: : : : : : : : : :

Over 600 brave Americans who were caught in the quagmire of Viet Nam were captured and held as POWs. In most cases, they also received at least some torture. Regardless of our view of that war, these brave people deserve respect and admiration for what they endured.

That select group includes two remarkable men, John McCain and Philip Butler, both accomplished individuals and proud American patriots, who know each other going back to their days together at the Naval Academy. John McCain went on to a life of politics and is now the presumptive Republican nominee for president of the United States. Philip Butler went on to complete his PhD at the University of California, San Diego, and is now a peace and justice activist with Veterans for Peace.

Dr. Butler has written a fascinating article, published on Military.com, which explains why he will not vote for his fellow POW for the presidency. It is not an article that damns McCain. On the contrary, in contains considerable praise. However, what the article does accomplish is to present a snapshot the real McCain, seen as more than just a war hero or politician, but a human being. Dr. Butler reaches the conclusion that, despite his positive qualities, McCain exhibits certain characteristics that make him unsuitable as the best choice for president of the United States.

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

Believe me when I say that back then I would never in a million or more years have dreamed that the crazy guy across the hall would someday be a Senator and candidate for President! John was a wild man. He was funny, with a quick wit and he was intelligent. But he was intent on breaking every USNA regulation in our 4 inch thick USNA Regulations book. And I believe he must have come as close to his goal as any midshipman who ever attended the Academy.

I could tell many other midshipman stories about John that year and he unbelievably managed to graduate though he spent the majority of his first class year on restriction for the stuff he did get caught doing. In fact he barely managed to graduate, standing 5th from the bottom of his 800 man graduating class. I and many others have speculated that the main reason he did graduate was because his father was an Admiral, and also his grandfather, both U.S. Naval Academy graduates.

I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate.

Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60’s and 70’s. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John’s age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.

I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.

John is not a religious person, but he has taken every opportunity to ally himself with some really obnoxious and crazy fundamentalist ministers lately. I was also disappointed to see him cozy up to Bush because I know he hates that man. He disingenuously and famously put his arm around the guy, even after Bush had intensely disrespected him with lies and slander. So on these and many other instances, I don’t see that John is the “straight talk express” he markets himself to be.

Dr. Butler summarizes as follows:

In short, I think John Sidney McCain, III is a good man, but not someone I will vote for in the upcoming election to be our President of the United States.

You can view the article here.