Thursday, April 24, 2008

A True Man of Steel

As I think about the kind of man John McCain is and what kind of president he would be, I can't help but think how pitiful and small Hillary or Obama seem juxtaposed against him. Here is a man who is truly made of grissle and steel. Try to imagine the pure guts it takes to spend 5 years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, turning down the opportunity to go home after a year out of loyalty to his fellow prisoners. McCain opposes torture, and probably for good reason - he was tortured, daily. Really tortured, not being subjected to loud music, or made to stay up past his bedtime, or even having to wear underwear on his head. But real torture, like getting beaten with bamboo clubs - daily. Torture like being bound and hung up like a meat sack for days. P.J. O'Rourke has an eloquent article here in the Weekly Standard that speaks to McCains toughness, guts, loyalty, honor and integrity.

So what do you think was Hillary's biggest test of character - choosing the right time to fire the Whitehouse travel staff, where to place those billing records and still have plausable deniability? Maybe it was the whole "Bill and the Oval office BJ" thing? Doesn't sound like much up against McCain.

Obama? The greatest test of his character was having to answer Charlie Gibson about William Ayres and Reverend Wright on national TV during a debate. Either that or refraining from slapping Hillary every time she smirked and said, "If I'm not mistaken..."

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