Lost McCain footage found in Sweden – The Local — McCain in these pictures, to me at least, looks as if he is doing his best to merely walk. He has a distinct limp. But since he is seen here NOT on crutches you can be sure someone will think he phonied up his being on crutches later. Since the Swedes seemed to make a point of this, you can be sure it will come out in the USA too.
During the summer as he was working on his book, Eriksson went back into the archives to find footage for the accompanying DVD and discovered the sequence with McCain.
“As far as we know, these are the only images that exist from when McCain was released in Hanoi,” said Eriksson.
“In American descriptions of the event, it is often said that he returned to the US on crutches. But he certainly didn’t leave North Vietnam on crutches.”
Found by Robin B.
May I ask how bombing defenseless civilians in Vietnam and Cambodia is an act of heroism?
@bahramks
nope. not in America.
I posted this as a heads-up not a criticism. I will say this though, Mccain does look like a Lady-Killer in those days. He looks like an actor. I can understand the thin rich wife.
So What?
#32 “May I ask how bombing defenseless civilians in Vietnam and Cambodia is an act of heroism?”
Yes, you may.
Maybe, Obama will ask that during the debates…
Preemptive dis: let it go.
He was tortured, he tried to man-up when he exited the plane.
Anyone questioning his courage vis-a-vis need for crutches will be immediately seen as an asshole, e.g. Obama boot-licker.
He may not be the preferred choice for many (including me – waiting for R. Paul to re-declare) but questioning the need for crutches is ludicrous.
Damn.
No McCain fan here by any stretch, but this is a bit much. Even if true, this is a losing issue for Obama. He didn’t fake being a POW.
McCain wasn’t tortured
by the Bush administration’s definition of torture.
He was just “harshly interrogated.”
http://tinyurl.com/6r5u2g
#32
How did those defensive civilians shoot him down>
Don’t pull this thread. It’s important that people see liberals for what they are.
So the doc says, “Listen, soldier, if you keep aggravating that, you’ll end up in a wheel chair. Take these crutches and keep your weight off that hip and those joints, hear me? That’s an order.”
It could have been as simple as that. No issue here.
I think this sort of thing should be off-limits. The man was tortured for years in a POW prison, and the last thing on his mind 35 years ago would be “I am running for president in 2008 so I had better behave properly for this Swedish news crew.” Ditto for Barry’s mosque membership when he was 10. He was just going along with the flow. It’s all nonsense, just red meat for the mouth-breathing kooks who are so wrapped up into politics that they can thing of nothing else. People like “Uncle Dave”.
If you need crutches you can’t walk without them.
Anyway he wasn’t tortured. As Rush Limbaugh would say, its just the kind of stuff that fraternity brothers do to new pledges.
#43 Lou lou
“Ditto for Barry’s mosque membership when he was 10”
Yeah too bad that isn’t true.
The fact is McCain dragged his service record into the debate. All of this is just as fair as the swift boat crap that you Republicans pulled on John Kerry. If you don’t like it don’t dish it out!
To make things a little bit clearer…
Due to the big interest swedish media did a follow up on the “limp but not crutches” issue.
As someone stated earlier McCain underwent surgery after returning to the US. Hence the crutches in the pictures from his return to the US (meeting with Nixon etc.).
Just typical when media tries to make news out of some lame hypothesis they make up. I don’t know why swedish journalists bother to make comments like this since this (election) doesn’t concern us. Well, it sells ofcourse but then again…just lame when they try to imply some “maybe he wasn’t injured/tortured” story.
#40
well, don’t be too sure about that, he crashed 5 planes as a pilot (a world record?), 4 of them not during combat.
ijsbrand said
Apart from this, isn’t saluting about raising your hand above your shoulder? And wasn’t he supposed to be unable to do that as well?
Bob Dole
J/P=?
I don’t think even libs are stupid enough to try that.
I don’t know is the “libs” are stupid enough or not… but who cares… There are no “libs” running for President.
The Democrats, who are a centrist party, are running a candidate. You wanna find a liberal in politics? Go to Europe. We don’t have any here.
And it shows…
#49 “You wanna find a liberal in politics? Go to Europe. We don’t have any here.
And it shows…”
I know! We have freedom of speech and the right to defend ourselves. Not so in the EU…
Also, under European law, there is no real protection against double jeopardy. The accused can be subjected to repeated trials on the same charges until the state wins a guilty verdict.
This is partially the fault of the wording of Article Four of the Seventh Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights, “No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again in criminal proceedings under the jurisdiction of the same State for an offense for which he has already been finally acquitted or convicted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of that State.”
The word “finally” has been successfully used by prosecutors to appeal to higher and higher courts to get a conviction.
#50, Cow-Paddy,
I understand your intense compulsion to bullshit your way through life, but why not provide us with an example of where someone has been repeatedly tried in court in Europe for the same offense.
You do realize that a person may be tried and convicted twice for the same offense here in the US.
Typical wing nuts love to lie.
I’ve never been a big supporter of McCain, but it is stupid to smear him on what he went through in Vietnam.
From an article in the Boston Globe from 2000:
McCain character loyal to a fault
By Mary Leonard, Globe Staff, 3/4/2000
TEMPE, Ariz. – Facing a threat that his homosexuality would be exposed by Christian conservatives at a city council meeting, Mayor Neil Giuliano did what he thought was nobody’s business: He held a press conference and declared, ”I happen to be gay.”
The reaction of Arizona’s senior senator, John McCain, was swift and angry.
