It shouldn't, but it still amazes me that the Repuglicans in 2004 managed to question every aspect of John Kerry's military service, dismissing his multiple wounds as insufficiently deep and perhaps self-inflicted... pondering whether he shot an RPG-bearing enemy properly... flaunting Purple Heart band-aids and pretending Kerry's service and maybe the whole Vietnam War were made up...
And yet the story of "Ace" McCain stays off the air. With only days to go before the election, it seems it will never be told widely, and certainly never on the teevee.
Ah well, at least we can speak of it here...
The L.A. Times laid it all out nicely, three weeks ago today -- all three of McCain's needless trainer impacts. Maybe the now-spreading news of McCain's apparent car wreck in 1964 will get people to have another look at how this man handles the controls.
To that end, here are what I think are the choice quotes from the October 6th L.A. Times article:
McCain's commanders sarcastically dubbed him "Ace McCain" because of his string of pre-Vietnam accidents, recalled Maurice Rishel, who commanded McCain's VA-65 squadron in early 1961, when it was deployed in the Mediterranean.
Accident 1: March 12, 1960; Corpus Christi Bay; AD-6 Skyraider; plane sunk
The report concluded: "In the opinion of the board, the pilot's preoccupation in the cockpit . . . coupled with the use of a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn were the primary causes of this accident."
Accident 2: December 1961; Southern Spain; Skyraider; plane and power lines damaged
McCain was on a training mission when he flew low and ran into electrical wires. He brought his crippled Skyraider back to the Intrepid, dragging 10 feet of wire, sailors and aviators recalled.
In his 1999 autobiography, "Faith of My Fathers," McCain briefly recounts the incident, calling it the result of "daredevil clowning" and "flying too low."
Accident 3: Nov. 28, 1965; Cape Charles, Va.; T-2 trainer jet; plane lost
In a report dated Jan. 18, 1966, the Naval Aviation Safety Center said it could not determine the cause of the accident or corroborate McCain's account of an explosion in the engine. A close examination of the engine found "no discrepancies which would have caused or contributed to engine failure or malfunction."
[...]
"McCain came to the flight line that day, carrying his dress whites, and said, 'Give me a pretty plane,' " Morrison said. "Nobody had ever asked me for a pretty plane before. I gave him this one because it was freshly painted. The next time I saw him, I said, 'Don't ever ask me for a pretty plane again.' I think he laughed."
Because the Repuglicans make such an issue of the quality of John Kerry's swift boat piloting in Vietnam, it can only be fair to also look hard at "Ace" McCain's piloting.
And driving. And, presumably, commandering.
It seems the moral of his story is: Do not put this guy behind the stick. Or the wheel.
Or the desk.
And for God's sake, keep him off Air Force One.