07come11 wrote:Whether you agree with Mccain's position on the war or not doesn't matter. The POW thing is mentioned because it shaped him and because it puts him in the light of having formed his decision while being sympathetic to the tragedies of war. This isn't some favored son who's never faced horror and atrocity. Whether you agree with him or not, you do have to acknowledge that he has an understanding of the horror of war. That's why it is constantly highlighted.
Obama growing up as a black man in America probably had a great deal to do with shaping him. He's certainly not playing that card....... not once. Why? Because he doesn't stand to gain politically from it. McCain stands to gain political leverege from being a POW.
You really cannot compare these two things to each other.
Why can't you?
What possibly could Obama have dealt with growing up to compare to what McCain suffered through during his 5 1/2 years as a Prisoner of War?
I'm not saying that he suffered as much, or in the same way. I'm just saying that growing up as a black man in a mostly white America surely shaped who he is.
Isn't he half white? My adopted sister is half black, and half white and she had a terrible time growing up. Not fully accepted by the white community and virtually shunned by the black community. I can understand that Obama had a very difficult time growing up, and that should never be discounted. But to discount an experience by a man who was tortured, placed in a small cell, and not given much medical attention afterwards, and when given the chance to be released early, put his fellow prisoners above himself, to me is a most jaded and cynical outlook to have.
I've already said that they were different experiences, but experiences that shaped each man, nontheless.
And I was saying both men had difficulties in their lives and those difficulties shaped them. Neither Mans lives should be discounted, they have both achieved much, and I think they both love their country the same amount. I wish we could get away from all the name calling and bashing and get down to the real issues, I hope the debates will do that.
For a minute there, I felt like an Obama critic in regards to McCain's "plan" as far as finding unemployed workers jobs through training at the local community college? It sounds more ideal that something that could be written on paper with the poss. of actually occuring.
Maybe I missed the segway into that, but it seemed to come out of nowhere and was placed oddly into the speech.
wart57 wrote:But to discount an experience by a man who was tortured, placed in a small cell, and not given much medical attention afterwards, and when given the chance to be released early, put his fellow prisoners above himself, to me is a most jaded and cynical outlook to have.
Who has that outlook?
How many posts were made about people being tired of hearing about McCain being a POW?
How many posts were made about people being tired of hearing about Obama being a community organizer?
Not trying to pick a fight...just trying to show the other side.
I agree with you TFG, I am sick of hearing about that too.
wart57 wrote:But to discount an experience by a man who was tortured, placed in a small cell, and not given much medical attention afterwards, and when given the chance to be released early, put his fellow prisoners above himself, to me is a most jaded and cynical outlook to have.
Who has that outlook?
How many posts were made about people being tired of hearing about McCain being a POW?
How many posts were made about people being tired of hearing about Obama being a community organizer?
Not trying to pick a fight...just trying to show the other side.
I agree with you TFG, I am sick of hearing about that too.
BTW, I was interested in hearing about the POW experience, I had never heard it before. A lot can be realized when you know more about a person's past.
wart57 wrote:But to discount an experience by a man who was tortured, placed in a small cell, and not given much medical attention afterwards, and when given the chance to be released early, put his fellow prisoners above himself, to me is a most jaded and cynical outlook to have.
Who has that outlook?
How many posts were made about people being tired of hearing about McCain being a POW?
Being tired of hearing about it doesn't mean they are cynical or discounting it. I'm tired of hearing about Obama's wife and children, but it doesn't mean I disrespect his family. The only reason we hear about his POW experience over and over is because it plays well with people and they want to use it to get votes. From a purely strategic point of view, he has to be careful not to overplay that card if those independents he's trying to appeal to start to see through it as a cynical attempt to grab votes.
fulldeck wrote:People have been mentioned in this thread that others shouldn't harp on Obama being black or Palin being a woman as a reason to vote for someone. Now, Obama's youth as a black man is being compared to McCain being a POW. It doesn't work with me. If you want to compare Obama's youth as a black man to McCain living on a military base, fine, but that should be where it stops.
But that's not really how the two were being compared. Someone questioned why it's important to keep bringing up his POW experience. The response was because it shaped who he is today (which I don't think is the real reason). So the response to that was, then why doesn't Obama continually bring up his experience of growing up as a black man (or half black man, if you prefer) as being the life experience that shaped who he is today. Of course I know the reason he doesn't.
So, McCain talks about the single most defining moment in his life for political gain only?
