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McCain's Heritage

Soapweed

Well-known member
McCain's Heritage

Regardless of your political persuasion, this from a man who wants to be our president, is WELL worth the read.


Meridian, Miss – U.S. Senator John McCain delivered the following remarks during the first stop of his "Service toAmerica" tour in Meridian, Mississippi:

Thank you. It's good to be back in Meridian. As you might know, I was once a flight instructor here at the air field named for my grandfather during my long past and misspent youth. And it's always good to be in Mississippi, which you could call my ancestral home.

Generations of McCains were born and raised in Carroll County, on land that had been in our family since 1848. The last McCain to live on the property, which the family called Teoc, was my grandfather's brother, Joe McCain. I spent a couple summers here as a young boy, and enjoyed it immensely.

I had never had a permanent address because my father's naval career required us to move frequently. But here, in the care of my very likeable Uncle Joe, I could imagine, with a little envy, what it must have been like for the McCains who came before me to be so connected to one place; to be part of a community and a landscape as well as a family.

By all accounts, the McCains of Carroll County were devoted to one another and their traditions; a lively, proud and happy family on the Mississippi Delta. Yet, many McCains left here as young men to pursue careers in what has long been our family's chosen profession -- the United States Armed Forces.

My great-grandfather was the sheriff and never left. But his brother, Henry Pinkney McCain, was a major general in the Army, and organized the draft in World War One. Camp McCain in Grenada, Mississippi is named for him. My great uncle, William McCain, was known as "Wild Bill" for his "dynamic" personality -- he was reputed to have ridden his horse onto his future father-in-law's porch to ask him for his daughter's hand.

He chased Pancho Villa with General Pershing, was an artillery officer in World War One, and retired a Brigadier General. Both men are buried at ArlingtonNational Cemetery, as are my father and grandfather.

We trace my family's martial heritage back to the Revolution. A distant ancestor served on General Washington's staff, and it seems my ancestors fought in most wars in our nation's history. All were soldiers -- both Henry and Bill McCain were West Pointers -- until my grandfather broke family tradition and entered the NavalAcademy in 1902. He was succeeded there by my father, then me, and then my son.

As I noted, the naval air field here is named for my grandfather, who had an illustrious career in the Navy, and who remained proud of his Mississippi roots until the end of his life. I have only very early memories of him. I was just nine when he died.

But he was an unforgettable man, a lively, colorful, though infrequent, presence in our lives. To spend time in his company was as much fun as a young boy could imagine. He loved his family, and we were spellbound by him. He was a slight man and gaunt, but he filled any room with his deep voice and high spirits.

He was devoted to the Navy, but in personal comportment, he was anything but regulation.

He was a rumpled, informal man, who wore a crushed cap with the crown removed that the wife of one of his aviators had given him; kept his shoes off when he worked in an office; tobacco leavings were always scattered about him, as he rolled his own with one hand; possessed a mischievous sense of humor, and was unusually close to sailors and junior officers who served under him, and revered him. They called him, "Popeye;" his family called him, "Sid;" and his fellow officers, "Slew," for reasons I never learned.

After graduating from the Naval Academy, he sailed around the Philippine Islands on a gunboat captured from the Spanish, the executive officer to the great Chester Nimitz. He returned to the United States on the U.S.S. Connecticut, the flagship of Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet.

He served on an armored cruiser in the First World War, escorting wartime convoys across the U-boat infested Atlantic.

In 1935, after the Navy ordered that all aircraft carrier skippers must themselves have earned their wings, he trained as a pilot. He was 52 years old at the time, and a Navy Captain. By his own admission, he never learned to fly well. A subordinate recalled later, "the base prayed for his safe return each time he flew." But he managed to earn his wings, and left Pensacola to command the naval air station in the Panama Canal Zone, where I was born.

