AUDIENCE MEMBER: Senator McCain I truly hope you get the opportunity to chase Bin Laden right to the gates of hell and push him in as you stated on your forum. I do have a question though. Disabled veterans, especially in this state have horrible conditions, their medical is substandard. They drive four hours one way to Albuquerque for a simple doctors appointment which is often canceled. Our VA hospital is dirty it is understaffed, it is running on maximum overload. The prescription medicines are ten years behind standard medical care we have seven hundred claims stacked up at the VA office in Albuquerque some of them are ten and seven years old waiting to be processed in the mean time these people are homeless. My son is an officer in the Air Force, and I am a vet and I was raised in a military family. I think it is a sad state of affairs when we have illegal aliens having a Medicaid card that can access specialist top physicians, the best of medical and our vets can’t even get to a doctor. These are the people that we tied yellow ribbons for and Bush patted on the back. If we don’t reenact the draft I don’t think we will have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell.
MCCAIN: Ma’am let me say that I don’t disagree with anything you said and thank you and I am grateful for your support of all of our veterans.
There is a push on right now to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. Ok, I might be reaching here, but I wonder if there is a connection? After all, this was a sticking point for draft age kids back when I registered for the draft at 18.
This story should be reported for what it is: McCain did not hear (at at least it did not register with him) the last part of this wind-bag question. Of course McCain is not supporting reenacting the draft. Furthermore, it is daft to connect the drinking age with this draft thing (even if it were true). The two have no link, and for those among you who will dismiss the lowering of the drinking age as loony, I suggest you examine the argument favoring lowering the age. Although I do not agree with them, the argument is reasonable and credible.
Could you take a quote any more out of context and twist it any more? If the lady had ended with, “Even Al Qaeda has better health benefits” would your headline have been, “McCain to implement Al Qaeda health care plan?”
I love how this question rails on the state of VA medical care, and yet it is a prime example of how the government runs health care programs.
I think what US voters should pay attention to is McCain’s “fuddlement”. I know the guy went through hell in the Vietnam and is a long serving US Senator so he deserves respect.
He is also a cranky, lazy populist who is running for president.
It would be hard to front a 100 year war without a draft.
Asked about the draft last September, McCain said, “I might consider it, I don’t think it’s necessary, but I might consider it if you could design a draft where everybody equally could serve.”
Considering McCain’s vow that “there’s gonna be other wars” and that we could stay in Iraq for 100 years, a draft might seem reasonable to him.
I’ve always been personally against the draft, but if the voting public elects John McCain, I’d reconsider my position. Perpetual war doesn’t seem to be a problem for most of the public so far, but let’s see if they change their tune when it’s their kids on the front lines.
#7 George Bush and Dick Cheney weren’t on the front line during the last draft. Also, most US military leaders want a volunteer army.
I’d only be in favor of the draft if rich kids get drafted first.
People aren’t seeing the big picture here:
George Bush is seen as an idiot for all of his speech gaffes. John McCain has been making gaffe after gaffe himself.
“In the 21st Century, countries don’t invade other countries” – John McCain
McCain = 4 more years of Bush
#6 Do you have a link to that quote?
Lowering the drinking age and putting recruiting offices in bars/clubs is the only way to “volunters” for the iraq war.
Drunk teens going to war…
“If elected, Will John McCain reinstate the Draft?”
Mmmm, not according to this video. Are you going to commit suicide? I didn’t hear it on you tube. LOL
McAin’t wants to invade Russia and Iran, and keep troops in Iraq for 100 years. How else can he do this without a draft? Four more wars. We need more cannon fodder.
And as far as the government run VA healthcare system, or any other government program. They only work as good as the people who are in them. When Bush hired rookies to run his agencies, people with no experience, what do you expect? He put a horse judge in charge of FEMA, THIS is why it failed people in New Orleans.
This is the ploy to privatize everything, which is posed by these people who are put into power. They say that the government doesn’t work. When they get into office, they make sure that it doesn’t work, by hamstringing it in some way or another. Wake up people, these “conservatives” are making out like bandits by privatizing everything.
With a guy of that vintage in office I expect all of those old issues to be dusted off; draft, 18-year-old drinking, zeppelin versus jet propulsion… Say, maybe we can bring LSD back. At least it was better than that meth shit the kids are doing today.
