John McCain Dead - Literally A-Logging a dead man for upboats

Hanoi Johnie The Songbird Of Forrestal Is Dead. Press F Or Dont.

https://www.businessinsider.com/john-mccain-dead-at-81-2017-12

Republican Sen. John McCain, an internationally renowned Vietnam War hero who served for 30 years in the Senate representing Arizona, died Saturday due to complications stemming from brain cancer.

His office said in a statement that his wife Cindy McCain and their family were alongside him when he died.

"At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years," his office said.

McCain, 81, was a part of many of the past three decades' most significant political moments. He was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee in a contest he lost to President Barack Obama. He also sought the presidency in 2000, mounting a primary campaign against President George W. Bush.

A graduate of the Naval Academy, the Arizona Republican followed both his father and grandfather, who were four-star admirals, into the US Navy, where he carried out airstrike missions.

also for those of you who dont know what he did in 'nam that made him so damn infamous well here you go.

 

[GethN7]

His family has my condolences and I merely am happy the torment he suffered is past.

I disagreed with some of the positions he took politically in life, but he has passed, that is immaterial now, I just hope he find peace in his next life.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

Eh, I don't know about the guy himself, dying sucks obviously. Sort of good timing, as he's loved by the dems, and by extension, the media right now for being anti-trump.

 

[Commander X]

McCain was up to his neck in high crimes and misdemeanors, which he just happened to never be called on.

Among these actions, McCain pushed enthusiastically for the normalization of economic relations with Vietnam. He and his cronies got rich off investments in the newly opened market. In order to do it, McCain had to shit all over the POW/MIA movement that wanted answers as to their missing fathers and sons, brothers and husbands. In order to help make things go smoothly McCain and others needed to end the POW/MIA demands that Vietnam turn over all remains, prisoners, records. After years of milking his "war hero" status he sold out his fellow servicemen. Worse, he smeared their families from his position of power.

https://www.alternet.org/story/9972...tory_of_hiding_evidence_about_his_fellow_pows

On November 11, 1992, Dolores Alfond, sister of missing airman Capt. Victor Apodaca and chair of the National Alliance of Families, an organization of relatives of POW/MIAs, testified at one of the Senate committee's public hearings. She asked for information about data the government had gathered from electronic devices used in a classified program known as PAVE SPIKE.

The devices were primarily motion sensors, dropped by air, designed to pick up enemy troop movements. But they also had rescue capabilities. Someone on the ground -- a downed airman or a prisoner on a labor gang -- could manually enter data into the sensor, which were regularly collected electronically by US planes flying overhead. Alfond stated, without any challenge from the committee, that in 1974, a year after the supposedly complete return of prisoners, the gathered data showed that a person or people had manually entered into the sensors -- as US pilots had been trained to do -- "no less than 20 authenticator numbers that corresponded exactly to the classified authenticator numbers of 20 US POW/MIAs who were lost in Laos." Alfond added, says the transcript: "This PAVE SPIKE intelligence is seamless, but the committee has not discussed it or released what it knows about PAVE SPIKE."

McCain, whose POW status made him the committee's most powerful member, attended that hearing specifically to confront Alfond because of her criticism of the panel's work. He bellowed and berated her for quite a while. His face turning anger-pink, he accused her of "denigrating" his "patriotism." The bullying had its effect -- she began to cry.

After a pause Alfond recovered and tried to respond to his scorching tirade, but McCain simply turned and stormed out of the room. The PAVE SPIKE file has never been declassified. We still don't know anything about those 20 POWs.

The committee's final report, issued in January 1993, began with a forty-three-page executive summary -- the only section that drew the mainstream press's attention. It said that only "a small number" of POWs could have been left behind in 1973. But the document's remaining 1,180 pages were quite different. Sprinkled throughout are findings that contradict and disprove the conclusions of the whitewashed summary. This insertion of critical evidence that committee leaders had downplayed and dismissed was the work of a committee staff that had opposed and finally rebelled against the cover-up.

McCain was also instrumental in amending the Missing Service Personnel Act, which was strengthened in 1995 by POW advocates to include criminal penalties against "any government official who knowingly and willfully withholds from the file of a missing person any information relating to the disappearance or whereabouts and status of a missing person." A year later, in a closed House-Senate conference on an unrelated military bill, McCain, at the behest of the Pentagon, attached a crippling amendment to the act, stripping out its only enforcement teeth, the criminal penalties, and reducing the obligations of commanders in the field to speedily search for missing men and report the incidents to the Pentagon.

