John McCain has a few things that are not generally known. One of which is he has a Son serving in Iraq in the Marines. That to me makes the mans judgment on Iraq and things like it, more cautious and careful, exactly what I want. If a man is willing to put his own son in danger, then he must have a really good reason.
In addition, It is being kept very quiet, for obvious reasons, but he is serving in Iraq right now. And I found out some other very interesting stuff, had to get it from Israel but found it:
How aware is the public that McCain has raised seven children? Or that he adopted his two oldest sons as small boys (children from his wife's prior marriage)? Or that he has raised a Bangladeshi girl with severe health problems adopted from Mother Theresa's orphanage? Or that his own sons have served in the military, including in Iraq?
It's widely known that McCain, a Navy pilot, was shot down, captured and tortured by the North Vietnamese for 5 and a half years - an episode worth a forthcoming column all its own. But few are aware that he refused early release until all the POWs captured before him were freed, and that he refused special treatment offered once it was discovered that he was the "crown prince" (the son of the admiral in charge of the Pacific Fleet) because he wouldn't provide the enemy with any propaganda victories.
Even fewer seem to know that those years were a fraction of a 22-year Navy career. Although broken and battered, after his release from Vietnamese captivity he went right back to the Navy, where he continued to serve for an additional eight years.
Now to me that shows quite a bit of character. Personal character and honor.
And this hit home with me:
Anyone can talk about "supporting our troops"; the McCain’s serve. McCain's father and grandfather were respected American admirals. Of McCain's four sons, three have gone the military route. One was a Navy pilot like his father, one enlisted in the Marines at age 17 and recently completed a tour in Iraq, and one is completing his education at the Naval Academy (raising the strong possibility that, for the first time in half a century, the United States will have a president with a son at war).
Yet, likely because of those same values, McCain maintains a strict code of silence about his sons' military service, no matter how legitimate his pride or politically useful their military status. Through 2007, McCain was the strongest Senate advocate of vastly increasing troop levels in Iraq, strongly influencing the administration's wildly successful "surge" strategy.
Yet McCain never brought up his own son's service in some of the roughest areas of Iraq. His principled refusal of political advantage from his son's Iraq service extends to refusal even to be interviewed on the subject, or to introduce his son to campaign audiences.
All of that is verifiable and accurate. I have checked. I was impressed with his family and his compassion enough to adopt a child with special needs. And all the other stuff I found out was very eye opening. What made me even more impressed was his refusal to use any of that to further his campaign. Interesting information to say the least.
What do you think? Did you know about these things?