Bannon thinks like I do about Michelle ...

[dogtag]

jumping in to save the day - from a Bernie disaster.

https://justthenews.com/politics-pol...uel-disruptors

I still think it's possible. I can just smell obama sweating
over his maybe chance at getting a third term.
Although I sense Michelle might not be that easy for him to eclipse.

[Vern Humphrey]

Yawn!

[dryheat]

As John McCain said to the reporters in the hall one evening: -and I'm supposed to respond to something Steve Bannon said? Ladies and gentlemen, good night.

[Dolt]

As John McCain said to the reporters in the hall one evening: -and I'm supposed to respond to something Steve Bannon said? Ladies and gentlemen, good night.

I suppose that is one way to keep McCain's foot out of his crooked mouth. When in doubt, run from the question.

[Vern Humphrey]

I suppose that is one way to keep McCain's foot out of his crooked mouth. When in doubt, run from the question.

McCain did take a bribe from Charles Keating, and Keating admitted it. But John Glenn was in it with him, and the Democrats had to save McCain in order to save Glenn.

[Dolt]

Yup, too bad more people don't know that heroes have feet of clay and can quickly become crooks.

[Major Tom]

McCain was never a hero! His father built his reign. He went against orders and got shot down. He caused great havoc on his aircraft carrier.

[Dolt]

McCain was never a hero! His father built his reign. He went against orders and got shot down. He caused great havoc on his aircraft carrier.

I agree. I still hear he was responsible for the fire on the Forrestal. Anybody know for sure?

[Madara]

They did make a huge laugh off themselves, funny schemers.

[Roadkingtrax]

They did make a huge laugh off themselves, funny schemers.

Lyman.

[togor]

Lyman.

Oh Lord another one.

[Art]

I agree. I still hear he was responsible for the fire on the Forrestal. Anybody know for sure?

Damn I hate defending McCain but here goes.....again. McCain had nothing to do with the fire on the Forrestal. The fire was caused when an electrical malfunction on an F4 Phantom on the Forrestal's deck caused a Zuni rocket to fire. For some reason the safety pin had been prematurely removed from the rocket. The F4 was not McCain's he just happened to be in the cockpit of another plane that he barely escaped from. This story will never die.

I'm not going to post McCain's citation for his Distinguished Flying Cross but in a nutshell he got the medal because after his plane was hit he did not eject immediately but stayed with his ship until he completed his bombing run and put "steel on the target."

Now lets talk about pilots going against orders. McCain wasn't the first hero to go against orders or the last so I'm going to give to examples, one who got away with it and one who didn't.

Chuck Yeager was shot down over Europe and escaped from the Nazis. It was after this that he had his 5 kills in one mission day There was an iron clad rule that if you were shot down over Europe and escaped from captivity you could never fly over Europe again. Yeager managed to get around this rule and fly in combat over Europe again. On the western front all combatants respected the rules, meaning you didn't shoot guys in parachutes and extended the traditional courtesies to POWs. There were exceptions. For example if a German fighter rammed a bomber and the pilot bailed out he had better fall well clear of the combat zone before opening his "chute" because we looked on that as "dirty pool." Well the Nazis looked on getting back into an airplane after you escaped as being dirty pool too and if Yeager had been shot down again and caught the Nazis would have dispensed with the usual protocols and gone to work on his fingernails. Even if he had gonads of steel and didn't talk they'd have made him wish his father never met his mother. It worked out for Yeager but it could be argued he put a lot at risk by indulging he personal desire to shoot down more planes in Europe.

Tom McGuire didn't get away with it. McGuire was a Medal of Honor winner who was obsessed with becoming America's "Ace of Aces." He was two kills behind Dick Bong who wasn't flying at the time. McGuire was assigned to administrative duties after 1944 so he wasn't getting as many opportunities as he would have liked. The set in stone rules which McGuire had reinforced in his own men included never fighting the Japanese at low altitude and never getting into a turning fight with the Japanese. In Jan. 1945 he got himself into a P38L and flew a fighter sweep over the Philippines, During it he violated those rules all over the place. He got into a low level dogfight with an "Oscar" and a "Frank" flown by two very good pilots. On top of everything else, to extend his mission he ordered his three team mates not to drop their auxiliary fuel tanks when they engaged the Oscar and the Frank. Long story short, fighting in the wheelhouse of the enemy hampered by their auxiliary tanks, fighting good pilots in violation of several rules of engagement he and one of his team mates were killed. This was so embarrassing that the Army and later the Air Force trotted out a stream of stories to make it look not so bad.

Yeager and McGuire were bona fide heroes. Like a lot of bona fide hero pilots they would look on a rule as a suggestion when it suited them and they thought they could get away with it.

The dislike of McCain over his politics, and his personal feud with President Trump is personal for a lot of people. He wasn't my cup of tea either but he wasn't a bad pilot, he didn't cause the fire on the Forrestal and while he may not have done exactly what he was supposed to when he was shot down there was universal agreement among the powers that be that what he did took a lot of guts and he successfully attacked his target.

I wonder how many of the people who trash him now voted for him for president. He sure wasn't bad enough to make me vote for Obama.

[Vern Humphrey]

I wonder how many of the people who trash him now voted for him for president. He sure wasn't bad enough to make me vote for Obama.

There's a term for that -- it's called "Damning with faint praise."

[Art]

There's a term for that -- it's called "Damning with faint praise."

Absolutely, and I'd say the same thing about every presidential candidate I voted for except Reagan and Trump.

[Vern Humphrey]

Absolutely, and I'd say the same thing about every presidential candidate I voted for except Reagan and Trump.

You've got a good point there. I always tell myself, who will not vote for the lesser of two evils automatically votes for the greater of those two evils.