Did you read McCain's book?
Find a Conversation
| Thu, 09-11-2008 - 1:12am |
In the introduction to John McCain's (with Mark Salter) book, titled Character is Destiny, the senator writes of the code of honor his grandfather had passed on to his dad, who believed that being accused of dishonesty was the ultimate insult. About his father, McCain goes on to say "he believed that he must behave at all times in ways that honored his father's name. Sometimes, I think he forgot that the only person who must believe in your integrity is yourself." (1) The paragraph closes with these statements: "We must be true to ourselves. And we must be true to others, whether they believe we are or not." (2)
I wonder if John McCain feels he is being true to himself and to others when, at the end of each ad spewing lies or half-truths about Obama he says, "I'm John McCain and I approve this message."
The first chapter of the book is titled "Honesty". The story is told of Sir Thomas More and his devout Christian life in 15th century England. Thomas More was a well-respected family man and lawyer who held a number of powerful positions in King Henry VIII's court, before becoming the first layman to hold the 'lord chancellor' post--the King's topmost, right-hand man.
When Queen Catherine of Aragon could not produce a male heir for Henry, he sought an annulment which the pope denied. (Catherine's nephew was an influential king who had connections with the pope--he didn't want his aunt to be dethroned.) After Henry fell in love with 15 year-old Anne Boleyn, he was determined to marry her. Being loyal to his friend and boss, More tried (unsuccessfully) to convince Parliament to declare that the marriage to Catherine was illegal, so that Henry could marry his young lover. Soon after that Henry declared himself to be the head of the church in England, rather than the pope, and that is when More resigned: He stood firm in his belief that the pope was the head of the church.
King Henry later got Parliament to pass a law requiring his people to sign an oath to affirm that Anne's children would be heirs to the throne. Thomas More refused to sign, for which he was arrested & imprisoned. When questioned about the King's declaration of supremacy, he did not answer, but one of the king's men said he'd heard Thomas denounce the law and for that was tried for treason. When he finally spoke and told the jury that he did not accept the King as the head of the church, he was sentenced to death and beheaded.
Why do you think McCain included this story in his book? Because More was honest, true to himself and he put God before the King.
WAIT A MINUTE.......
WHAT ABOUT THE KING DUMPING HIS WIFE, CATHERINE, FOR A 15 YEAR-OLD WHO COULD PRODUCE A SON?
That was all fine and good by More. Apparently McCain saw nothing wrong with it either if he considers the story of Thomas More one everyone should remember and if he thinks the story is a great example of honesty. Perhaps he saw a correlation between his POW experience and Thomas More's unjust arrest, and figured this guy was a hero like him. I returned the book to the library after reading the first chapter.
In November we'll see how McCain's character affects his destiny.
McCain, John with Mark Slater, Character is Destiny. Random House, 2005
(1) pp. xvi-xvii
(2) p. xvii

After reading this editorial, how can you not question John McCain's character?
I saw this article in the paper, too, and those ads do make McCain look dishonest. Especially, like you said in your book post, when he says at the end of all his ads, "I'm John McCain and I approve this message."
From what you wrote, I don't think I want to read his book if I'm gonna see more hypocrisy.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM
I remember that book.
He has a few, I think.
The one in the OP was cowritten by Mark Salter, which might explain why McCain thought Ghandi had been killed by "a Muslim", which wasn't true.