McCain argued that keeping the criminal penalties would have made it impossible for the Pentagon to find staffers willing to work on POW/MIA matters. That's an odd argument to make. Were staffers only "willing to work" if they were allowed to conceal POW records? By eviscerating the law, McCain gave his stamp of approval to the government policy of debunking the existence of live POWs.

McCain has insisted again and again that all the evidence has been woven together by unscrupulous deceivers to create an insidious and unpatriotic myth. He calls it the work of the "bizarre rantings of the MIA hobbyists." He has regularly vilified those who keep trying to pry out classified documents as "hoaxers," "charlatans," "conspiracy theorists" and "dime-store Rambos." Family members who have personally pressed McCain to end the secrecy have been treated to his legendary temper. In 1996 he roughly pushed aside a group of POW family members who had waited outside a hearing room to appeal to him, including a mother in a wheelchair.

The only explanation McCain has ever offered for his leadership on legislation that seals POW information is that he believes the release of such information would only stir up fresh grief for the families of those who were never accounted for in Vietnam. Of the scores of POW families I've met over the years, only a few have said they want the books closed without knowing what happened to their men. All the rest say that not knowing is exactly what grieves them.

 

[Echo_Ender]

At least he died before we created those frakking Cylons that would take his eye...

 

[Henry Wyatt]

How many blue check marks are going to be gloating over this?

I doubt any Chapos or TD users have blue checkmarks

 

[DNA_JACKED]

I doubt any Chapos or TD users have blue checkmarks

Lots of bernie/cortez bros do though, and they will be celebrating his death like it was some great fight to get rid of him.

 

[Oddjob OTP]

What she actually said in regards to Russia was:

The leftist used the misquote to bash on Palin, and I was just restating and showing that what she said is true.

Yes it was misquoted but in context her assertion was that she had foreign policy experience because Russia is on the opposite side of the Bering Strait from Alaska and that assertion is stupid and worth mocking.

 

[Koby_Fish]

Honestly, without all the forever war agitating and #nevertrump faggotry he got up to in his last couple years, I wouldn't have a yuge problem with him. I can't really begrudge him for losing in '08, since people were tired of bush's antics and a dem win was pretty much inevitable. Could also care less about his service record (I'd like to see how all the keyboard warriors here would hold up under VC torture). Up until recently, I would've counted him among the good guys too, albeit with some positions I disagree on.

However, he cucked the fuck out in 2016 and has actively impeded MAGA ever since. Every time Trump said or did something, he found a reason to shit on it, even as tons of his establishment friends saw the light. Guy was basically controlled opposition, more interested in getting kudos from liberal rags than helping his party accomplish anything.

I don't hate him enough to revel in his death, but he's not getting my anytime soon.

or your F?
(because press F to pay respects)

 

[Computery Guy]

McCain was up to his neck in high crimes and misdemeanors, which he just happened to never be called on.

Among these actions, McCain pushed enthusiastically for the normalization of economic relations with Vietnam. He and his cronies got rich off investments in the newly opened market. In order to do it, McCain had to shit all over the POW/MIA movement that wanted answers as to their missing fathers and sons, brothers and husbands. In order to help make things go smoothly McCain and others needed to end the POW/MIA demands that Vietnam turn over all remains, prisoners, records. After years of jerking off his "war hero" status he sold out his fellow servicemen. Worse, he smeared their families from his position of power.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-CazKanlYDg
https://www.alternet.org/story/9972...tory_of_hiding_evidence_about_his_fellow_pows

Jesus Goddamn Christ

 

[StarkRavingMad]

Yes it was misquoted but in context her assertion was that she had foreign policy experience because Russia is on the opposite side of the Bering Strait from Alaska and that assertion is stupid and worth mocking.

The point she was making was that as Governor of Alaska, she had more foreign policy experience than most other governors in the United States because of being in such close proximity to Russia. For instance, she had to pay attention to something as simple (but important) as flight patterns of Russian planes and jets (you know, to make sure they don't fly over the state with bad intentions). She said what she said to emphasize just how close the two territories are as proof of why she and the state government had to pay attention to stuff like that.

It's really that simple. I'd say that the Governors of Texas have gained a bit of foreign policy experience due to immigration from Mexico alone (because of HOW CLOSE the two territories are).

Palin has said many a dumb thing ... But I don't think the whole Russia thing was one of them.

