I don't know if it's possible to understand the inner strength John McCain needed in order to survive the brutal treatment inflicted upon him by his Vietnamese captors. Week after week/month after month/year after year he withstood physical and psychological torture that would break many people on the first day. I try to imagine myself in his situation...and my mind pretty quickly spirals down to an overwhelming sense of desperation - there's no hope for rescue, just tell them what they want and let it be over.
The man was made of different stuff than the rest of us.
That's why it is so painful to see what McCain did yesterday. In South Carolina, the very same state where "W" stopped McCain's momentum nearly 8 years ago with dirty trick campaigning and a fervent appeal to Christian conservatives, McCain went hat in hand asking for support. The man who withstood the Viet Cong torturers went out and basically said, "I'm one of you. We need to overturn Roe v. Wade. We need to oppose same sex marriage." This despite the fact that 8 years ago he chastised the Religous Right and their leaders (aka Pat Robertson) for their intolerance. Polls show that many of the Religous Right look at McCain with skepticism. They don't think he's a true believer and they don't think that he identifies with "their" issues (ie. abortion, gay marriage, school prayer, creationism, etc). I guess on that one thing, I have to agree. Whatever strength of character and conviction he had back in Vietnam...he seems to have conveniently misplaced.
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