# Enemies won't challenge McCain **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156 "2008-10-23T00:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/21 "2008-10-23T03:28:21Z")
> [@Billdo](#): > > With the greatest respect for Senator McCain’s heroic service during his captivity from 1967 to 1973, I fail to see how his having been tested as a prisoner of war over 35 years ago means that he will now react to a foreign policy crisis now in a coherent or effective manner, particularly in a complex world without clear friend/enemy distinctions. > > Indeed, his incoherent and scrambling reaction to the economic crisis casts doubt on his ability to react in a well-tested manner to a similar foreign policy crisis. You know what? Can we stop with this bullshit meme about having respect for McCain’s service? He _barely_ graduated from the Naval Academy. He crashed a plane on a training flight. Then he crashed another. Then he almost crashed a third and caused a fairly significant blackout in Spain by flying into a bunch of powerlines. By many accounts he never showed the slightest aptitude for flying, nor a desire to really improve, nor a deep desire to serve his country. Mostly, according to what I’ve read, he wanted to be a hotshot but didn’t want to do the actual work to get good. Then he got shot down. A big part of a pilot’s responsibilities on a combat mission is avoiding exactly that. He was shot down, captured, and told his captors that his daddy was a Very Important Person. What’s heroic about that? Seriously, he had an extremely cushy assignment in the military, he fucked up repeatedly, eventually there were consequences, and, just like hundreds of other soldiers, he managed not to die. Do I have a certain degree of respect that he physically survived? Yes. Do I think that his actions demonstrated any sort of heroism? No, not at all. Do I think it’s an insult to soldiers who truly have done heroic deeds, who truly have gone above and beyond the call of duty, to refer to McCain’s actions as heroic? Yes, absolutely. McCain at most was average. Also, I seriously recommend that everyone read [this](http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23316912/makebelieve_maverick/print) article. It’s fairly long, but extremely well-written and rather revealing about McCain’s history. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/22 "2008-10-23T04:45:58Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > “They know I’ve been tested,” he said. “They know I’ve been tested. I’ve been tested many times.” What a narcissist. It’s not all about YOU, John. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/23 "2008-10-23T05:13:40Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > You didn’t see the movie _The Green Berets_? He and John Wayne singlehandedly kicked the asses of the NVA. The truth of the matter is that we won the Vietnam war, but the liberal media hides that fact from us. History has been retconned, it’s now known as The Vietnam Conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/24 "2008-10-23T05:38:23Z")
When it comes time for the President of The United States to sit in a cage and be tortured for months on end, who would _you_ want to be in charge-the untested Obama, or the tested and ready McCain? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/25 "2008-10-23T09:02:00Z")
> [@Yumblie](#): > > I dunno, didn’t Dick Cheney say the same thing in '04? > > Really, the republican party has gone from a league of supervillains to a circus of clowns. It’s not even worth it to get worked up anymore. I just point and laugh. Please, don’t laugh; the price of a non-republican administration is constant vigilance. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/26 "2008-10-23T09:04:21Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > You didn’t see the movie _The Green Berets_? He and John Wayne singlehandedly kicked the asses of the NVA. The truth of the matter is that we won the Vietnam war, but the liberal media hides that fact from us. Well, if you get John Wayne on your side, it’s all over but the body counting. At least in the movies, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/27 "2008-10-23T09:55:43Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > That’s a little hyperbolic. > Seriously, lots of foreigners seem quite enthusiastic that Obama might be President- remember the huge crowds in Berlin? I think he might have an easier time with foreign policy because other leaders will give him a pass on the mistakes of his predecessor. Agreed; whereas they might well see McCain as a continuation of the crap we’ve had for the past eight years; I know I would. (Is McCain still pushing that stuff about how “the surge worked”? Kind of brilliant, really; you avoid having to address the fact that the whole policy is terrible by concentrating on the one part of it that seems to have not been a disaster.) ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/28 "2008-10-23T10:12:17Z")
If you don’t vote for McCain his _ **Genetically Modified Race of Atomic Supermen will destroy you all!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/29 "2008-10-23T13:25:26Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > If you don’t vote for McCain his _ **Genetically Modified Race of Atomic Supermen will destroy you all!** _ So, what if the Globetrotters come out in support of Obama? ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/30 "2008-10-23T13:47:01Z")
McCain will use chronotons to destroy the universe. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/31 "2008-10-23T13:52:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’m not going to vote for him, and detest his taxes, but he’s tougher than me. Put me in a prison camp and it’s “Yes Sir, No Sir, Please may I have some food?” 🙂 > I do wonder what his policy towards Vietnam would be. “Deliver these former prison guards to the American embassy, or the nukes begin falling.” McCain was actively involved in re-opening relations with Vietnam, and not in order to take revenge. Just FYI. I’m voting for Obama, but I don’t see that it’s necessary to always assume the worst about McCain. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/32 "2008-10-23T13:57:13Z")
Obama held a Press Conference yesterday in which he announced McCain was a ‘jive sucker’. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/33 "2008-10-23T14:06:48Z")
Thanks, **Sitnam**. I was worried that this thread wouldn’t have enough racism or bad jokes to pass muster, but you’ve killed two birds with one stone. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/34 "2008-10-23T14:09:37Z")
I kind of like the idea that for the first time we’ll have a President who can tell a hostile foreign leader to “kiss my black ass, mofo”. Okay, that won’t happen, but it’s a nice image. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/35 "2008-10-23T14:14:23Z")
They won’t challenge Palin either. As vice-president, she will order the senate to declare war. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/36 "2008-10-23T14:15:38Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Obama held a Press Conference yesterday in which he announced McCain was a ‘jive sucker’. Damn…that was a good one! ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/37 "2008-10-23T14:18:14Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > Thanks, **Sitnam**. I was worried that this thread wouldn’t have enough racism or bad jokes to pass muster, but you’ve killed two birds with one stone. **Hostile Dialect** , \*\*Sitnam \*\*wasn’t making a racist joke, he was referencing the _ **Futurama** _ Episode where the Globetrotters (from the Globetrotter homeworld) challenged Earth to a basketball match. Thats where my remark about McCains \*\*\*Atomic supermen \*\*\*came from. I guess you’d have to have seen the episode to get the joke. It was pretty funny in that context. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/38 "2008-10-23T16:40:50Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > Thanks, **Sitnam**. I was worried that this thread wouldn’t have enough racism or bad jokes to pass muster, but you’ve killed two birds with one stone. Oh, come on. That was funny. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/39 "2008-10-23T17:25:18Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > I kind of like the idea that for the first time we’ll have a President who can tell a hostile foreign leader to “kiss my black ass, mofo”. Okay, that won’t happen, but it’s a nice image. But we’ll have to hire Barbara Billingsly to translate. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156/40 "2008-10-23T17:29:01Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > But we’ll have to hire Barbara Billingsly to translate. I can help. I, too, speak Jive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enemies-wont-challenge-mccain/469156.md?page=3)