 

[PS1gamenwatch]

Philippines pays their respects:

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/08/26/ph-pays-tribute-to-us-sen-john-mccain/

PH pays tribute to US Sen. John McCain
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Updated August 27, 2018, 7:49 AM
By Roy Mabasa

The Philippines on Sunday paid tribute to United States Senator John McCain, saying the country “lost a true friend and champion with his passing.”

Foreign affairs secretary, Alan Peter Cayetano
(Amr Alfiky/Reuters / Manila Bulletin)



“We deeply mourn the death of Sen. John McCain, a true friend of the Philippines and one of our champions in the United States Congress,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement

“The Filipino people extend their deepest condolences to Senator McCain’s family and to the people of the United States of America,” he said.

Cayetano noted that the Filipinos will remember the US senator from Arizona for translating America’s commitment into action and for playing a vital role in keeping the Philippines-US alliance “strong and capable to address current strategic challenges.”

“Senator McCain’s support for the Mindanao peace process also exemplified his humanitarian spirit and his lifelong dedication to the cause of peace and justice,” he said.

McCain in Manila

On January 17, 2012, McCain, along with four other US senators, visited the Philippines and met with then President Benigno Aquino III and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario where they discussed wide-range of issues, foremost of which were the freedom of navigation and the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea.

The McCain-led mission was part of their trip to Southeast Asia – including Myanmar and Vietnam – to broaden and deepen their existing defense and security pacts between the two states.

The US delegation included US Senators Joseph Liberman, Sheldon Whitehous, and Kelly Ayotte.

“The Senator uttered strong affinity for the Philippines and affirmed the ‘long and friendly personal relationship’ between the two states. With regard to the West Philippine Sea and China issue, McCain expressed that the freedom of navigation is the best way to avoid confrontation with China,” the DFA said in a statement released on the day of McCain’s visit.

While in Manila, McCain’s delegation also sought an update from former DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis concerning the Government of the Philippines – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (GRP-MILF) Peace Process.

Last meeting with Philippine officials

In September last year, Cayetano recalled his meeting with McCain at the Capitol Hill where they discussed the challenges confronting Manila and Washington, and how the partnership can be further strengthened to address nontraditional security concerns, such as drug trafficking and violent extremism.

It was also in that meeting when McCain shared his thoughts and his family’s history and affinity with the Philippines

“Senator McCain told us his grandfather served in the Philippines during the American Occupation and the Second World War while his father, who became a Navy admiral, also saw action in the Philippines and was a recipient of our Legion of Honor,” Cayetano recalled.

“Senator McCain also told us about the time he spent in Subic as a young Navy aviator serving in Vietnam and his arrival at Clark Air Base after his release as a prisoner of war,” he added.

 

[Commander X]

Nothing can be surer proof of McCain's dishonor than the whole rotten establishment including the "media" praising him, including all of the reporters who are acting like he was their boon companion. McCain was supposed to be a "country before party" kind of honorable fellow, a straight-talking maverick, a claim he himself often made, which was supposed to mask a career devoted to sending his countrymen to wars, fighting populist reforms, and selling American security out for business interests.

Even though a decade ago the impossibly hapless and lackluster McCain was deemed a vicious Nazi for forcing Obama to campaign for office rather than allowing him assume it as if he were Napoleon (recently, at Vox.com there was a prissy, teary-eyed blog entry accusing McCain of being responsible for Trump) yet now, he is once again a hero to the "mainstream" press because he was really the perfect embodiment of a Conservatism Inc. Establishment Man: he never missed a chance to attack his own side (often for taking positions that he would claim when it was expedient), and he was hand-wringingly anxious to have the approval of the "mainstream press", a collection of mediocrities whose main duty is to defend the Establishment and it's creakiest positions. His picking Palin as his running mate was a minor offense compared to being the chief Senate advocate for the Iraq War and other wars but for hyper-emotional liberals and certain GOP Inc. "conservatives", that's the one thing you're allowed to very, very, barely critique McCain about.

 

[Oddjob OTP]

The point she was making was that as Governor of Alaska, she had more foreign policy experience than most other governors in the United States because of being in such close proximity to Russia. For instance, she had to pay attention to something as simple (but important) as flight patterns of Russian planes and jets (you know, to make sure they don't fly over the state with bad intentions). She said what she said to emphasize just how close the two territories are as proof of why she and the state government had to pay attention to stuff like that.

It's really that simple. I'd say that the Governors of Texas have gained a bit of foreign policy experience due to immigration from Mexico alone (because of HOW CLOSE the two territories are).

