The videos and campaign ads created by the John McCain camp would lead us to believe he somehow is owed the presidency because he is a war hero. Throughout this nation's history, war heroes have been elected president, including Washington, Grant and Eisenhower. But another war hero who ran for president suffered one of the largest defeats in our nation's history.
As a 13-year-old I received a rude welcome to the world of politics in my home state of South Dakota. It was 1972 and my father was chairman of our county's Democratic Party. We kids were recruited to give out fliers and knock on doors. We often were sworn at and told George McGovern was a dove, a chicken, and a lot more words unfit to print.
We knew McGovern vehemently opposed the war. We didn't know he was one of the heroes of World War II. It wasn't until years later that McGovern was the subject of Stephen Ambrose's book, "The Wild Blue." Captain McGovern, the son of a Methodist minister, volunteered to serve in the Air Force and piloted a B-24 Liberator. His crew flew 35 bombing missions over Nazi Germany, earning McGovern the Distinguished Flying Cross.
McGovern didn't use his WW II service to further his political career. He did just the opposite, often committing political suicide. He spent the rest of his career as a pacifist, one who knew first-hand the horrors of war. When speaking out against the war on the Senate floor in 1970 he said, "I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."
I find it appalling that John McCain, a man who spent five and a half years being tortured by the Vietnamese, favors waterboarding and torture to extract information. McCain fought in one unpopular war and now supports another - one that's lasted longer than this country spent in WW II.
Every family has men and women who have served in this nation's military, including my great-great-grandfather, August Adler, a German immigrant who barely spoke English and was drafted to fight with the Wisconsin 3rd Infantry in the Civil War. My uncle Jim Adler was an Army medic who served on the front-lines during the Korean War and received the Bronze Star. My cousin Steve Adler drove a tank in Kuwait in the first Gulf War. And my nephew Sean Berry is a 27-year-old Navy SEAL who volunteered for service when he was 18 and serves on the USS Nassau.
No one is saying McCain didn't bravely serve his country, but that alone doesn't entitle him to be president anymore than it does the men in my family who have served this country with dignity and humility.
As a 13-year-old I received a rude welcome to the world of politics in my home state of South Dakota. It was 1972 and my father was chairman of our county's Democratic Party. We kids were recruited to give out fliers and knock on doors. We often were sworn at and told George McGovern was a dove, a chicken, and a lot more words unfit to print.
We knew McGovern vehemently opposed the war. We didn't know he was one of the heroes of World War II. It wasn't until years later that McGovern was the subject of Stephen Ambrose's book, "The Wild Blue." Captain McGovern, the son of a Methodist minister, volunteered to serve in the Air Force and piloted a B-24 Liberator. His crew flew 35 bombing missions over Nazi Germany, earning McGovern the Distinguished Flying Cross.
McGovern didn't use his WW II service to further his political career. He did just the opposite, often committing political suicide. He spent the rest of his career as a pacifist, one who knew first-hand the horrors of war. When speaking out against the war on the Senate floor in 1970 he said, "I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."
I find it appalling that John McCain, a man who spent five and a half years being tortured by the Vietnamese, favors waterboarding and torture to extract information. McCain fought in one unpopular war and now supports another - one that's lasted longer than this country spent in WW II.
Every family has men and women who have served in this nation's military, including my great-great-grandfather, August Adler, a German immigrant who barely spoke English and was drafted to fight with the Wisconsin 3rd Infantry in the Civil War. My uncle Jim Adler was an Army medic who served on the front-lines during the Korean War and received the Bronze Star. My cousin Steve Adler drove a tank in Kuwait in the first Gulf War. And my nephew Sean Berry is a 27-year-old Navy SEAL who volunteered for service when he was 18 and serves on the USS Nassau.
No one is saying McCain didn't bravely serve his country, but that alone doesn't entitle him to be president anymore than it does the men in my family who have served this country with dignity and humility.
