[*Ledi*]

Originally Posted by Cristofle (View Post) Yes, he was. He was a lieutenant in the navy. There were rampant rumors that he didn't "deserve" the three Purple Hearts he has in the 2004 election (largely deemed unfair by reliable sources now), leading to a lot of mocking him by the Republican delegates in the 2004 RNC, like wearing "Purple Heart" band-aids (suggesting he got a Purple Heart for a band-aid wound). Snopes.com has a bunch of stuff on the controversy: snopes.com: John Kerry's Service Record

I hate thinking about the way that they treated Kerry, especially because of how McCain's service is praised. Talk about being total hypocrites.

[Bella Grint]

That's disgusting. Because he a Democrat or what? Purple Hearts aren't asked for and they shouldn't have to be explained. I don't see anything like this against McCain.

[Cristofle]

Did you see Jon Stewart mention that during this RNC? It was hilarious. He flashed back to a shot of one of the 'band-aid wearers' during McCain's speech and went on this rant like "How DARE they disrespect McCain's service and sacrifice?!...oh, wait, I'm sorry, those are the Republican delegates in 2004 mocking John Kerry's war wounds!"

It really just makes the fact that they use McCain's POW status as a card to try and get him out of trouble in any given situation that much more obvious. They obviously don't have any genuine respect for war veterans (and neither does McCain, given his voting record).

ETA: exactly because he is a Democrat. We Democrats didn't get the memo- only Republicans are patriotic.

[NYCity Boy]

what is the ed background on the candidates?

[4N6 DNA]

Originally Posted by NYCity Boy (View Post) what is the ed background on the candidates?

Hi Orli

If I am not mistaken, it goes like this:

Barack Obama:
Occidental College - Two years.
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a
specialization in international relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna *** Laude

Joe Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in
political science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 out of 899

Sarah Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism

[Bella Grint]

Yeah I hate how Democrats are portrayed when it's Republicans that debunk any patriotism.

I actually have an Conservative friend who comes from an military fam and they don't like how McCain keeps using his Vietnam POW experiences to end events they think he's overplaying it in the wrong way.

[BeautifulMistakex]

Thanks for the info on the Education.. seems quite unbalanced to me.

Biden and Obama both went onto grad school beyond undergrad (law school).

Palin did journalism?! Wow.. not sure if this would be quite the job for her.

(This is my first time posting in this thread, so let me know how partisan we are allowed to be)

[*Ledi*]

Originally Posted by BeautifulMistakex (View Post) Thanks for the info on the Education.. seems quite unbalanced to me. Biden and Obama both went onto grad school beyond undergrad (law school). Palin did journalism?! Wow.. not sure if this would be quite the job for her. (This is my first time posting in this thread, so let me know how partisan we are allowed to be)

I'm pretty sure you can be as partisan as you wish, as long as you refrain from making personal attacks.

[Bella Grint]

I am shocked she had a journalism degree that is what I am aiming for and it's weird to have that in common well education is just as important as experience to me.

[collide]

I hate how often they bring up the race and POW card, too. We know McCain was a POW, we know he served his country honorably..........it just seems that McCain always uses that to get out of answering a question. He will talk about it when it has no relevance to the question.

[TheAngel]

Originally Posted by collide (View Post) I hate how often they bring up the race and POW card, too. We know McCain was a POW, we know he served his country honorably..........it just seems that McCain always uses that to get out of answering a question. He will talk about it when it has no relevance to the question.

It's not just that, and McCain isn't the only one to use the POW card. The media was using it when Edward's affair came out. Some people were talking about McCain's affair and suddenly people from the right started yelling that he was a POW like that made his infidelity OK somehow. I hate the POW thing. It shows that he's a great man, a war hero, and someone that loves his country, but it's not proof that he's going to be a good president.

[NYCity Boy]

Originally Posted by 4N6 DNA (View Post) [ United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 out of 899

hey jessie!

thanks for this. Wow he was almost last in his class. Another thing he has in common with the president

I only ask cause I saw this and wanted to compare:

[UnsilentMajorty]

Do you know where McCain gets his "Maverick" nickname from?

It's not from his voting record. It's because of his blatant disrespect for the rules. He CRASHED more jets during his time in the Navy -- Look this up on for confirmation -- Than he did flying because he wouldn't abide by safety regulations and rules of engagement. It's funny how this is NEVER talked about. He's lucky to be alive, regardless of being shot down, or not.

RE: POW Status and Patriotism...

The fact McCain was a POW is reason enough he should NOT be President. This might seem offensive, but the reason is most POWs (and veterans in general) all suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which is a psychological condition that makes them unstable. PTSD suffers usually exhibit anger management problems, feelings of persecution and paranoia... Qualities the President of the United States (or any leader) should not be afflicted by in my humble opinion. The bigger problem is a lot of POWs are in denial about their condition and often (are able to) hide it like an alcoholic until it finally consumes them. This is why people are literally afraid if McCain becomes president he could start WWIII by making a decision fueled more by his feelings of anger and paranoia than logic and rational debate.

Also, I am glad another poster brought up the fact a lot of veterans, regardless of political affiliation, are sick of McCain exploiting the plight of veterans just to tug at the heart strings when he obviously doesn't care enough about them to vote for laws and bills that will help them and the Veteran's Administration.

How we treat our veterans has gotten worse since the days of Vietnam, not better. This is truly disgusting given we still have an all volunteer force and that we (used to be) the richest country on Earth... Yet we don't treat those who fight for it with the same respect as those fat cat CEOs who have million dollar health care plans and pensions? It's truly disgusting in my opinion.

[Uh Blah]

Reading all the comments regarding facial expressions during the debates makes me think it's time they did away with the split screen shot during these debates because you know what EVERYone does? They look at the person NOT speaking to see their reaction to the person who is. It's annoying & distracts us from what we should be judging them on. It's ridiculous & sad that this is how we pick our President.

[ceilirose]

I think people pick their President for a variety of reasons including character and how well they interact with others. Look I'm against McCain for a variety of reasons - one of them being is that he treats people who don't agree with him with varying amounts of disdain. We're all adults, we have tremendous problems in this country and erratic decision making (suspending a campaign for show), snark/sarcasm and just weird behavior is not something I want to see in the President. Yeah - not being able to acknowledge your opponent like an adult is one of them.

At least McCain waited until the end of the debate to call himself a maverick and play the POW card.