My father, Jack McCain, was an officer at a submarine base there, one of the few occasions in his adult life when he lived in close proximity to the man he admired above all others. Though they lived far apart for decades, no father and son could have been closer. My father described his father as "a very great leader and people loved him. ... the blood of life flowed through his veins … a man of great moral and physical courage." He had learned everything about leadership from his father, he said.

Both were highly individualistic men with outsize personalities, but were completely dedicated to the United States Navy. Neither ever wanted any other life, and while both were guilty of more than a few regulation infractions, and shared a few vices, they adhered strictly to the code father had taught son: never lie, steal or cheat.

Both took a great interest in the views and well-being of the men who served under them. They believed military leaders learned as much from the people they commanded as they taught them. They were demanding, but fair and compassionate commanders.

"We are responsible for our men," my father once said, "not the other way around. That's what forges trust and loyalty." They shirked no duty, braved extraordinary dangers, and were exceptional leaders. They were the first father and son to become four star admirals.

My grandfather commanded the fast carrier task force in the Pacific under Admiral Halsey, and devised many of the tactics that were employed by carriers for many years after. He was instrumental in Japan's defeat, and was given a privileged place on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri to witness the signing of the unconditional surrender that ended the war.

My father commanded a submarine in the Pacific during the war, survived several harrowing experiences, and had brought a Japanese submarine into TokyoHarbor at the time of the surrender ceremony.

Both were exhausted at war's end, but happy to have the opportunity for a brief reunion. They met onboard a submarine tender, and spent a couple of hours together. My grandfather was worn out and obviously ill. Years later, my father recalled the last words my grandfather had ever spoken to him. "Son, there is no greater thing than to die … for the country and principles that you believe in."

After father and son parted that afternoon, my grandfather began the long trip home to Coronado. Not long after he arrived, at a homecoming party, he turned to my grandmother, and announced he did not feel well. He died a moment later of a heart attack. He had fought his war and died in service to the country he believed in.

My father could not return to the States in time for the funeral. My mother found him waiting for her to return to California from the funeral in Washington, weeping on the airport tarmac.

In time, my father, the son of a legendary naval leader, would rise to an even greater command than his father had. During the Vietnam War, he commanded all U.S. forces in the Pacific, at the top of a chain of command that included, near the bottom, his son, a naval aviator on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, and later a prisoner of war in Hanoi. My father seldom spoke of my captivity to anyone outside the family, and never in public. He prayed on his knees every night for my safe return.

He would spend holidays with the troops in Vietnam, near the DMZ. At the end of his visit, he would walk alone to the base perimeter, and look north toward the city where I was held. Yet, when duty required it, he gave the order for B-52s to bombHanoi, in close proximity to my prison.

I have lived a blessed life, and the first of my blessings was the family I was born into. I had not onl y the example of my distinguished male relations, and their long tradition of military service. I was fortunate to grow up under the influence of strong, capable, accomplished women.

First among them, my mother, the formidable Roberta McCain; her identical twin, Rowena; my strict and imposing paternal grandmother, Catherine; and equally impressive maternal grandmother, Myrtle.

For much of my childhood, my mother was the parent who raised me, my sister and brother. My father was often at sea, and she bore all the responsibilities of both parents. She moved us from base to base, often driving us across country on her own; managed our household; paid the bills; saw to our education and religious upbringing; and made of our itinerant childhood, an interesting, exciting time, rich with fascinating experiences.

She was and is a resilient woman, extroverted, uncomplaining, forthright and determined, who greets every challenge as an opportunity to measure one's strength of character and learn about the wider world beyond our immediate environment.

The family I was born to, and the family I am blessed with now, made me the man I am, and instilled in me a deep and abiding respect for the social institution that wields the greatest influence in the formation of our individual character and the character of our society.

I may have been raised in a time when government did not dare to assume the responsibilities of parents. But I am a father in a time when parents worry that threats to their children's well-being are proliferating and undermining the values they have worked to impart to them.

That is not to say that government should dictate to parents how to raise their children or assume from parents any part of that most personal and important responsibility. No government is capable of caring for children as attentively and wisely as the mother and father who love them.