Please correct me if I’m wrong. With regard to the last statement: Have we had a draft since the drinking age was raised?
The draft should be brought back. The Imperial President controlling a private mercenary army is not good in a democracy.
The only argument I hear against a draft is that young people will have to fight in wars they don’t want to fight.
—–and isn’t that the whole point of living in a real democracy?
Yes, the conclusion about the draft drawn from this bit of video is stretching it quite a bit. Since the video cut off his answer, we have no idea what his real response was.
McCain has a problem with not being specific about his answers.
He is not accustomed to speaking to people who would examine his words but not his intent.
This is one reason why McCain’s naysayers are doing themselves damage daily. They nitpick on stuff which normal, reasonably well adjusted people understand as part of a larger statement.
#15 As far as I know, the drinking age was not raised nationally to 21 until the 80’s (I could be wrong, so maybe someone will Google it). That being said, it has gone back and forth (18, 19, 21) more than once, so, at some point there was an overlap where you could get drafted but could not drink. I am guessing this is the time period to which McCullough refers, not the most recent raise to 21. Today, kids often talk about how they can get married, vote, and join the army but not drink.
Personally, I don’t think alcohol should be legal at all (check out any links to withdrawal effects of drugs and you’ll find that it is more lethal than heroin or meth, but that’s another debate for another post). Of course, banning a substance to which a high percentage of lawmakers is addicted is not going to happen. 😉
In other words, those who have a problem McCain, and there are plenty of things to have a problem with, would do themselves a favor by going to his record or stated positions than on some of his off the cuff remarks.
#19–Ah Yea==what has turned you into a political apologist?
Yes, if you want to know what McCain really thinks, look up his formal position papers written by someone else, but don’t ever actually listen to what he says.
Good man!
@18–helzer==poor totalitarian. People should not take (too many) drugs but all drugs should be legal.
Its called FREEDOM, to make mistakes, learn, make choices. No reason for jail to be part of the journey.
If you think a subject is off topic, don’t raise it.
#17–Ah Yea==what has turned you into a McCain Apologist?
If you want to know McCains opinion on a subject, go to his published material that is written by someone else but don’t listen to what he actually says?
What flavor was that koolaide?
#18. Yes, I registered for the draft in 1972, the legal drinking age in Virginia was 21 at that time, and changed to 18 in 1974. (but for beer only).
http://www.abc.state.va.us/facts/legalage.html
# 21 I do not think any of the common schedule one illegal drugs (meth, heroin, etc.) should be legal. My comment about bringing LSD back (if that’s where you got the idea that I think drugs should be legalized) was a joke. And, I didn’t raise the topic of the drinking age.
As a matter of fact, at what age one should be able to legally drink is completely unrelated to when you should be able to legally be drafted.
Different skill sets involved.
Why should you be able to be drafted, fight and die for your country, but not run for President?=======different skills.
Funny how irrelevant issues get linked, and relevant issues get de-linked without those basic equations being carefully evaluated?
#18 “As far as I know, the drinking age was not raised nationally to 21 until the 80’s ”
There is no national drinking age. It is all state laws.
I support the draft only insomuch as I support the Congress calling up the militia to defend the country against an invasion. The draft should never be used to supplement military forces in a war of our choosing.
Considering that McCain is probably more than aware of the nearly disastrous effects to the military of the last draft, I doubt he is too much a fan of the idea of doing it again.
Paddy, thats semantics. Few states are going to take the highway funding cut for going their own way. 21, for all intents and purposes comes down from the Fed gov.
Drinking age – 18
Draft age – 18
No exceptions, other than medical or conscientious objectors (although they could serve in a non-combative mode). No exemptions for the Bushes, the Cheneys, the Roves. A few years of discipline would do them good, even if there’s no war to be fought.
And when there ARE wars to be fought, maybe we’d be a little more judicious in entering them if the silver-spoon princess daughters or the Overlords were going to have to pick up their M-16s and get down in the trenches.
Of course he will…how else is he going to get bodies to go to all the wars he wants?
He wants war with Iran (“bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb-Iran”), wants war with Russia (pocketing hundreds of thousands from Georgia), and wants us in Iraq for 100 years.
His entire platform is being run on his time as a PoW, about being a soldier, about being a veteran. War is the only thing the guy knows. So is there any doubt that his presidency would be only about war?