Brilliant analysis of the John McCain we all know from a fellow Omaha North High School alum.
I don't know about you but I'm getting scared - millions upon millions of our fellow Americans are getting ready to vote for Barack Obama. I mean what do we really know about the guy? Sure he's been in the public eye for two years running for president, and he was the editor of the Harvard Law Review which is a respected public law journal, and he was in one of our most populated states' legislature for 12 years and yeah he's in the US Senate - but what do we really know???
John McCain - we know him! We know John McCain's character and just what kind of man he is. John is all this, and much more.......
John is Educated, but not an Elitist
John graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis. But he's no fancy pants academic with a big fancy degree - John graduated 894 out of 899 students. He's a regular Joe Sixpack, in fact maybe more than that! John is certainly no elitist - how can someone be accused of being an elitist when they graduate in the bottom 1% of their class??? Certainly not John.
John has given Extensive Service to the Nation
John has been a senator for well over twenty years, and he was in the US military before that. Not only has John spent his entire adult life working for the Government, so did his daddy, and his daddy's daddy. Dad and Grandpa were both admirals in the US Navy. Think about it - while you and your family were struggling to make a living in the private sector - while you were being downsized, while jobs were going overseas, while our manufacturing base was declining to nothing - the McCains were reliably serving the US government. Three generations of paychecks from Uncle Sam - now that's service!
John is Brave
Sure everybody knows John's plane was shot down and he was a POW. But do you know that John has actually been in the cockpit of five planes that have been crashed, shot down or wrecked. Some of the liberal elitists have tried to insinuate that John was a cowboy and responsible for some of the millions of dollars of wrecked government equipment, but reliable conservatives have proven it's not his fault. And you know that is not all that unusual. Think about it - how many of us have known teenagers who have fender bender after fender bender, and it's not their fault. Stuff happens! After all this, John still gets in airplanes - now that's one brave man!
John is Tough
Who can forget when John's chief economic advisor Phil Gramm said Americans are a nation of whiners? Pretty amazing stuff given the state of our economy. John didn't shy away from doing the tough stuff - he immediately threw his longtime friend and ally Phil Gramm under the bus - probably the Straight Talk Express in fact! John showed not only was he tough but brave too. John admitted early in his campaign that he didn't know much about economics, so to cut your economic advisor's throat and throw him out the back door of the cabin to the Mainstream Media wolves is both tough and brave!
John is a Man of Action
John doesn't waste time thinking things through, he takes action! Where I work when we hire someone like a maintenance supervisor who leads eight or ten people it takes for ever - we interview them, check their background, consult with others, look over old performance reviews - we very carefully make the decision and it can take two weeks to hire someone for a job that's responsible for only a small group. Not John - he took a weekend and did a 45 minute interview and had the applicant answer a few canned questions. After that minimal process he picked his vice-presidential candidate who is one heartbeat away from the presidency. No elitist head scratching and pondering alternatives for John - he's a man of action! And look at Sarah - a regular pit bull with lipstick on. What a tuna she is!
John Knows Family Values
John knows family values because he's learned them the hard way in his 72 years. What does Obama know - he's been married to only one woman! John knows what it means to carouse around and have your marriage fall apart on you. He's learned those family values first hand with wife #1. After sowing a few wild oats John settled down. John's got himself a hottie who's a multi-millionaire heiress and he's sticking close to home now - damn straight, wouldn't you! John knows the value of family - all seven houses worth!
John may be a Maverick but he's a Committed Republican
Who can doubt that John isn't truly committed to true Red State Republican values? Through thick and thin he's been there. When Bush was asleep at the wheel and let our nation be attacked, John was there backing him up. When the Republican-led Bush administration let people die in the streets of New Orleans days after the hurricane, and then complimented the head of FEMA for how he was doing his job, John was there. When we went to war with Iraq on false pretenses did John stand up to his fellow Republicans? Of course not, John was there. When the Bush administration had Bin Laden pinned down in a cave and then failed to get him, did John criticize the Republican led administration - of course not! What happened when the economy cratered after seven an a half years of George Bush - John rushed to Washington to - to-well I'm not quite sure to do what, but John was there! Why John McCain is such a committed Republican he voted with the Bush administration over 90% of the time. Don't ever doubt John McCain.
So remember this - we know John McCain. We know his character and know what he stands for. We may be headed towards the edge of a cliff after eight years of George Bush but by God, John McCain wants to lead us there!
Tom Atkinson 10/10/2008