But government must be attentive to the impact of its policies on families so that it does not through inattention or arrogance make it harder for parents to have the resources to succeed in the greatest work of their lives -- raising their children. And where government has a role to play, in education, in combating the threats to the security and happiness of children from online predators, in helping to make health care affordable and accessible to the least fortunate among us, it must do so urgently, effectively and wisely.

Tax policy must not rob parents of the means to care for their children and provide them the opportunities their parents provided them. Government spending must not be squandered on things we do not need and can't afford, and which don't address a single American's concern for their family's security.

Government can't just throw money at public education while reinforcing the failures of many of our schools, but should, through choice and competition, by rewarding good teachers and holding bad teachers accountable, help parents prepare their children for the challenges and opportunities of the global economy.

Government must be attentive to the impact on families of parents who have lost jobs in our changing economy that won't come back. Our programs for displaced workers are antiquated, repetitive and ineffective. Many were designed for a time when unemployment was seasonal or a temporary consequence of an economic downturn, not for a time when systemic changes wrought by the growing global economy have, while promising undreamt of opportunities for ourselves and many historically poor societies, have cost too many parents the jobs they had assumed would be theirs for life.

With the loss of work and the resources it provides families, come just as injurious losses to the emotional health of families. Work provides more than an income. It is a source of self-worth, pride and sense of purpose. Children learn as much from observation as instruction. The mother or father who has lost hope along with their job can unintentionally impart that hopelessness to their children. A welfare check can't give a parent a sense of purpose. And among the most important things children can inherit from their parents is a sense of purpose, and an aspiration to be part of something bigger than themselves.

My parents taught me that, and I will always be indebted to them. But like many young people, I didn't understand the lesson very well until later in life when I needed it most. As a boy, my family legacy, as fascinating as it was t o me, often felt like an imposition. I knew from a very early age that I was destined forAnnapolis and a career in the Navy.

In reaction, I often rebelled in small and petty ways to what I perceived as an encroachment on my free will. I concede that I remember the unruly passions of youth, and how they governed my immature sense of honor and self-respect. As I grew older, and the challenges to my self-respect grew more varied and serious, I was surprised to discover that while my sense of honor had matured, its defense mattered even more to me than it did when it was such a vulnerable thing that any empty challenge threatened it.

Like most people, when I reflect on the adventures and joys of youth, I feel a longing for what is lost and cannot be restored. But though the happy pursuits of the young prove ephemeral, something better can endure, and endure until our last moment of life. And that is the honor we earn and the love we give when we work and sacrifice with others for a cause greater than our self-interest.

For me that cause has long been our country. I am a lucky, lucky man to have found it, and am forever grateful to those who showed me the way. What they gave me was much more valuable and lasting than the tribute I once paid to vanity.

I am the son and grandson of admirals. My grandfather was an aviator; my father a submariner. They were my first heroes, and their respect for me has been one of the most lasting ambitions of my life.

They gave their lives to their country, and taught me lessons about honor, courage, duty, perseverance and leadership that I didn't fully grasp until later in life, but remembered when I needed them most.

I have been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I am their son, and they showed me how to love my country, and that has made all the difference for me, my friends, all the difference in the world.
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
Now this IS something to be really proud of


Friday, February 01, 2008
John McCain's trophy bride
by John Aravosis (DC) · 2/01/2008 10:01:00 AM ET · Link
Discuss this post here: 2 Comments · reddit · FARK ·· Digg It!


He's running as a conservative in a party that touts "the sanctity of marriage" as one of their top issues. Therefore his having divorced his first wife because she was involved in a bad accident, and his having married his second wife, 17 years his junior, shortly thereafter, is relevant. John McCain likes to talk about he was a POW. He doesn't like to talk as much about how he ditched his wife a few years after returning home. If we're being asked to consider 8 more years of these people, and their morality, then it's time we inquired about their morality. McCain would like us to remember the hero part, then forget the trophy bride part, even though they both happened around the same time. You get one, you get the other. And he was 42 years old at the time, so let's stop excusing Republicans for their "youthful indiscretions" that happened about the time of menopause. The Bible doesn't have a statute of limitations. If we have to live by it, they have to live by it.

