Bill Whittle's Kidney Stone
You know you're a political junkie when...
"Do you want to know what my honest-to-God first thought was when the pain got manageable enough to be able to hold a thought? I tell you: I thought of John McCain. And I’ll tell you what hit me the hardest: not his pain lasted for five years when mine lasted for four hours. But to add to that raw fear, lying in filth and knowing that those footsteps in the hall would bring not relief but more pain . . . my God! When I think about those men on those fields from Bunker Hill to Baghdad, lying there for hours, awaiting rescue and relief that often simply never came . . . I end up — and I don’t expect any of you to actually believe this — I end up grateful for those few hours."
"Do you want to know what my honest-to-God first thought was when the pain got manageable enough to be able to hold a thought? I tell you: I thought of John McCain. And I’ll tell you what hit me the hardest: not his pain lasted for five years when mine lasted for four hours. But to add to that raw fear, lying in filth and knowing that those footsteps in the hall would bring not relief but more pain . . . my God! When I think about those men on those fields from Bunker Hill to Baghdad, lying there for hours, awaiting rescue and relief that often simply never came . . . I end up — and I don’t expect any of you to actually believe this — I end up grateful for those few hours."
Labels: links to greatness, pain, politics
posted by scalpel at 11:27 PM
20 Comments:
Interesting insight. I certainly was not thinking about anything political when I passed my kidney stone.
I've had demerol and morphine post op and for my kidney stones, but not dilaudid. Wonder if it really does cause a different high or impact on perception.
He will be a bit surprised by his ER bill 'cuz I doubt his visit will only be 2K.
CardioNP
MG here;
As I said in a previous discussion, I don't really feel any sympathy for McCain for his toils in the prisoner of war camps.
"During his relative short stunt on flight status, McCain III lost five U.S. Navy aircraft, four in accidents and one in combat. McCain III lost jet number one in 1958 when he plunged into Corpus Christi Bay while practicing landings. He was knocked unconscious by the impact coming to as the plane settled to the bottom.
McCain's second crash occurred while he was deployed in the Mediterranean. "Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula," Timberg wrote, "he took out some power lines [reminiscent of the 1998 incident in which a Marine Corps jet sliced through the cables of a gondola at an Italian ski resort, killing 20] which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral."
McCain's third crash occurred when he was returning from flying a Navy trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game.
Timberg reported that McCain radioed, "I've got a flameout" and went through standard relight procedures three times before ejecting at one thousand feet. McCain landed on a deserted beach moments before the plane slammed into a clump of trees. "
Accident #4 can't really be attributed as his fault, while he was waiting for takeoff a rocket slammed into his plane from a different craft.
"McCain's fifth loss happened during his 23rd mission over North Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1967, when McCain's A-4 Skyhawk was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. McCain ejected from the plane breaking both arms and a leg in the process and subsequently parachuted into Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi. After being drug from the lake, a mob gathered around McCain, spit on him, kicked him and stripped him of his clothing. He was bayoneted in his left foot and his shoulder crushed by a rifle butt. He was then transported to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton.
After being periodically slapped around for "three or four days" by his captors who wanted military information, McCain called for an officer on his fourth day of captivity. He told the officer, "O.K., I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital." -U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain.
"Demands for military information were accompanied by threats to terminate my medical treatment if I [McCain] did not cooperate. Eventually, I gave them my ship's name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant." Page 193-194, Faith of My Fathers by John McCain.
When the communist learned that McCain's father was Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., the soon-to-be commander of all U.S. Forces in the Pacific, he was rushed to Gai Lam military hospital (U.S. government documents), a medical facility normally unavailable for U.S. POWs.
The communist Vietnamese figured, because POW McCain's father was of such high military rank, that he was of royalty or the governing circle. Thereafter the communist bragged that they had captured "the crown prince." "
Not only did they offer to let him go early, and give him medical treatment no other POW would get due to him being the son of an admiral (Going home he turned down, I mean, cool, okay, that's good to stay with your fellow men but he could've went the fuck home. I would've.)
and then, being the son, of the son, of admirals- he was allowed to crash five planes, the last one being the one that got him into that camp. I would've given up after 3 maybe 4, the government should've stopped him after at most that many.