Palin has said many a dumb thing ... But I don't think the whole Russia thing was one of them.

She didn't deal with any of that though. No one came to Palin and asked her to read the radar for them. Hell, that's actually a military function and not a civilian function at all. They maybe would call Palin if there was a problem, not ask her to think about or respond to anything. The extreme east of Siberia is pretty much just reindeer, oil/mining works, a few natives and a handful of military bases. If south western or Florida governors said they got foreign policy experience I'd consider it. But Alaska? And especially Alaska after the Cold War? No.

 

[millais]

What puzzled me was why he elected to stay in office even after his illness rendered him unable to fully carry out his official duties in DC. He knew it was terminal and would only get worse, but he did not step down still. Maybe there's a better pension payout for next of kin if you die in office?

 

[StarkRavingMad]

She didn't deal with any of that though. No one came to Palin and asked her to read the radar for them. Hell, that's actually a military function and not a civilian function at all. They maybe would call Palin if there was a problem, not ask her to think about or respond to anything. The extreme east of Siberia is pretty much just reindeer, oil/mining works, a few natives and a handful of military bases. If south western or Florida governors said they got foreign policy experience I'd consider it. But Alaska? And especially Alaska after the Cold War? No.

She didn't deal with a crisis. Obviously. I'm not implying that Sarah Palin had a hand in running the U.S. Military while she was Governor, nor am I implying that she was "in the know" on the deepest of classified information.

However, there is certain information to know and certain precautions to take as Governor of Alaska because of being so close to Russia. Kind of like how Hawaii has been attempting to prepare for anything from North Korea since they would most likely be the primary target if a strike of some sorts happened. Over this past year alone, there have been a handful of Russian bombers flying close to Alaska. Sure, the military would be the ones to respond if an attack happened ... But you don't think the Alaskan state government wouldn't need to respond in terms of how their own state could be affected?

When you're governing a state that is so close to a foreign nation to the point where you have to pay attention to some of the things that nation is doing ... Then it IS foreign policy experience. Small experience for sure, but experience nonetheless.

 

[queerape]

RIP, didn’t agree with him politically but brain cancer is a fucking nightmare of a disease and an absolutely wretched way to go that no one on this Earth, no matter what they’ve done in life, deserves.

 

[RodgerDodger]

/Ppress F to... oh crap I accidentally pressed B and Bombed my own ship!

/press F to mourn all my dead sailors instead

 

[millais]

/Ppress F to... oh crap I accidentally pressed B and Bombed my own ship!

/press F to mourn all my dead sailors instead

Don't worry, he's off crashing multi-million dollar jets into the big aircraft carrier in the sky now

 

[Oddjob OTP]

She didn't deal with a crisis. Obviously. I'm not implying that Sarah Palin had a hand in running the U.S. Military while she was Governor, nor am I implying that she was "in the know" on the deepest of classified information.

However, there is certain information to know and certain precautions to take as Governor of Alaska because of being so close to Russia. Kind of like how Hawaii has been attempting to prepare for anything from North Korea since they would most likely be the primary target if a strike of some sorts happened. Over this past year alone, there have been a handful of Russian bombers flying close to Alaska. Sure, the military would be the ones to respond if an attack happened ... But you don't think the Alaskan state government wouldn't need to respond in terms of how their own state could be affected?

When you're governing a state that is so close to a foreign nation to the point where you have to pay attention to some of the things that nation is doing ... Then it IS foreign policy experience. Small experience for sure, but experience nonetheless.

Her being briefed on a civil defense preparedness plan is completely irrelevant to foreign policy experience because A) it doesn't involve foreign nations (other then maybe Canadian aid coordination in the specific case of Alaska) it involves laying out plans and using your own resources and B) it doesn't constitute experience, it constitutes reading some papers prepared for you by actual emergency mangers.

"I got bored and read a binder once about what to do if Russians tried to take the Aleutian Islands" would be less ridiculous but it still wouldn't be "insight" into Russia.

 

[Wesley Willis]

If anyone here is old/nerdy enough to remember, McCain in 2000 was actually the neocons' first choice. Bush was not their man. Karl Rove was not part of their clique. The Weekly Standard endorsed McCain, with Bill Kristol gushing over McCain's co-sponsorship of the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998. Kristol was also a key figure in Sarah Palin's rise to the national stage. Robert Kagan and Randy Schuenemann advised McCain's campaign.