From the NYT eight years ago:
Mr. McCain has acknowledged running around with women and accepted responsibility for the breakup of the marriage, without going into details. But his supporters and his biographer, Robert Timberg, all suggest that the marriage had already effectively ended and that the couple had separated by the time he met Cindy, his present wife.

That might be the most soothing way of explaining a politician's divorce from a disabled wife and his remarriage to a wealthy heiress, but it does not jibe with accounts of family members and friends.
Lots more after the jump...

John and Carol McCain had separated once briefly after they moved to Washington, when he moved his gear into his mother's house on Connecticut Avenue. That was the first hint that Joe McCain, John's younger brother, had of any marital problems, for neither John nor Carol confided much about personal problems....

''For somebody to say that they were separated or at each other's throats is just nonsense,'' Mr. Smith said.

Yet at precisely the time that Mr. Smith was a guest in what appeared to be a happy household, in April 1979, Mr. McCain accompanied a group of senators on a trip to China. The Navy threw a big cocktail party for the group during a stopover in Honolulu.

''John and I were talking, and then somebody tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and exchanged a few words,'' said Albert A. Lakeland, then a Senate staff member. ''When I turned around, John was gone. I looked around, and he was making a beeline for this very attractive blond woman.

''He spent the whole party talking to her, and he kept avoiding me when I approached,'' Mr. Lakeland said. After the reception, Mr. McCain and the young woman, Cindy Hensley, went out to dinner, and the romance blossomed....

Over the next six months, Mr. McCain pursued Miss Hensley aggressively, flying around the country to see her, and he began to push to end his marriage. Friends say that Carol McCain was in shock.

Late that year, the McCains finally separated, and Mrs. McCain accepted a divorce the next February. Mr. McCain promptly married Miss Hensley, his present wife.






http://www.americablog.com/2008/02/john-mccains-trophy-bride.html
 

hopalong

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
Now this IS something to be really proud of


Friday, February 01, 2008
John McCain's trophy bride
by John Aravosis (DC) · 2/01/2008 10:01:00 AM ET · Link
Discuss this post here: 2 Comments · reddit · FARK ·· Digg It!


He's running as a conservative in a party that touts "the sanctity of marriage" as one of their top issues. Therefore his having divorced his first wife because she was involved in a bad accident, and his having married his second wife, 17 years his junior, shortly thereafter, is relevant. John McCain likes to talk about he was a POW. He doesn't like to talk as much about how he ditched his wife a few years after returning home. If we're being asked to consider 8 more years of these people, and their morality, then it's time we inquired about their morality. McCain would like us to remember the hero part, then forget the trophy bride part, even though they both happened around the same time. You get one, you get the other. And he was 42 years old at the time, so let's stop excusing Republicans for their "youthful indiscretions" that happened about the time of menopause. The Bible doesn't have a statute of limitations. If we have to live by it, they have to live by it.

From the NYT eight years ago:
Mr. McCain has acknowledged running around with women and accepted responsibility for the breakup of the marriage, without going into details. But his supporters and his biographer, Robert Timberg, all suggest that the marriage had already effectively ended and that the couple had separated by the time he met Cindy, his present wife.

That might be the most soothing way of explaining a politician's divorce from a disabled wife and his remarriage to a wealthy heiress, but it does not jibe with accounts of family members and friends.
Lots more after the jump...

John and Carol McCain had separated once briefly after they moved to Washington, when he moved his gear into his mother's house on Connecticut Avenue. That was the first hint that Joe McCain, John's younger brother, had of any marital problems, for neither John nor Carol confided much about personal problems....

