I realize this is a lot late, and now that John McCain’s campaign has shifted to something else he hasn’t a leg to stand on, but yesterday a buddy pointed me to an article posted on RollingStone.com. It was about the McCain campaign while on the road during the primary season. I couldn’t read it all. Frankly I found it quite uninteresting.
However towards the beginning of the piece, they dedicated a fair chunk of it to his time as a POW. I don’t know about you, but I’m a lot bored with people telling, and him allowing them to tell, those “tales.” I always have been. In fact I find the whole “hero” label and him being labeled one fairly problematic.
Everybody faces challenges every day. Some not as dire. Yet some worse. Not everyone lives to be recognized for their struggles. Or hopes to benefit from them quite as much as him being elected President might prove. I, for one, was a little more impressed with him when he “didn’t like to talk about it.” Even knowing full well that his reluctance to discuss his time in Vietnam was just a “warm-up” for things that followed. Call me a cynic, but we all should have known…
As I’ve said before I was in a pretty serious car accident. About as close to catastrophic as you can get without dying. I had my brainstem significantly damaged, to the point of complete paralysis. And, still, I was able to feel, with excruciating pain I might add, everything. Not only was I in a coma for sometime, after I awoke, I was an absolute prisoner. In my own body. I couldn’t move. I was “locked-in.” In complete medical isolation. Fighting infection. Unable to adequately communicate, on every single level, except one, to strange family, friends, and hospital staff. It was months since I saw a single persons entire face. One not covered by a mask.
I was cut off from everything. In pain like I’ve never experienced. Beat down. Tired. Humiliated. Waiting for death…
No one person could’ve ever known my thoughts, except me. No one person could’ve ever known John McCain’s thoughts, except him. I’m not saying it wasn’t what he said it was. We have no way of knowing for sure. But he had no more control over what he underwent than I did. And, I believe, giving him “patriotic” assumptions for living to tell people about it is very generous and like I stated above “fairly problematic.”
I guess it could be argued he had the choice to end his suffering. We assume. Who is to say his captors would have done what they offered? Who is to say they wouldn’t have beat him just as bad if he accepted? If not worse? No-one. Not even him. But I digress…
Once upon a time while in the hospital the “chaplain” paid me a visit against my families well informed warnings no to. But like a typical Christian, she didn’t listen, and took it upon herself to talk at me about God. I was a “captive” audience. How could she, as a devout messenger of God, resist? Jokes…
So after a way overdrawn introduction of herself and how she met God she asked me if she could stay and talk about God some more. To which I blinked twice. And she politely went on with the rest of her day. But the thing was I’d have done anything for another shot at the question. I would have listened for hours to all the non-sense she could muster. If it actually meant someone was there, sitting beside me, talking about anything, in that hospital room. Not because I necessarily wanted or needed to hear about God. Fact was I was so fucking bored. I needed to hear some noise. Only able to watch ceiling tiles or have visitors for 15 minutes at a time left me so completely isolated. And alone.
But my beliefs, or better yet my lack of beliefs, immediately took command over any need for company. Without even thinking I asked her to leave. It isn’t that I regret that decision, in fact I’m sure I’d make the exact same one now, but it would be irresponsible of me not to mention the effect my convictions played on my intentions. Even while my back was up against a wall. Just like I think it is irresponsible of John McCain to take credit for doing something he was trained to do.
How exactly does that make him a hero?