Another example: a man who faced with a military coup jumped atop a tank a stared them down. Yes, Boris Yeltsin was, for that moment, a hero. Of course everything else he did was disastrous. What he did in power is enough to make one question his honor.
The examples are numerous. Real people are complex critters. Heroism and cowardice in us all.
I don’t think it’s terribly heroic to risk your life to maintain your own power.
An interesting article. I hope magellan01 will take the time to read it and comment. I’d say I’m an example of someone who was taken in by the positive press McCain received over the years and held him in high regard. When Rove was smearing him in 2000 he had my sympathy because of my distaste for that kind of dishonest politics. Now he’s shown he’s more than willing to use the same methods when it benefits him.
People tend to be multifaceted and complex, composed of good and bad qualities. I don’t believe e we’d find any candidate with whom we agree on every issue or would morally without any blemishes. This article reinforces my belief that a McCain presidency would be far to similar to the Bush presidency. The privileged few making the laws for the rest of us, to benefit themselves and to retain their control. It would be another huge mistake to vote him just as voting Bush in has been. I’m having a hard time understanding how those who supported Bush but regret it now are willing to think McCain will somehow be much different and much better. I can understand disagreeing with Obama’s policy ideas but I think that is far overshadowed by the need to definitively reject this type of politics and this type of politician.
We as citizens , regardless of party, must demand more transparency and a higher level of honest communication from our leaders from both parties. {and the media} Obama isn’t perfect but I think he is a step in the right direction given the choices we have.
Per the OP, as I said in the other thread , it is my right and my duty as a concerned citizen to question the policies and the character of anyone running for president. McCains’ military record , while admirable, is barely relevant this many years later. This article shows that even his Senate record is less than the stellar Maverick, straight talk, rep he has crafted.
No worries - thanks for the great response. (I agree.)
Nitpick: That was the Greeks. The Romans – before they came in contact with the Greeks and started identifying their own gods with the Greek gods – generally did not anthropomorphize their gods or have much of a mythology about them.