''For somebody to say that they were separated or at each other's throats is just nonsense,'' Mr. Smith said.

Yet at precisely the time that Mr. Smith was a guest in what appeared to be a happy household, in April 1979, Mr. McCain accompanied a group of senators on a trip to China. The Navy threw a big cocktail party for the group during a stopover in Honolulu.

''John and I were talking, and then somebody tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and exchanged a few words,'' said Albert A. Lakeland, then a Senate staff member. ''When I turned around, John was gone. I looked around, and he was making a beeline for this very attractive blond woman.

''He spent the whole party talking to her, and he kept avoiding me when I approached,'' Mr. Lakeland said. After the reception, Mr. McCain and the young woman, Cindy Hensley, went out to dinner, and the romance blossomed....

Over the next six months, Mr. McCain pursued Miss Hensley aggressively, flying around the country to see her, and he began to push to end his marriage. Friends say that Carol McCain was in shock.

Late that year, the McCains finally separated, and Mrs. McCain accepted a divorce the next February. Mr. McCain promptly married Miss Hensley, his present wife.






http://www.americablog.com/2008/02/john-mccains-trophy-bride.html

Hillery wouldn't divorce Bill she just put up with his unfaithfullness, not once but many times, yet you praise him and his time in office, Mcain was not while he was setting in the oval office putting stains on the blue dress!!
HYPOCRITE :roll:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
hopalong said:
kolanuraven said:
Now this IS something to be really proud of


Friday, February 01, 2008
John McCain's trophy bride
by John Aravosis (DC) · 2/01/2008 10:01:00 AM ET · Link
Discuss this post here: 2 Comments · reddit · FARK ·· Digg It!


He's running as a conservative in a party that touts "the sanctity of marriage" as one of their top issues. Therefore his having divorced his first wife because she was involved in a bad accident, and his having married his second wife, 17 years his junior, shortly thereafter, is relevant. John McCain likes to talk about he was a POW. He doesn't like to talk as much about how he ditched his wife a few years after returning home. If we're being asked to consider 8 more years of these people, and their morality, then it's time we inquired about their morality. McCain would like us to remember the hero part, then forget the trophy bride part, even though they both happened around the same time. You get one, you get the other. And he was 42 years old at the time, so let's stop excusing Republicans for their "youthful indiscretions" that happened about the time of menopause. The Bible doesn't have a statute of limitations. If we have to live by it, they have to live by it.

From the NYT eight years ago:
Mr. McCain has acknowledged running around with women and accepted responsibility for the breakup of the marriage, without going into details. But his supporters and his biographer, Robert Timberg, all suggest that the marriage had already effectively ended and that the couple had separated by the time he met Cindy, his present wife.

That might be the most soothing way of explaining a politician's divorce from a disabled wife and his remarriage to a wealthy heiress, but it does not jibe with accounts of family members and friends.
Lots more after the jump...

John and Carol McCain had separated once briefly after they moved to Washington, when he moved his gear into his mother's house on Connecticut Avenue. That was the first hint that Joe McCain, John's younger brother, had of any marital problems, for neither John nor Carol confided much about personal problems....

''For somebody to say that they were separated or at each other's throats is just nonsense,'' Mr. Smith said.

Yet at precisely the time that Mr. Smith was a guest in what appeared to be a happy household, in April 1979, Mr. McCain accompanied a group of senators on a trip to China. The Navy threw a big cocktail party for the group during a stopover in Honolulu.

''John and I were talking, and then somebody tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and exchanged a few words,'' said Albert A. Lakeland, then a Senate staff member. ''When I turned around, John was gone. I looked around, and he was making a beeline for this very attractive blond woman.

''He spent the whole party talking to her, and he kept avoiding me when I approached,'' Mr. Lakeland said. After the reception, Mr. McCain and the young woman, Cindy Hensley, went out to dinner, and the romance blossomed....

