Election Thursday: Character

Hey folks. Normally, the Fly Report's random quote is just that: random. Sometimes, like yesterday, I follow it up with a theme; in yesterday's case, it was half-naked chicks on Facebook. To be honest, with a quote like today's I ought to be writing a lengthy expose` about Senator Obama. Instead, I'm going to relay something that I heard a couple of months ago on the Michael Medved Show when Medved was interviewing none other than the great, the infamous, Karl Rove. As it turns out, the material is actually presented on Rove's website here. There are two passages in particular that I think Americans ought to know about. These stories were related to Rove by Bud Day, the senior POW in the Hanoi Hilton for much of the Vietnam War. I'll let Rove's account speak for itself.

Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I told you I would make you a cripple."

The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at "a goofy angle," as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.

But it didn't heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day's splint in place.

Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complimented the treatment he'd gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again.

That's right, folks: John McCain busted Bud Day's hosed up arm, set it, and splinted it with pieces of his own bandage and some scraps of bamboo that he smuggled past the Vietnamese. Is Senator Obama anywhere near that badass? Has Senator Obama ever had enough character to risk his own life for the sake of anyone else? Not that I've seen.

I've teased it for a couple of weeks now, and I want to finally pay out the other part of the story that really, really hit me. Keep in mind, when I listen to Medved, I'm doing it almost exclusively at work. These stories actually pulled my attention away from whatever I was doing at the time, and I not only replayed it a couple of times, but I kept that particular podcast. Anyway, the second story that Day related was about McCain's service as one of the prison chaplains.

Another story I heard over dinner with the Days involved Mr. McCain serving as one of the three chaplains for his fellow prisoners. At one point, after being shuttled among different prisons, Mr. Day had found himself as the most senior officer at the Hanoi Hilton. So he tapped Mr. McCain to help administer religious services to the other prisoners.

Today, Mr. Day, a very active 83, still vividly recalls Mr. McCain's sermons. "He remembered the Episcopal liturgy," Mr. Day says, "and sounded like a bona fide preacher." One of Mr. McCain's first sermons took as its text Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21, "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's." Mr. McCain said he and his fellow prisoners shouldn't ask God to free them, but to help them become the best people they could be while serving as POWs. It was Caesar who put them in prison and Caesar who would get them out. Their task was to act with honor.

Senator McCain recited scripture and the Episcopal liturgy from memory when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Senator Obama insulted Dr. James Dobson and misinterpreted scripture as a freshman senator. You'll forgive me if I'm less than inspired by Senator Obama's alleged religious credentials. The Bible says you'll know a man by his fruits (Matthew 7), and that a man is made clean or unclean based on what proceeds from his mouth (Matthew 15). Senator Obama has yet to convince me with respect to his religious sincerity, or the strength of his character. From stories such as the ones I've just cited, I have no doubt about Senator McCain's.

Issues and experience are important in this election. Senator McCain has experience, while Senator Obama has very little experience. I think Senator McCain is right on almost every issue, and he's been consistent on almost every one of those issues for his entire tenure in Congress; Senator Obama, on the other hand, is inconsistent and vague on nearly every issue, and I believe that he's wrong on the few issues he's actually expounded on. One of the core issues in this campaign will be character. Senator McCain's character is evidenced by a lifetime of service and dedication to this great nation. Senator Obama's is, in my estimation, less apparent.

I'll finish this Election Thursday up with a video from Senator McCain's YouTube channel.



Senators Obama and Clinton, praising Senator McCain? That, ladies and gentlemen, should tell you something about how qualified Senator McCain is to lead this country. And for any conservatives out there who are worried about Senator McCain's conservative credentials after his more than twenty years as a maverick, remember: "maverick", "moderate", and "liberal" are three entirely unique concepts (that's why they're spelled and pronounced differently). I'll address a few of those issues that got Senator McCain his "maverick" label in next week's post.

Just a quick note about vice presidential candidates. Everyone's bored, and the announcements are coming soon, so there's been a lot of speculation. Did you know that Senator Obama will make the announcement of his running mate by text message to his fans? Is it just me, or is that just plain juvenile? Also, there's an interesting headline, with an article worth reading: Biden's emergence in VP race crystalizes concerns. Go have a look.

Have a great day, and check back tomorrow for some stories to take you into the weekend.