HIS JUST DESSERTS

I try to refrain from politics on Sue's News because that's practically all I do on Facebook, but sometimes comments are too contemptible not to respond.

I admit that I am abysmally ignorant about sports, but hearing and seeing John McCain criticize the player Richard Sherman made me furious.

Let's compare: McCain received a free education he did not deserve; as the grandson of an Admiral and son of an Admiral, he received a "legacy" appointment to Annapolis. He could not have been chosen otherwise, because his high school grades were so bad. At Annapolis McCain graduated 894 out of 899 students.

Mr. Sherman, from the projects of Compton, California, attended a Catholic school, on scholarship, and graduated as the Salutatorian of his class and was admitted to Stanford University based on his academic record. He graduated from Stanford with honors and is studying for his Master's Degree. He did it all on his own. His story IS the American dream!

I would never fault McCain's service to his country during the Viet Nam War, but even McCain would have to admit he was a very poor pilot. Because of his poor academic record, the only way he was able to be in flight school was because of his family connections. Do you think that anyone other than the son of an Admiral would be allowed to continue piloting airplanes after crashing five aircraft? Because of his family's influence, he was allowed to keep flying. His nickname in the Navy was "John Wayne McCain" and it was definitely not a compliment. He was able to use his influence with the DOD to have his military records "permanently sealed".

McCain had every advantage in life and has been feeding at the "public trough" his entire life. He was a "brat" all of his life with poor school performance, temper tantrums, being a prankster, jet-jockey, heavy drinker, and adulterer. He is lazy and oftentimes makes mistakes of facts. He cannot operate a computer. During one of the Presidential Debates he admitted that he knew little of economics and didn't seem the least bit embarrassed about his confessed ignorance. After spending nearly all of his adult life in "public service" and expecting to be elected President, the fact that he hadn't learned about a subject so integral to the position was shameful.

His behavior in his personal life was reprehensible. His first wife was considered beautiful and while McCain was in Viet Nam, she was injured and became disabled. Shortly after he returned from war, he began an adulterous affair with the woman who became his second wife, and she is the heiress to a beer distribution company, and obviously McCain could benefit more from her than from his disabled wife. Since his involvement in politics, he has hob-nobbed with the very wealthy and was involved with the Keating 5!

I have strongly disliked McCain for years because he has a cruel streak in him. When Chelsea Clinton was 12 years old, Mr. McCain told a disgraceful joke about the child. I hope he likes the ridicule his daughter Meagan has received.

In the 2000 Primary season McCain was able to hoodwink a large number of the media which gave him his appellation of "maverick" and he received adulating praise from "the boys on the bus". At the time I thought, "How can they not see through his phoniness?" Although I dislike "W" more than I do McCain, I thought it was karma to see the Bush campaign use McCain's own tactics on him, as McCain had done to his own opponents in the past.

His behavior in the 2008 campaign was despicable, with his pandering to the right-wing. He called his campaign bus "The Straight Talk Express" which was ironic since he "flip-flopped" on the issues of immigration, free trade, affirmative action, environmental issues, and his "baby": campaign finance reform.

He is a war-monger. To see him turn on Chuck Hegel, the man who was his Campaign Chairman and supporter in the 2008 campaign, just because Hagel told the truth about Iraq, shows McCain's total lack of character and his characteristic mean streak. At least Hagel knows that the war was caused by the lies by Bush, Cheney, et. al. Unlike McCain, Hagel had the courage to admit he was wrong in supporting that illegal, immoral war.

McCain seems to be a permanent fixture on the Sunday talk shows. My brother, ever the wag, asked, "Why doesn't John McCain just stay home with his family or go to church on Sunday mornings? Each Sunday he seems to do the full Ginsburg!" (That's a reference to Mr. Ginsburg, Monica Lewinsky's attorney who appeared on all the talk shows one Sunday!)

McCain received his just desserts this week when the Republican Party of Arizona censured him for being "too liberal". As McCain has voted as a Conservative on nearly every piece of legislation, that reprimand is priceless! McCain was under attack at a town-hall meeting when some of his constituents lambasted him for his abhorrent flip-flopping on issues. On the one hand, it was good to see him finally taken to task for his poor performance as a Senator; on the other hand, it is sad to see the legacy of John McCain is that of a bitter old man who could have been great!

He is a shame to our country.