Over the next six months, Mr. McCain pursued Miss Hensley aggressively, flying around the country to see her, and he began to push to end his marriage. Friends say that Carol McCain was in shock.

Late that year, the McCains finally separated, and Mrs. McCain accepted a divorce the next February. Mr. McCain promptly married Miss Hensley, his present wife.






http://www.americablog.com/2008/02/john-mccains-trophy-bride.html

Hillery wouldn't divorce Bill she just put up with his unfaithfullness, not once but many times, yet you praise him and his time in office, Mcain was not while he was setting in the oval office putting stains on the blue dress!!
HYPOCRITE :roll:

:eek: :eek: Here I thought it was the New Republicans that proclaimed themselves the annointed holier than thou ones- that never sinned or did any wrong- and had been chosen to proclaim to the rest of the country (world) what the morals should be... :???:

Does that mean that under this new Republican morals- its Okey Dokey to kick out your wife and forget your oath to God and the world "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part."- even when it alienates your children-- if she gets in an accident and is disfigured and gets fat- after some good looking rich young Babe comes along with a rich father that can finance your political aspirations :???:

And who's political advisors have had to step in and remove a younger good looking lobbiest/advisor floozy from the campaign- because they believed he is trading sexual favors for political influence :???:

Now that appears to me to better fit the definition of a hypocrite :wink:
 

hopalong

Well-known member
YES this is definatly something to be proud of!!
Bill Clinton & his 'Aw, shucks' defense of infidelity

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: June 23, 2004
1:00 am Eastern


By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com





Nothing disappointed me more about the Monica Lewinsky story than Bill Clinton's explanation as to why he did it, confessing to Dan Rather that he committed adultery "because he could."

I have heard many unfaithful husbands try and finesse their indiscretions. Some complain they weren't getting sex from their wives. Others offer the tired refrain that their wives didn't "understand them," as if having sex with other women would suddenly make their wives understand. Still others complain of having suffered professional setbacks that made them susceptible to the ego gratification offered by the attentions of younger women.

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But I have never heard a man state matter-of-factly that he cheated on his wife because he could. Had Clinton said he had cheated because he and Hilary went through a rough patch, or because he found himself intoxicated with the power of the presidency, I would have been sympathetic. Men make mistakes.

Had he even said that he found himself unable to resist the fawning attention of a buxom young woman, I could have been understanding. Men can be frail.g on your wife simply But cheatinecause you could is a deeply frightening admission, even if it deserves credit for honesty, since it is indicative of a total absence of moral restraint.

Indeed, what do the words even mean? Does a man pick up a gun and shoot a stranger "because he can"? Does a woman shoplift a dress just because she won't get caught? If the police aren't around, do we all become criminals? When it comes to adultery, isn't the hope that a man refrains from cheating on his wife, even if he won't get caught because he either fears God, loves his wife, or simply wants to do the right thing?

Is Bill Clinton saying that none of these were even considered as he slowly slid into the arms of another woman? Is he saying that unlike the rest of us flawed mortals who at least regret our mistakes, he doesn't even suffer from pangs of conscience?

In the past, I have argued that Clinton should be judged by his public record rather than his private shortcomings. The fact is many leaders of consequence – including FDR and JFK – were not faithful to their wives. When the Lewinsky scandal broke, I even debated Gennifer Flowers on television where I made the point that Clinton's personal failures were not greatly disappointing to me since I looked toward religious leaders, rather than politicians, for inspiration anyway.

But Clinton's admission on "60 Minutes" has changed my mind and I now believe that the Lewinsky scandal is an unfortunate window into his troubled conscience.

Bill Clinton is the product of the '60's generation, consisting of tens of millions of young people who seemed to believe authentically in love and goodness, but whose intentions did not amount, in the end, to a hill of beans. Virtually all of the great '60's initiatives petered out with little or nothing to show for them.

For all the talk about universal love and global peace, most of that generation's idealism was jettisoned just as soon as they entered the workforce. Even Bill Clinton ended up dismantling the welfare state once he became president, which went against the grain of the socialist idealism of his youth.

