Thursday, August 21, 2008

John McCain: Pro-Draft, or Just Daft?

In a town hall meeting yesterday in Las Cruces, New Mexico, (video and text below), John McCain was asked a very long, wordy question by one woman who closed her question by asking:

AUDIENCE MEMBER: 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.


Did he just say what I thought he said? Is John McCain in favor of a draft? Was the question too big and confusing for him? Or, did he just not hear that part of the question and decided to only address the issue of medical care for veterans?

Instances like this is why I have concerns about John McCain. When I watch this video, I see a man getting impatient with the length of the question, looking as if he was looking for an opening to cut it off and move on to his answer. I can understand having to do that. But in doing so, it seemed as if his mind already had prepared an answer based on what he already heard, and he may have failed to fully recognize the bombshell the questioner added right at the end.

But, if John answer was encompassing of the entire question, we have reason to be very worried, because it could mean as President, he could be pushing the country into an even more protracted war. And while I respect John’s military service to our country, he shouldn’t be in such a hurry to place our young men and women in the line of fire. A draft should only be necessary in very narrow situations where our country is being affected by a direct, frontal threat (for example, on our won soil), and only if there is no possible way for our troops, if pulled back from their other locations around the world, to handle the task. And if that situation were to really occur, it’s likely that, as in WW II, the draft wouldn’t even be necessary because people would enlist in order to protect their way of life. And when people believe that the need for war is right, a draft is not necessary, as citizens show their "buy-in" by enlisting.

So take a listen and watch this video closely and let me know what you think of his answer. No matter how many times I look at it, I don’t see or hear anything good.






The full question can be found at this link, and also below:


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. Disable 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.


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