What can I get for you today?
McCain: I’d like to start with coffee.
Waiter: Will you need cream and sugar?
McCain: As a former POW, I always drink my coffee black.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Courage? Who’s ass has he ever saved besides his own?
August 18th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Jesus frickin’ Christ, Matt, when are you going to get a clue? Never? Why the hell do you think his campaign does this crap?
McCain is running on his “war hero” myth! Period! End of story! There is nothing else to say about McCain but that!
And until you people get a clue and start touting his collaboration with the North Vietnamese every single goddamn day, HE IS GOING TO WIN based on that myth!
Even the article you cited from Frank Rich didn’t even TRY to challenge the myth. Instead he REAPETED the bullshit war hero myth while complaining that “nobody knows who McCain really is”! Is that frickin’ STUPID or what?
The Georgian war was a test run for boosting McCain over Obama by allowing him to flex his “war hero” “national security” credentials while Obama surfed in Hawaii. When Bush starts the war on Iran, exactly the same thing will happen – McCain will get points and Obama won’t.
Christ! Get a goddamn clue! Just saying “Gee, he likes to talk about his POW experience” isn’t going to cut it! Swiftboat his ass!
August 18th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
POW, noun, verb.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Maybe I’m more fed up than anyone else with McCain’s flogging the POW card like a cheap whore flogging her “virtue”. But I think the REAL reason he natters on about it is the same reason the MSM cuts him all this slack, gives him totally free passes on repeated misstatements and brain-fade, all his campaign surrogates’ tasteless race-baiting, all his cheap shots at Obama that hardly dignify a real hero…and that is this:
When McCain reminds us all of his prisoner-of-war status, what he’s really saying is, YOU OWE ME, BUSTER–in effect, looking each and every American in the eye and saying no matter what, remember, YOU OWE ME. And the MSM is looking at each others’ flabby candy-asses and thinking, well, yeah, maybe we do. Maybe we should ennoble this guy, since he went somewhere we don’t know for sure we could hack.
I think that’s the sum total of it. And I think it’s about time Obama started sending out surrogates calling out McCain for deflecting tough questions he can’t answer by hiding behind his POW status. That, “my friends,” is actually a cowardly and ignoble tactic, and it’s become a tic of his. There’s nothing remotely heroic in the way he’s waging this campaign; just the opposite, in fact.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:59 am
I liked this article but doesn’t anybody have an editor other than Bill Gate’s useless spell check? Please change “out” to “ought” in this text: The only thing outrageous here is the insinuation that McCain out to be exempt from even the most rudimentary scrutiny on the basis of courage he showed decades ago in an unrelated context.
August 19th, 2008 at 4:53 am
That line belongs in a comedy piece.
“John McCain, former prisoner of war, bought a newspaper, returned home, and cut his toenails this morning.”
August 19th, 2008 at 5:26 am
Everyone – Please read this excellent exploding of the hero myth by Douglas Valentine – in the June 13-15 ‘08 edition of “Counterpunch” –
here
August 19th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Rick Warren’s defense of McCain that he was with Secret Service agents on the way to the event means nothing. The agents would never tattle on the person they are guarding.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Americans have a decision to make when they vote for the likes of McCain: “Are we ready for the next war to be fought on American soil?”
August 19th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I have a problem with Rev. Warren’s statement:”The candidates flipped a coin and Obama is to be first and Mac Cain is in a ‘cone of silence’” To me that is a lie, when you find out,McCain wasn’t even in the church!! At first I believed McCain being so quick and coy with all his answers, was because he was using his worn out stump speech, he uses in all his townhall forums. I now believed Obama was set up to nail him on his ‘pro-choice’ views.
August 19th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
McCain cheated on his wife immediately after returning from Vietnam. Why would he not cheat on Warren’s Biblio-rama game show?
August 19th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Nice logic. Since McCain can’t prove he didn’t cheat, he must have been cheating. Same with the Keating scandal. He was cleared of wrongdoing by the Senate Ethics committee (unlike three of the Democrats accused of corruption) but why let that stop you. If you don’t have evidence of corruption, assume it! It’s the Democrat (er, I mean) American way!
Of course, you could have written about how Obama lied when he said he supported the Illinois version of the Born Alive Infant Protection Act when he didn’t. But then again, since there is actual evidence of that lie you probably prefer to ignore it. Why bother calling out Obama when we have rumor and innuendo to pursue!
August 20th, 2008 at 5:20 am
The most decorated war hero to run for office was George McGovern. He never talked about it and never used it to exploit the American people. The more McCain talks about it the less heroic he appears, essentially because war is a brutal form of murder, sanctioned by politics and such grand myths as National Security. Viet Nam was a disaster. McCain would do best not to bring it up–particularly if he wants to get us out of Quagmire II in Iraq. Every time he brings up POW it recalls Viet Nam which leads us to Iraq.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Just a thought…
McCain says that he is experienced in war and can lead us to victory…
When you become a POW, it means you got caught by the enemy, and then are at their mercy until the war is over, without you, or you are rescued (by someone else).
So which strategy is he going to use to lead us to victory…
First, get shot down, then caught, then held by the enemy. Then the war is over, go home, get famous, marry a rich girl.
It’s all in his economic plan for all of us.
February 13th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
my God, i thought you were going to chip in with some decisive insght at the end there, not leave it with
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