Why didn't any of that idealism last? Because it was rooted in emotions rather than action. It was founded on a bedrock of feelings rather than morality. The '60's generation rejected the morals of their parents and created a world of good and bad that accorded with personal sensibilities rather than absolute standards of right and wrong.

They talked about love, but not in the context of marriage or family. Love became free love, a convenient euphemism for sexual indulgence. They decried the "excesses" of the American military in Vietnam, but not the evils of communism.
Their poster girl, Jane Fonda, traveled to Hanoi to condemn her own country and, by doing so, became unwittingly complicit in the grotesque human-rights violations of that hideous regime.
But while right and wrong are eternal, emotions are fleeting. The '60's generation discovered when they got older that it was more convenient to make money than to save the whales, so they dumped their romanticized view of the world and moved to suburbia. It was left to moralists like Ronald Reagan and other men and women whose idealism was rooted in biblical notions of good and evil to continue fighting the Cold War until its triumphant completion.

And herein lies the tragedy of gifted individuals like Bill Clinton who came of age in the '60s. Having rejected religious morality, they never internalized the idea of right and wrong and moral restraint. So when a mistress presented herself, they could choose infidelity with an "Ah, what the heck" nihilism, choosing adultery in much the same way that others choose to buy radial tires ... "because they can."

Indeed, throughout his presidency Clinton was identified as the man who felt our pain, thereby perpetuating the '60's mentality of emotions being more important than actions. True to form, Clinton did nothing to save the Africans of Rwanda from genocide. But he did later apologize, since he felt bad about having failed to intervene.

How tragic that in the United States today the word "liberal" has become a pejorative which even liberals run from, as did John Kerry when a liberal advocacy group identified him as America's most liberal senator. Liberals today call themselves "progressives" so as not to be stamped with the mark of Cain.

How sad that liberalism – which once stood for such virtuous goals as global human rights, the dignity of the human person, a woman's right to vote and protecting children from exploitation – has now been so thoroughly discredited. Liberalism declined because it abandoned time-honored ideals of right and wrong.

It was liberals who ended up ironically siding with the regime of Saddam Hussein by arguing that the world's foremost tyrant should not be removed from power. Which does not mean that they didn't "feel" the pain of Iraqis, just that they weren't prepared to fight for their liberation. It is liberals today who defend the grotesque misogyny of the culture's sexual exploitation of women as "female empowerment."

But then, liberals long ago ceased fighting for the dignity of women in the belief that women being used to sell beer in their underwear somehow proves the advance of feminism. And it is liberals who long ago stopped fighting for the rights of children as kids were turned into nothing but a market to whom thongs and condoms could be sold. Indeed, it is conservatives who today fight for all the things that liberals once championed.

I am not – and never will be – a Clinton hater. I was proud that President Bush once again demonstrated his credentials as a gentleman when he praised Bill Clinton last week upon the unveiling of Clinton's official White House portrait. Rather, my feelings toward Bill Clinton will always be a lamentation on squandered potential.

What if this supremely talented man had been raised in a generation for whom right and wrong dictated the first order of action? Then, instead of giving al-Qaida a pass for so many years because of his generation's essential discomfort with militarism, he would have sent troops to defeat the Taliban as they beat women with whips in the street. And instead of pursuing illusory pleasures in an illicit relationship with a woman who was not worthy of him, he would have sought those same pleasures with the extremely able woman who is his wife.
 

Goodpasture

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Does that mean that under this new Republican morals- its Okey Dokey to kick out your wife and forget your oath to God and the world "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part."- even when it alienates your children-- if she gets in an accident and is disfigured and gets fat- after some good looking rich young Babe comes along with a rich father that can finance your political aspirations :???:
Didn't Brother Newt tell his wife of several years that he was filing for divorce while she was in a hospital bed recovering from cancer surgery? That pretty much sets the standard, doesn't it?
 
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