Imagine having been a prisoner of war. Imagine being 6'3" and sleeping with your limbs pulled up behind your torso because you were kept in a five foot cage for six years. Imagine the brutality of
your captors over all those years. Imagine not losing your mind, but, rather, in your mind, building
an imaginary building, one brick at a time one day. And, then the next day, tearing it down one brick at a time until the next day when you rebuilt it, as a way not to lose your mind.
Just imagine! I knew a man who experienced that horrific life. I saw him sleeping with his limbs behind his torso. I can tell you that this former Navy Seal, head of his team, seldom talked about his experiences, humilitation or abuse. He did not have to. It was apparent every day in his limp and his need for quiet a lot of time and no loud noises.
Many things in the current administration in Washington have caused me great sadness and anger, but
the demeaning of John McCain by the current president has been, to me, the lowest of the low.
It has all been brought home in the last hours, as the tributes to John McCain and the photo footage of
this man have been on TV for us to share in his life story. He was the first to talk about his flaws, his failures and all of that, but he also was one of the great patriots of our generation. His ability to overcome his capture, to not harbor rancor and anger at his captors, speaks volumes about his character irrespective of all the other accomplishments in his political life.
So, just IMAGINE what he and so many POWs and Veterans went through in all the wars that we have participated in. For anyone to cast aspersions on even one single veteran, to me, is the height of disgusting. And, then, for it to be the President of the USA who was a draft dodger sends my red hair flaming.............
21 comments:
Thank you for this post. I have always admired John McCain.
This is a huge loss for our country.
I share the feeling you so wonderfully state. 😢
Indeed, Joan, indeed.
Ginny, sometimes I worry when I go off on things like this, but
I'm glad I said it all.........
Hola Babas,
History will show that Trump and his Campaign were in with the Russians to influence our election. Some people will always be in denial. The Republicans and Conservatives who support Trump have given up their "Character Counts" slogan. Why?
I saw a Conservative Republican family on T V and they said they did a Liberal thing which they never would usually consider. (Breaking the law by obtaining an illegal drug made from Cannabis for their child's epilepsy.) The interesting thing was the man said in referring to Liberals: "I don't understand other peoples story. I can't comprehend it. But when it becomes my story then that's different."
To sum it up, it is just a lack of empathy.
After the John McCain comment by Trump, I thought nothing could be worse and then he separated children from their mothers, Pathetic.
Yes crynoutloud.........Your comments are right on. I guess people who don't understand other people's stories or can't comprehend them are somehow lacking in empathy. '
Every single morning, the first thing I think of when I awaken is the "children" - all 565 children "kidnapped" from their parents so that administration could make a "point". Their words not mine. It has caused me many sleepless nights and pathetic is as good an adjective as all those that come to my mind.
Biting my tongue. I am not a US citizen, I am Canadian. I did not agree with all of John McCain's policies, but followed his ideal that politicians can agree on things for the good of the country, rather than disagree just for the sake of snubbing an opponent. Things that can't be denied are his courage and dedication to his country. Anyone who spurns his memory is lower than a snakes belly.
Lower than a snakes belly? Snakes do have more integrity than Trump.
Low life con artists are born everyday but it’s the troops of goose stepping followers that is quite disheartening.
They say cognitive dissonance or lack of proper brain function makes truth and facts difficult for these Fox News types. I guess they need to reinvent reality to suit their dissfunction. The founders of the United States knew this and did everything they could to create a governmental system to protect us.
Regardless of politics - John McCain was good man,
Rick
Kris and Rick - I agree with both of you wholeheartedly. It has been very scary to see the attempt to chip away at our country's values, and checks and balances. Seriously. The lack of integrity of this administration has been a huge shock to me and very disconcerting.
I'm neither Rep or Dem. That said, he was a man of strong convictions. That still stands today as a true value in a human being. An example for all.
John McCain was our "unofficial" President. Did you know when he found out that Trump had embarrassed the US on a phone call or on a visit to a foreign dignitary, Senator McCain would pick up the phone and call that dignitary to apologize on behalf of the United States for the conduct of Trump? Senator McCain was a foreign policy expert, and foreign officials around the world loved him (except in Russia and North Korea). That is the deeper reason Trump detested him because of his clout in foreign policy. The front page of the Russian state run newspaper, TASS, upon the death of Senator McCain read "The Enemy is Dead."
