Courage

Saw this story about John McCain:

[Ret. Col. Bud] Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, “I told you I would make you a cripple.”
The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day’s will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at “a goofy angle,” as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.
But it didn’t heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day’s splint in place.
Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complemented the treatment he’d gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again.

Similarly, Barack Obama once continued to give a speech even though he knew a bee was in the room.

28 Comments

  1. Barack Obama once bit the head off a rabbit. It was a chocolate rabbit — a solid one, not one of those wimpy hollow ones.
    Barack Obama once wore mismatched socks to show his wife she wasn’t the boss of him.
    Seriously, one was even 99% cotton with 1% Lycra, and the other was a 60/40 cotton/Rayon blend. And he would have told her about it if she asked.
    Once, when Reverend Wright was preaching, Barack Obama became so outraged that he barely even shouted “Amen! Say it!” more than two or three times. Four, max.

  2. That’s the McCain I want, not the pandering, simpering tool of the moderates we have now.
    Barack wonders how he can artfully compare the time he was sent to his room for not eating his butter beans to McCain’s stint at the Hanoi Hilton.

  3. “Hey! #1 was mine! Where do you crackers get off stealing credit for my posts?!?!?!?
    #6 – Posted by: Barack Obama on April 30, 2008 05:37 PM”
    Just another example of being kept down by the man….

  4. If Senator McCain could do the same for our national spirit, I would surely vote for him. Alas, he has already compromised it away many times. Someone needs to seriously take him aside and convey the lesson that the President of the United States’ chief job is to enforce the law of the land. No amnesty, sir. Enforce the existing law. NOW.

  5. Great post. I hadn’t seen that story about McCain.
    As for conservatives, well, we had 6 years of Republicans with the presidency and the congress and managed to end up with a monstrous budget deficit while that RINO pigdog McCain opposed our glorious Republican policies. You know, the ones like the prescription drug bill and the pork-bloated highway bill.
    No wonder intellectual giants like Hannity and Rush keep criticizing him. Why wasn’t he supportuing the party as they spent us all into bankruptcy?

  6. Ugh. I know McCain’s a war hero. I have tremendous respect for his service. But what has he done since then? This is still my country and I’m not giving it up to the forces of socialism and totalitarianism yet. On November 4th I am going to go to the ballot box and vote for an actual conservative for the first time since 1984. End of story.

  7. #12 – Posted by: K T Cat on April 30, 2008 09:57 PM
    McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, McCain-Lieberman, Gang of 14, Keating 5, opposing Bush tax cuts, close Gitmo, etc, etc. Good night.

  8. Frank-
    Thanks for covering this. I’ve noticed a huge uptick in the Left-Wing attacks on McCain’s service record. This is exactly the sort of ammunition we need in order to push back. I’ll link it up over at the Conservative Intelligencer.
    – J.

  9. This story is why I will vote in Nov. (holding my nose the whole time) for McCain. As liberal as he is, he is NOTHING compared to the other two Nimrods.
    One is the little engine who couldn’t and the other is the gender non specific person who cried wolf. Neither would know courage if it introduced itself.
    How truly sad is that..

  10. One is the little engine who couldn’t and the other is the gender non specific person who cried wolf.
    seanmahair –
    That is the best 1 sentence description of the Dem candidates I have seen. I am so gonna steal it to annoy my liberal cow-orkers. Thank you.

  11. I think this is a wonderful story of courage and self sacrifice under terrible conditions. McCain could have taken advantage of the fact that his father was a high ranking Admiral but didn’t. This all doesn’t change the fact that he is not a conservative, will not work on behalf of conservatives and will propose legislation that we conservatives find anathema! While I respect his service to our country, I will not vote for him, send him any money or do anything to help him get elected to the office of POTUS!

  12. #19 Well, ussjimmy, someone is going to be elected. I’m reasonablely sure that as bad as McCain is Osama and Hitlery will be much, much worse. After all McCain at least has a history of actually serving someone other than himself. The other two have a history of self-serving. (I want you to realize I could have made that funnier, more obscene, filthier, nastier but funnier- but I have standards, really, I do)
    #18 Brian, please use with my blessing. There’s very little in life that gives more pleasure than annoying liberals.

  13. #21: In five years of being taught by Nuns (is that capitalized?), I got rapped on the hands with a ruler one time. I don’t recall what it was for but when I offered my hands up to be hit, I did it palms down. The Nun laughed and said, “Oh, no. Turn your hands over. I don’t want to break your bones.” It didn’t hurt at all since I was as big as she was (4th grade) and she knew I could kick her ass.

  14. Yep,
    My experience taught the value of such courage, and its limitations. What works on an individual level may not work on country-wide level. So, while I do not find McCain very reassuring, I respect the guy. I’ve been through tough scraps, and I do not “shake” easily, but I am not sure I would have had the same courage and clarity of mind.
    That said, a presidential election is as much as character than issues. And on that front, McCain has it in droves. At this juncture, just the kind of temperament the US needs at the helm.

  15. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Courage is the quality of every virtue at the point of testing”. Senator McCain passed the test. There are other virtues and other tests. The final results aren’t in yet but this is encouraging.

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