McCain his 'service', General Clarke and those nasty Republicans

OK, so I guess you probably already know that one of the presidential candidates served in the Navy, yeah well, it's been blasted from just about every fucking roof top in the country.

But, I thought you might also want to know that:

• His father Admiral John S. "Junior" McCain was commander of the American Forces in Vietnam, whilst John McCain was held as a POW
• John McCain crashed five planes, but only one of them was actually shot down
• John McCain served on 23 missions
• His 23 missions only took a total of just 20 hours to complete
• He received 28 medals, averaging a medal and a half for every hour he served in Vietnam
• John McCain was a shit pilot, better than me, but shit all the same

Most of that data, well all of it except the premise I made about him being shit at flying, comes courtesy of Veterans Against McCain. If you'd like to read more specifics of McCain's service have a look at this. It provides a basic summary of his actions in Vietnam and perhaps makes sense of why the Republicans are so fucking tetchy about his service record.

As the entire world knows by now, he got caught and kept as a POW, but when he was offered the chance to go home, he heroically refused, choosing to stay until his comrades were released. Because of that decision a plethora of conspiracy theories sprouted as to why, some of them are fairly compelling, but I think the answer is far simpler - I don't see he had a choice. I mean, how would it have looked if he'd taken them up on their offer?

The Vietnamese only made the offer in the first place because of who his dad was, so you can imagine the reception the US press and his old man would've given him - son of commander of US forces in Vietnam completely fucks up, then gets out early - the press would've had a field day with him and his dad.

But, that's not what's on my mind today. I'm truly pissed but not remotely surprised by the reaction to Wesley Clarke questioning of McCain's qualifications to be commander in chief.

McCain and the rest of the Republican party seem to think that, the fact he crashed one of his planes in Vietnam and got caught, somehow uniquely qualifies him to be commander in chief of the world's most powerful army. But, when this ridiculous assumption is challenged it's as if they were attacking McCain's fucking military record.

The Republicans have the American public bewitched when it comes to the flag and who loves their country the most. It doesn't seem to matter that around half of the soldiers killed in action have been Democrats, it doesn't seem to figure either that around half of the entire public service sector is staffed by Democrats, including the police and the fire services. Still, only Republicans can possibly be patriotic, they're patriotically destroying the constitution and patriotically starting bullshit wars that result in the deaths of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis.

They've got the Democrats tied up in knots on the issue, all the Republicans have to do is feign outrage, shout patriotism and before they know it they've got the media and the DNC jumping around like a Jewish mum at their son's bar mitzvah.

Neither Wesley Clarke, nor Obama, nor a single surrogate or any organization supporting the Democratic party, have attacked McCain's military service. His service has only ever been mentioned, by the Democrats, in the most reverential of tones, they're not that stupid.

But, somehow, to the Repugs, questioning the relevance of McCain's military service as it pertains to experience for a commander in chief, is the same as attacking his service record or dare I say - patriotism (OMG that word!), then out come their star spangled banners and chants of Islamic fundamentalism or any other ism that scares the American public.

What galls me the most, is that the bloke who dared to ask is a fucking general himself, regardless, the Repugs immediately default to their 'he's attacking McCain's patriotism!' and everyone starts panicking, even Obama makes some ridiculous statement about how fantastic McCain is and went onto remind us all of just how fucking heroic the man is/was/will be. The entire Democratic party was stunned into silence, only another decorated General (Gard) was decent enough to come to Wesley Clarke's defense.

This shit is getting embarrassing.

I've no idea what John Kerry must be making of all this, when he ran he had his own heroic service record constantly challenged/questioned. The Republicans and the public at large sat back as the worst of the Republican supporters attempted to devalue his service, it was an outrage. This time around no one has come close to questioning McCain's service, but please let people question the relevance of it.I mean we all have family who served. I have an uncle who's a vet, he served with distinction but believe me, you would not want him running this country!

Senator McCain, your service, although appreciated is irrelevant, please SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT IT!