"For 23 combat missions (an estimated 20 hours over enemy territory), the U.S. Navy awarded McCain a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit for Valor, a Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars, two Commendation medals plus two Purple Hearts and a dozen service medals.
"McCain had roughly 20 hours in combat," explains Bill Bell, a veteran of Vietnam and former chief of the U.S. Office for POW/MIA Affairs -- the first official U.S. representative in Vietnam since the 1973 fall of Saigon. "Since McCain got 28 medals," Bell continues, "that equals out to about a medal-and-a-half for each hour he spent in combat. There were infantry guys -- grunts on the ground -- who had more than 7,000 hours in combat and I can tell you that there were times and situations where I'm sure a prison cell would have looked pretty good to them by comparison. The question really is how many guys got that number of medals for not being shot down."
Of course, to save you the googling; http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_mccain_lost_five_u.htm
I'm personally not very impressed, though I'm sure there are plenty who are and would be. Had he crashed any of our recent model planes I'm pretty sure they would've never let him fly again, military aircraft, especially now, are incredibly expensive and not to be taken lightly. Just the fact that a man who was third from last in his class was allowed to fly any and crash five in his day is nothing short of ridiculous.
MG,
I am impressed with your crazy obsession with not being impressed. And the incredibly small size of your penis
So Mg..what have you done for your country? Had a very rousing argument with a Republican?
Shhheeeaattt MG you be a donkey boy.....loser
Steve
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wow , MG, that is really harsh...
mshkosh
Alright, I've been contemplating my response to MG for a day or so. First, he has a fairly well articulated argument with relatively undisputed facts backing up his opinion and/or claim. Second, I would vehemently defend anyone's right to say just about anything no matter how unpopular the message might be. Third, at some point it has to be acceptable to question the integrity of military personnel. Though they have made such honorable, heroic sacrifices they are not infallible. One ought not be called unpatriotic simply because he calls into question the performance of a soldier who has voluntarily chosen to lead a life in public service. This is very similar to opposing a war without in any way demeaning our military. There is honor in going into battle and serving a life of duty. There is also a duty to serve this country through free and open protest of that very war -- to protect her most fundamental rights through expression of them -- and that expression of what is most fundamental to our way of life, that is also honorable.
From a practical standpoint it is of little political relevance of John McCain's military performance as his career has stood the test of time and the facts of his capture are old news. And as I do not personally know the man I am without the ability to question his honor for to me honor is something that cannot be measured by a service record or news clippings, nor can it be summed up by medals or awards, but instead by depth of character, resolve of spirit, and determination and perseverance to withstand even when there appears to be no hope. If I had to make the call -- despite sharing nothing in common politically with him -- I would say that John McCain passes my test of honor.
McCain *is* the kidney stone. This election is the pain of his passage, but relief is coming.
who do you feel sympathy for, mg?
mshkosh
MG here again;
Who do I feel sympathy for? I'm not quite sure, though I surely don't feel sympathy for myself or anyone else for getting us into this mess that we're in now.
If we'd like to delve into just why J. McCain got into the service I'm sure it wasn't purely altruistic and or patriotic. Just like our motives here aren't as such. Keep in mind that if he actually was serious about serving his country perhaps his academic record would've better reflected that, instead of a half-assed attempt at skirting through by the skin of his teeth. These things happened long before I was even conceived, yet, I can still use deduction to determine that if he was serious about serving the country then he would've been more serious about his schooling and piloting ability. Perhaps his academic record reflects that he didn't really want to serve, but felt a duty to his father, grandfather, and family, to carry on the torch that they had carried in their adult lives.
