McCain - Average, Mad Brave, Terrible Judgment

Here's the most telling paragraph I've read about McCain's stubbornness. It shows just one more reason why he must not - I say again, must not - be president.

Key words and phrases are boldened by moi.

Choosing naval aviation, he was at best an average pilot, a daredevil, "kick-the-tires and light-the-fire" type who sacrificed careful preparation for more time at the O Club bar. He wanted combat in Vietnam and got it. On his 23rd mission over North Vietnam, on Oct. 26, 1967, he was flying through heavy flak over Hanoi, dodging SAM missiles that looked "like flying telephone poles," when he heard a "beep" signaling that a SAM had locked on to his plane. McCain was just about to drop his bomb on target. He writes that he should have jinked to evade the missile, but out of stubbornness, or a mad kind of bravery, he flew straight on and toggled the bomb switch—just as the missile blew off the right wing of his plane. The force of the ejection from the spinning plane broke his right leg and both arms.

The word "judgment" is conspicuously absent. McCain threw away millions of dollars worth of airplane and pilot training for one lousy goddam bomb run when he should have saved them for another time. He realizes his mistake forty years on. Fat lot of good that does.

A President has to make correct decisions in the here and now, not wait for history to make the call. The ability to do this has been sadly lacking and that, unfortunately, appears to have become the norm.

This is not the kind of judgment we need in a President. We've already got that kind of poor judgment in the White House, except the Chimp never would have had to make that particular wrong decision in the TANG even if he had showed up for duty.