”John was the first to tell the religious right, ‘This doesn’t make a damned bit of difference,”’ Giuliano said, remembering how McCain went out of his way to call him a good mayor and a great friend. ”Politically in Arizona, McCain should have done just the opposite. Instead, he came right to my defense. He’s a loyal friend.”
GOP presidential candidate John McCain has a pattern of putting his heart ahead of his head and even his political judgment. Peel off the pretense of a cocky fighter pilot and a prickly politician, those who know him well say, and what really shapes John McCain is his loyalty to family and friends and a fierce sense of duty to defend underdogs under attack.
. . .
(Here’s a quote relevant to the “crutches controversy” as well as the “Grampa McCain can’t use a computer” attack ad from Obama)
McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain’s severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain’s encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He’s an avid fan – Ted Williams is his hero – but he can’t raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.
After Vietnam, McCain had Ann Lawrence, a physical therapist, help him regain flexibility in his leg, which had been frozen in an extended position by a shattered knee. It was the only way he could hope to resume his career as a Navy flier, but Lawrence said the treatment, taken twice a week for six months, was excruciatingly painful.
”He endured it, he wouldn’t settle for less,” said Lawrence, who rejoiced with McCain when he passed the Navy physical. ”I have never seen such toughness and resolve.”
#52, MO,
Peel off the pretense of a cocky fighter pilot and a prickly politician, …
McCain wasn’t a fighter pilot. He flew light bombers. When he wasn’t crashing them.
(Here’s a quote relevant to the “crutches controversy” as well as the “Grampa McCain can’t use a computer” attack ad from Obama)
An attack ad from Obama about McCain can’t use a computer? First I have no knowledge of such an ad so maybe you could link to it and second, while I don’t deny it, maybe you could refer to how that “quote” at the end of your post ties into any “attack ad”.
McCain’s severe war injuries prevent him from … , typing on a keyboard …
More bullshit. Many people never learned to touch type. Myself included. Second, if his injuries were such then he would not have regained his pilot’s license. Piloting requires manual as well as digital dexterity. If handicapped enough he couldn’t type, he would have been mustered out instead of being given a command.
Somehow I suspect this is just another sad attempt by the Republicans to invent more bullshit. While McCain and his injuries may not be a good point to argue, that does not give him or his supporters carte blanche to lie about it and make shit up.
#53 “While McCain and his injuries may not be a good point to argue, that does not give him or his supporters carte blanche to lie about it and make shit up.”
Then why don’t fine people over at Obama’s campaign headquarters call a press conference to “expose” these lies?
That would be great!
#54 – Paddy-O – Then why don’t fine people over at Obama’s campaign headquarters call a press conference to “expose” these lies?
Is McCain’s staff too fucking incompetent of doing it?
#55 “Is McCain’s staff too fucking incompetent of doing it?”
That sentence doesn’t make sense. Do you work for Obama?
Ah, come on. McBush is nothing more than a bullshit artist, and Palin is nothing more than an empty-headed MILF.
The only reason McBush is a contender is because the right wingnuts are afraid of being accused of not “supporting the troops”. And the only reason Little Miss Sarah is a contender is because she’s got a cuter ass (and ankles) than Hillary.
I’d sooner see Pee Wee Herman as VP than Little Miss Sarah. The US is already despised around the world. Do we need to become a laughingstock as well?
#56 – Paddy-O
It was in Republican… I thought you would understand…
#57 – Mister Mustard – McBush is nothing more than a bullshit artist, and Palin is nothing more than an empty-headed MILF.
And they got an army of voters who are willing to ignore those little details.
#58, Jag,
OK, now you made my “Mad Book”. Because you wrote It was in Republican… I thought you would understand… I spewed coffee all over my keyboard via my nose. Neither a pleasant feeling nor sight.
Your line is funny as hell, I’ll grant you that, but … .
Hey, Mr. Fusion! Yeah, the commercial is called “1982”. It’s still on Obama’s website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ2I0t_Twk0
By the way, here’s a section from the recent NY Tomes interview with McCain where he talks about his use of the internet, e-mails, Blackberry, etc. Just because he has difficulty physically using a device like a PC or a Blackberry does not mean that he is tech-illiterate.
But then, according to you, I might just be making bullshit up.
(Here’s the transcript from the NYT, forgot to paste in last post)
July 13, 2008
TRANSCRIPT
The Times Interviews John McCain
Q: What websites if any do you look at regularly?
Mr. McCain: Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously, everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics, sometimes.
(Mrs. McCain and Ms. Buchanan both interject: “Meagan’s blog!”)
Mr. McCain: Excuse me, Meagan’s blog. And we also look at the blogs from Michael and from you that may not be in the newspaper, that are just part of your blog.
Q: But do you go on line for yourself?
Mr. McCain: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need – including going to my daughter’s blog first, before anything else.
Q: Do you use a blackberry or email?
Mr. McCain: No
Mark Salter: He uses a BlackBerry, just ours.
Mr. McCain: I use the Blackberry, but I don’t e-mail, I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail. I read e-mails all the time, but the communications that I have with my friends and staff are oral and done with my cell phone. I have the luxury of being in contact with them literally all the time. We now have a phone on the plane that is usable on the plane, so I just never really felt a need to do it. But I do – could I just say, really – I understand the impact of blogs on American politics today and political campaigns. I understand that. And I understand that something appears on one blog, can ricochet all around and get into the evening news, the front page of The New York Times. So, I do pay attention to the blogs. And I am not in any way unappreciative of the impact that they have on entire campaigns and world opinion.
Q: You read newspapers then.
Mr. McCain: I read them most all every day.