Former POW Says McCain Is "Not Cut Out To Be President"
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Stumble ThisDr. Philip Butler, a highly decorated combat veteran who was imprisoned alongside John McCain at the infamous 'Hanoi Hilton' prison in Vietnam, has gone on record with his opinion of the GOP presidential candidate in a short video interview with Brave New PAC.
Butler says about McCain:
"I think I can say with authority that the Prisoner Of War experience is not a good prerequisite for President."
"John McCain is not somebody I would like to see with his finger near the red button."
FROM YT: John McCain has been exploiting his prisoner of war experience every chance he gets. He has used this story to justify everything from not knowing how many homes he has to his healthcare plan to his marital infidelities to his taste in music. The McCain campaign is even using his POW story in paid ads. But now a veteran who was a prisoner with McCain in Vietnam is explaining loud and clear that being a POW does not qualify McCain to lead our country.
Dr. Phillip Butler knew McCain as a fellow POW. Watch and listen!
Butler says about McCain:
"I think I can say with authority that the Prisoner Of War experience is not a good prerequisite for President."
"John McCain is not somebody I would like to see with his finger near the red button."
FROM YT: John McCain has been exploiting his prisoner of war experience every chance he gets. He has used this story to justify everything from not knowing how many homes he has to his healthcare plan to his marital infidelities to his taste in music. The McCain campaign is even using his POW story in paid ads. But now a veteran who was a prisoner with McCain in Vietnam is explaining loud and clear that being a POW does not qualify McCain to lead our country.
Dr. Phillip Butler knew McCain as a fellow POW. Watch and listen!
Having lived across the hall from John McCain at the U.S. Naval Academy prior to combat, Butler was a close witness to McCain's famously volatile temperament. "He was very sensitive and touchy and just easy to anger," says Dr. Butler. "John McCain is not somebody I would like to see with his finger near the red button." Butler continues, "John McCain's temperament makes it clear that he is not cut out to be President of the United States."
Butler points to the health risks faced by former Prisoners Of War as another cause for concern about a McCain presidency - a concern publicly heightened in recent days by McCain's selection of a political novice as a running mate. "The data show that the Prisoner Of War group are dying at an earlier age and that we suffer lots of residual things that non-P.O.W. group really doesn't have to deal with. And it's imperative that we have someone who is healthy and can stand the rigors of that job."
Other military veterans agree with Butler's criticism of McCain's exploitation of his P.O.W. story. Writes Brandon Friedman, a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan and author of 'The War I Always Wanted': "To see McCain resort to playing the POW card when answering legitimate questions, in my mind, cheapens that experience. And by cheapening his own experience in war, he degrades all of our experiences in war. He turns the horrific incidents we've all seen, touched, smelled, and felt into a lame excuse to earn political points. And it dishonors us all."
From YT: We are sure this video will draw an onslaught of right-wing attacks, but we bring it to you because it is our job to continue to convey the truth together and give these issues national attention. As Dr. Butler has said, McCain does not have the temperament to have his finger near the red button. Get this video to everyone you know—friends, family members, coworkers, and especially those who don't share your political views. The video is designed to reach them. Get it on your social networking sites like Digg. And get it to every blog, newspaper, and TV station that has ever overplayed McCain's POW story. It is time to fight back with truth!
The mainstream press has already begun to call out McCain for overusing his POW story. And it's cut across all political persuasions. * "Whether he's deflecting criticism over his health-care plan or mocking a tribute to the Woodstock music festival, Senator John McCain has a trump card: the Hanoi Hilton. — Edwin Chen, Bloomberg * "Noun, Verb, POW" — Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic Monthly * "The McCain campaign's constant invocation of the candidate's POW past is weird bordering on irrational..." — Ana Marie Cox, TIME * "I think they are going to it way too many times." — Howard Fineman, Newsweek
Remember how Joe Biden got the press to refer to Rudy Giuliani as "A noun, a verb, and 9/11"? Well, let's actually take Andrew Sullivan's lead here and get the media to boil McCain down to a similar phrase: "A noun, a verb, and POW." Considering how often the McCain campaign invokes his POW story, isn't that what they're already doing?