Whenever John McCain is asked a tough question in his campaign for president, he seems to tout his experience as a POW in Vietnam as the answer. It absolves him of any accountability, it would seem.
In a recent piece posted on the website of The Nation magazine, Robert Greenwald's organization Brave New Films spells it out:
John McCain has been exploiting his prisoner of war experience every chance he gets. He has used this story to justify everything from not knowing how many homes he has to his healthcare plan to his marital infidelities to his taste in music. The McCain campaign is even using his POW story in paid ads. But now a veteran who was a prisoner with McCain in Vietnam is explaining loud and clear that being a POW does not qualify McCain to lead our country.Dr. Phillip Butler, shown in this video, spent eight years as a POW. And he explains why "the POW experience is not a good prerequisite for President of the United States."
In fact, he makes some good arguments as to why McCain's POW experience should probably disqualify McCain -- most notably his bellicose nature and his volatile temper.
This is good stuff. Especially since McCain isn't even supporting a bill that would protect vets. Obama is. Hmmmm... who's the patriotic one? The bill will prevent employers from forcing war vets to take employment disputes to arbitration, because in the context of claims between individuals and corporations, arbitration has been shown to be heavily biased against ordinary people. It's important because many vets come back home from serving in the military to find that their jobs have been taken away, which is illegal under USERRA. But if they can't take their employer to court for breaking this law, they have no recourse.
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