Contrasting Obama, McCain

Source: THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

I lived with Montagnard tribespeople in 1968 and 1969 in Vietnam, among a tough, dark-skinned, primitive, aboriginal race of warriors. Plar was a cute, lovable 8-year old orphan of the Jeh tribe whose parents were both murdered by the Viet Cong. The Vietnamese called Montagnards “Moi” which translates to “Savage” but is synonymous with the “N” word in our language. They had no right to vote, no schools, no medical care, no equal representation in government. I really loved Plar and obtained through channels the paperwork to adopt her, but while I was out in the jungle on an operation for two weeks, my allies, some so-called friendly Vietnamese in my camp, raped and murdered her and tossed her body into the barbed wire on our perimeter. Don't try to tell me that I do not understand or care about racism simply because I am a conservative white male.

In the presidential race, the big villain, as portrayed by the politically correct media, is John McCain, because he too is a white, conservative, Christian, heterosexual male. To make matters worse, he is not only a former prisoner of war but one of those dreaded Vietnam veterans - and a decorated one no less.

If you do not believe me, just listen to all the electronic news journalists who swoon and fawn about an Obama-Clinton ticket and how it would be a “dream team,” because we would have a black candidate for president and a woman candidate for vice president. Wow!

Question: Should electing the president of the United States be some wonderful social experiment?

Here is another idea: The president is also the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military. Members of our military can be court-martialed for not saluting a superior officer, especially the commander-in-chief. The first thing officers learn is to set an example if they want fighting men and women to follow them.

So, if we elect Barack Obama, who openly refused to simply observe official protocol and place his hand over his heart during the playing and singing of the National Anthem on many public occasions, should he demand our military to follow and respect him and also adhere to their own rules of protocol such as saluting?

The U.S. Flag Code describing the proper protocol, especially for elected officials, states, “During a rendition of the National Anthem when the flag is displayed all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.”

Until very recently Obama even refused to wear a flag lapel pin, but if he reviews the troops, they better have every piece of brass polished and ribbon in place.

John McCain, on the other hand, refused an early release from captivity, also turning down special treatment offered to him. It was offered because his father was an admiral and commander of our Pacific Fleet. The North Vietnamese thought McCain was an American prince.

Why did he turn down such offers knowing he would be tortured? Out of respect and loyalty for his fellow prisoners of war. While John McCain was earning medals for valor and spending five and a half years as a POW, Barack Obama in his 20s admittedly experimented with drugs and regularly attended a church which now has been shown to preach hatred and racism.

But there is something more sinister and much more damning than all of that. In Barack Obama’s autobiography, he frequently refers to his close friend and mentor “Frank” but never mentioned his last name in the book.

Very unusual, but there was an important reason for that: In a major new report just out, respected investigative journalists Cliff Kincaid and Herbert Romerstein have presented evidence that the mysterious “Frank,” whom Obama said mentored and influenced him so much while attending high school in Hawaii, was actually Frank Marshall Davis, a black poet and journalist who was a prominent member of the Communist Party of the U.S.A. Further in their investigation, the two journalists also report extensively about Obama’s ties to anti-American radicals such as Bill Ayers, a founder of the violent anti-Vietnam War Weathermen.

You want to talk about “change we can believe in?”

We have longed for a man or woman in the White House who is not afraid to stand alone on pure principle to do what is right for all of us. John McCain is the one who has stood alone when need be. He has reached across the aisle to do what he believes is right.

Do we really want change in the White House influenced by the teachings of a Communist Party member, or do we want a real war hero, who took longer confinement, possible death and torture over an early release from a POW compound to display total loyalty to his comrades?

That is the integrity and courage you want in a president. That is why 81 former Vietnam POWs voluntarily work on his campaign. There is no guesswork to it.

Forget the economy, housing prices, oil, global warming and all the other important issues we face. We must concern ourselves right now, more than anything, with our very survival. John McCain alone knows what we are facing in our future, and he alone knows how to lead us safely through this threatening storm.

To learn how great a threat that killer storm is, please look at a short video of Newt Gingrich at the National Press Club in August 2007 answering a question from a reporter about the tornado of hate we are now facing and how much real danger our children and grandchildren are actually in. Here is that link: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/08/gingrich/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Please watch it before you ever enter that voting booth, no matter what your party affiliation. John McCain is the only one who can pilot us through that storm, even if he happens to be a white, conservative male, and you want to feel good about yourself. Whose finger do you want on the button?