On a more humorous note (which he dearly loved), Senator Lindsey Graham from my state of South Carolina, who was like a brother to Senator McCain, told me a story of an event, and I could hardly stop laughing. John McCain's mother is still living (the senator was 81) at the young age of 106; she will be at her son's funeral. Years ago, Lindsey said that he was sitting in McCain's office when the phone rang, and it was then his 95 year old mother who lives in DC. She wanted to let Johnny (Lindsey said she still called him Johnny) know that she was on her way to France and didn't want him to worry. Johnny tried to talk her out of the trip until he could arrange for someone to go with her, but she would not have anything to do with it. So, she got to Paris and tried to rent a car from Hertz, and the Hertz representative said they couldn't do it because she was too old. Lindsey said she became flaming mad and called Johnny again and told him the situation; he couldn't get her to turn around and come home. While they were on the phone, she said hell, I'll buy the damn car, and she did!! When she was finished with the trip, she stopped at the US Embassy in Paris, parked the car, and walked into the embassy, identified herself with her passport and credentials, dropped the keys to the car on the receptionist's desk, and asked her to call Johnny to figure out what to do with the car. She then took a limo to the airport, and the rest is history. I really hope I can do that at 95 years of age; now I know where McCain's genes came from to be labeled with the nickname "Maverick."
OMG, what a grand story! Thank you so much for sharing. I too hope I will be that way as long as I live, which I hope is not to 95 years old or 106!
Babs, if you are as physically fit and have a decent presence of mind as she seemed to have, yes, you wouldn't mind living to 95. But I have no idea as to her quality of life now at 106 or if she can mentally absorb the fact that her son has passed on.
Dee, we'll see! John McCain's mother is supposed to be at his services!
Yes, John McCain's mother was at the services. Other than she was in a wheelchair for her age she appeared well, all things considered. The story about her tenacity has been fun to read. Though back in the days of her prime it might have been referred to as "spunk".
I'm impressed that John Mc Cain's mother at 105 could be at the service in a wheel chair. "Spunky" is an appropriate term I would say.........I too loved hearing the stories about her. Now we know why John McCain was "his own man"!
Babs, correction, she is 106 years of age. Before she had knowledge that Senator McCain was dying, she gave an interview with a journalist at her apartment in DC. She was walking around her apartment well without the need of a wheelchair. So, she must use one when she is out and about in unfamiliar territory. She showed the journalist around her apartment and described all of the art pieces she had collected from all over the world. If she can remember what they were, where she got them, and in what year, now that is a sharp memory of recall. Roberta McCain was also asked about the trip to France that Lindsey Graham told me about, and she remembered further details. She said the car she purchased was a Peugeot and that Johnny had the US Embassy ship it to the east coast for her. She also said that she enjoyed the car so much that she coaxed her twin sister, Rowena, to go with her out west driving the Peugoet to California. (I wonder if she also drove the 3,000 mikes back, too.).
Wow, Dee. It gives me hope. I still have very good recall at 76 and hope I keep a sharp mind. I'm impressed with her life, to put it mildly. Wish I had seen the funeral and would have enjoyed seeing the interview with Roberta McCain!
Thanks for sharing.....
We don't "participate" in all these wars; we start them. And McCain has been the biggest war hawk of my lifetime. If he had his way, we'd have destroyed half the planet by now, and killed almost all of our young men in the process. While I think the man has served his country honorably, and that Trump has treated him awfully, let's not forget the truth. And let's also not forget the fact that the mainstream "misleadia" is now showering McCain with so much praise at least partly because that's a way to further their favorite sport: tearing down Trump.
Frankly, I think McCain and his ilk have done great harm to this country by promulgating useless, expensive, and ultimately immoral wars such as Gulf War II. And any balanced epitaph of the man should not leave this out.
Respectfully,
Kim G
Redding, CA
Where a policy of peace seems the best long-term bet.
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