Four days to crack a prisoner and get them to give information is a pretty quick win in my opinion. If I was serious about being a soldier I don't think I would have cracked quickly, and even then, I would've started by feeding them disinformation, other than my name, rank, and serial number. It's not like they had any way to verify, but he (McCain) gave it up like a teenage girl on prom night.
I don't feel sympathy for John McCain for crashing his planes, there have been aviators galore who have done a much more upstanding job than him flying their aircraft for our country. Why aren't they being considered for President? Perhaps a bit more hard work in school like the work Scalpel had to do to get his degrees would've been in order and would've saved him much toil and pain.
I don't feel sympathy for him choosing to stay with his fellow men when offered the chance to leave. If he really cared about the country he could do more had he been returned to the fight, but he chose to sit it out in a dank, dark, prison, which some people would have preferred to the front lines. He could've came back and spoke of the atrocities he witnessed and worked harder to get those men out of the POW camps... but he stayed..?
In fact, when it comes down to it. I don't feel sympathy for any one person, and certainly not John McCain. I feel sympathy for the legions of people out there who go uncared about and unnoticed in the face of stupid shit like this. Everyone's focus on trivial parts of the picture is exactly what has fucked us so far.
by the way, I have no sympathy for me and my "small" penis as well, though some may say I'm the most negative person they know. I'm just being realistic about how little what everyone thinks matters, really does not.
None of you, including myself, will ever be able to grasp McCain's personal reasons for doing what he did, all we can grasp is what we would have done ourselves. Me? I would've tried a lot harder. How about you?
If I had chosen to join the military and become a fighter pilot during wartime, I'm sure I would be a general by now. I would never have crashed a plane because my flying skills would have been legendary, and if I were ever captured by the enemy I'd probably have kicked the asses of my captors Chuck Norris style before slapping them across the face with my huge dick.
MG, I'm certain that a knowledgeable practitioner of the art of torture could have you squealing like a baby and "giving up" everything you hold dear in a matter of minutes, much less 4 days. But as you evidently haven't learned yet, talk is cheap.
As far as I'm aware dear, they didn't really torture him during that four day period. Mighta beat the living shit out of him, but they were understandably angry, he was bombing their shit and killing their people. Torture is something we're particularly good at, yes, but they were barely able to defend themselves against us, much less have use for inside information from us. Besides, sustaining the broken bones just from the ejection was most likely more painful than any torture they would have performed, there's no reason he should've had any inclination to tell them the truth beyond what he was instructed to tell them.
Me heh heh... Scalpel said "huge dick"
If I was serious about being a soldier I don't think I would have cracked quickly
I don't know if that is sad or funny that you think that, but it is ridiculous.
McCain had broken arms and legs when he was taken prisoner. The soldiers and bystanders beat him as they paraded him through the streets on his way to his first torture session.
No sympathy? You are a psychopath.
Jon
i agree with jon
mshkosh
i agree with jon
mshkosh
but these things you speak of don't qualify him any more to be president than anyone else. Whether or not I feel any sympathy for him matters not when we're talking about what happened to him. You aren't voting for him because you feel sympathetic that he was shot down and taken as a prisoner of war, correct? So why does everyone bring it up? Does it really matter that much that it happened to him? and furthermore if so, how does that make him any more qualified than Obama? because he was in a plane that was shot down? That's not experience so much as it is failure. I feel no sympathy for him because that was his job, a job he chose. Unless someone twisted his arm to make him join the military-- in that case, what does any of this matter at all?
Sure I can't explain in a way that will please any of you why Obama is any more qualified, but if I was going to explain to someone else why McCain was qualified I certainly wouldn't use his experience as a POW to do it.
Luckily, it appears the majority is with me now; Twenty nine days, can't wait to see how this will pan out. Best of luck McCain supporters.
The final result of any traumatic experience is a measure of any person, especially when their trauma lasts for years. Dismissing how remarkable it is that McCain not only survived, but prospered, is not rational thought.
No, you can't explain to me that Obama is more qualified because it removes logic from the explanation.
Jon
I have tried and feel the efficacy of Calcusol.
Post a Comment
<< Home