If the election were held today John McCain might win. When I first read about his military experience as a POW, followed by all the things he has achieved in his life, I was impressed. That he has killed people does not bother me - it’s acceptable if not expected for wartime military service and relatively easy to rationalize when done honorably. That his body is now stiff and showing the signs of stress due to surviving a plane crash and beatings also does not bother me; FDR was in a wheelchair due to polio. What does bother me is the psychological defense mechanisms that are required to cope with the memories of experiencing torture and the resulting lifelong symptoms. Armchair psychology is clearly a dangerous sport; nonetheless, McCain has certainly been diagnosed as having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, never mind what his PR folks would have you believe (DSM-IV, fyi, IAPsychologist). There is no way he is mentally healthy. He could easily be diagnosed with other disorders as well, but this one is clear so I’ll stick with it. McCain was tortured in ways that sum to something far worse than that recently described by Scylla because it was prolonged over time. Beaten, bayoneted, interrogated, physically, mentally, emotionally defeated (attempted suicide). For five and a half years. He spent two years in solitary confinement. John McCain is qualified to be a war hero, but not Commander in Chief. A noted symptom of PTSD is violent and uncontrollable outbreaks of anger. This has been documented in McCain. The last place I want that mans hands is on the launch controls to thermonuclear weapons.
I started this thread because he is viewed favorably by most people. I view him favorably. As a war hero. Not as President. I hope you consider that this is no longer a normal, healthy human being. He’s got real problems that will seriously detract from his ability to be the POTUS we need right now.
This strikes me as the crux of your argument. This is the only symptom of PTSD you note, the rest is circumstantial. And for the very crux of your argument, you give us a google search of “McCain anger?”
Dumb argument. PTSD does not equal being incapable of leadership. Now, I wouldn’t vote for McCain if you held a gun to my head, but good God. Stop trying to ass-backwards Swiftboat the guy, huh?
Washington, Jackson, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ and most recently Clinton all had notoriously bad tempers. Each mostly kept them under control. I don’t expect to vote for McCain, as I disagree with him on far more issues than I agree with him, but he’s by far the best of a bad GOP lot. I believe him to be entirely psychologically capable and qualified to be President.
What ManiacMan said, you’re not a doctor nor are you his doctor. If you were a doctor I wouldn’t put any weight in what you are saying here because it is my understanding that reputable doctors would never make a diagnosis without being able to actually conduct some sort of direct examination of the patient.
I imagine this would be even more of a requirement when we’re talking about the diagnosis of mental problems, I think it is standard that diagnosing those takes many many observations over months or longer for a doctor (like a psychiatrist) to actually make such a diagnosis.
Last I checked you have not done anything directly with Mr. McCain. I think it is definitely the case that McCain suffered grievous psychological harm from his experience in Vietnam. I also do not believe that ever person who suffers torture, even prolonged, horrifying torture, becomes permanently incapable of functioning in a leadership position.
After his return from Vietnam, John McCain not only flew planes again he was made an executive officer and later the commanding officer of the VA-174 Hellrazors. The U.S. Navy would not put a man who was mentally incompetent in charge of expensive airplanes, they would furthermore not put him in charge of an entire squadron of said planes, nor would they put him in charge of a squadron whose specific mission was to train upcoming pilots–for about a year McCain was the commander responsible for the largest aviation squadron in the Navy. He quite literally had his finger “on the trigger” quite frequently in this role. I didn’t see him send missiles flying into American cities or et cetera.
Furthermore, the idea that the President rests with the nuclear “launch” button within arm’s reach is ludicrous. Even if McCain had a psychotic break there’s pretty much zero chance he’d be able to launch nuclear weapons.
I’m a Republican who respects John McCain immensely, agree with him on a few issues, and would have definitely have voted for him in 2000–and I can’t see myself voting for him (maybe this will change over time), but my reasons have absolutely nothing to do with any worry that the guy might have PTSD.
I don’t care if his father was President–the Navy won’t put someone who they are know is crazy in command of a plane, period.
Maybe McCain deceived the Navy, and all of the rest of the country, for all these decades. Or maybe you’re just simply wrong. Maybe you’re right, what I know for sure is you certainly don’t have enough information to make the claims you’re making.
If John McCain really can’t be trusted with his fingers on the trigger, then why weren’t there any incidents of him shooting things up when he was flying armed aircraft after he came back from Vietnam?
The link to the documentation of his anger actually makes the case that he can turn his anger on or off like flipping a switch.
I will not be supporting McCain, but it is better to be able to express frustration and anger when it is appropriate than to be passive-aggressive or just passive.
One thing that does bother me about McCain is that even after he has had time to cool off, he can be brutal – absolutely seethingly cruel – with his words. That would not make for good diplomacy. I worry more about that than any impulse to set off a missle. I think he has more self-control when it comes to the larger issues. (For example, he refused to be released from captivity when others had been there longer than he.)
I’ve heard a lot about McCain’s temper on various conservative media outlets. There were at least three stories about him being nuts on The Drudge Report yesterday… breaking news, apparently McCain threw a phone or something once. Glenn Beck gave a nice rant after the Fla. primary about the evils of John McCain and whether or not he was too old or too insane to be a candidate. At one point Beck actually called McCain a, “no good son of a bitch.” It seems a lot of Republicans aren’t happy with the idea of a moderate getting the nomination and will stop at nothing in their attempts of character assassination. These attempts at portraying him as unstable remind me of the assault Howard Dean faced for getting too exhuberant during a campaign rally. What’s worse is that they attribute McCain’s proposed behavioral problems to his millitary background. I’m guessing a lot of these guys feel that they should support the troops as long as the psychos don’t want to come back home and persue a political career.
Honestly, I’m perplexed by the conservative outlash against McCain and can’t wait to see some marvelous backpeddalling if he does get the nomination.
Oh, and don’t worry, his hands won’t be on any nuclear lever, as one does not exist.
Oh come the fuck on. You honestly think a Google search for “mccain anger” proves anything? You got 424000 hits there. Let’s see… clinton anger 544000, bush anger 2020000, reagan anger 423000, and yet I’ve totally failed to see the nuclear missiles flying yearly since 1981.
Even if you did have a point there, do you actually believe that the President carries around a remote control for the American nuclear arsenal? Do you believe that he can push the button on the spur of the moment? Do you believe he can read what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said this morning, get pissed off, and turn Iran into rubble?
But, really, our current president has shown all the insight, decision-making, and disposition of a self-deluded, petulant moron. Having a quick temper disqualifies McCain? That’s ridiculous.
What disqualifies McCain in my mind is his boot-licking of Bush since 2000 and his idiotic position on the war.
I’m ready to agree that McCain’s positions are wrong, but I’m not ready to agree that they are the result of some pathology.
Diagnosed by whom? The armchair psychologists you refer to, who see him only in a public capacity? That’s worthless. There has been an armchair Bush psychology industry over the years - “did he have a stroke?” “Is he a dry drunk?” - which has been equally absurd. And don’t forget the “Clinton got a blowjob - is he a sex addict?” thing.* This is a waste of time.
Again, what’s your basis for this?
*Bill Frist’s diagnosis of Terri Schiavo deserves its own level of ignominy beneath any of these other things.
Given the current crop of candidates, I would really hate to be a hard core republican; I’d have to hold my nose to vote for any of them, McCain in particular. I can’t point to anything at all by way of proof but I do not believe the man is stable mentally or emotionally.
Just to give equal time, I’m gonna have to hold my nose to vote for any of the current crop of Democrats, too, even though I hope one of them wins the presidency.