His 1999 memoir, “Faith of My Fathers,” for the first time put his prison camp ordeal at the center of his public persona. In its pages, he recalled the experience as much more than a trial: a turning point from glory-seeking flyboy to responsible patriot, the final resolution of a rebellion against his father’s expectations, and the origin of a drive “to serve a cause” larger than himself....Lots more at the link, especially about McCain's interest in literary characters, like the hero of “Of Human Bondage” (whose "final realization could fit almost as well near the conclusion of Mr. McCain’s memoir: 'It might be that to surrender to happiness was to accept defeat, but it was a defeat better than many victories'") and Marlon Brando ("Friends say Mr. McCain likes to imitate Brando erupting in rage: 'You scum-sucking pig!'")
[Co-author Mark] Salter, taking a little literary license, assembled from Mr. McCain’s recollections a neat narrative that he had never before articulated. It became a best seller, a television movie and the first of five successful McCain-Salter volumes. And on the eve of Mr. McCain’s 2000 Republican primary run, its story line reshaped his political identity. In interviews and speeches, Mr. McCain has increasingly described his life in the book’s language and themes, and never more so than during his current campaign, which has turned back to the story of “Faith of My Fathers” for everything from its first television commercial to his speech at the Republican convention.
Politics was imitating art, said Stephen Wayne, a political scientist at Georgetown who has studied Mr. McCain’s career and memoir. “It is almost as if McCain had described himself as a literary character,” Professor Wayne said, “and then he tried to be that person in real life.”
AND: Strange -- isn't it? -- that both candidates wrote a memoir with the word "father/s" in the title. Is there something about a struggle to come to terms with his father that drives a man to the top position? If only Mitt Romney's dad had given him more trouble!
Posts
58 comments:
Wonder how many characters in McCain's book are "composite" characters? Composite characters are such a useful thing to a memoirist; they can't speak out to correct your version of events or repudiate words you put in their mouth. And if one of the people the composite is based on tries, you just say "look, this character isn't you. These words aren't yours. Just because the character has your name and has the relationship we had doesn't mean you're the character." Of course, at some point it does all get a little James Frey, but if you have a sycophantic media, no one will notice...
Faith of our fathers, we will love
both friend and foe in all our strife;
and preach thee, too, as love knows
how by kindly words and virtuous life.
Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.
So is it true that John McCain crashed an inordinate number of aircraft in his flying career?
I heard that on the radio over the weekend, but just don't know if most airmen crash 4-5 planes. If someone knows if this is typical, I'd appreciate some facts (and actual knowledge, no screeching please).
Most airmen who crash a plane, only do it once. Hats off to McCain if he did it 4 or 5 times. I'm impressed.
Funny, Alpha, that seems to be a favorite point of the Obama supporters. My friend snorted that one derisively the other day. How many planes did he crash.. he sure wasn't a very GOOD pilot.
Where does that come from? In people who say Kennedy leaving Mary Jo in the car is no big deal. He suffered for it, yannow?
("Friends say Mr. McCain likes to imitate Brando erupting in rage: 'You scum-sucking pig!'")
What a man says to his wife in the privacy of his own home should remain private.
Alpha,
He did not crash five planes. He was shot down over Vietnam and had a plane accidentally shot out from underneath him on the deck of the USS Forrestal. The later was captured on film and is often shown on "shocking video" shows. He was lucky to survive both events.
There has been some mention of McCain's father crashing several planes (maybe five) when he went to flight school at age 50 so that he would be eligible to command an aircraft carrier.
Rose, I'm not tossing the accusation, I am asking people if they have more information on this claim.
John McCain is basing his whole campaign on his military service and his capture by the enemy after crashing. So it seems fair to just ask if crashing 4-5 aircraft is typical.
AllenS says "no." Thanks, Allen. It does seem like it would get pricey if McCain's record is typical of most airmen.
The ghostwriter spent 50 hours interviewing McCain and then set his words down in coherent sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. (McCain probably also provided documents, letters, and notes, and the ghost would have interviewed other people.)
McCain would have gotten the manuscript as each chapter was written and revised it as necessary.
Then, after submission to the publisher, McCain would have again reviewed the manuscript as editorial changes were requested and would have been involved in that process depending upon the importance of those changes, and he would have reviewed the proofreader/copy editor's corrections on typeset galleys before publication.
That's the sausage factory that active politicians, doctors, tycoons, and celebrities use to get their books written, Obama included. Nabokov, he ain't.
--
alpha--
He did not crash. His plane was shot down. He did indeed have other mishaps, caused either by bad luck or inattention.
Here are Navy documents regarding McCain's career. And a newspaper summary here. I recently re-read part of the book about George McGovern's career as a bomber pilot in WWII...can't think of the title...anyway, incredibly dangerous...McGovern recalled seeing some bomber make a routine landing..then a little error...plane explodes...him, Kerry, Kerrey, both Bushes, McCain...all brave guys.
Is there something about a struggle to come to terms with his father that drives a man to the top position?
---
"Struggle to come to terms with" suggests a conflict. Why would you assume that when a man reveres and emulates his father, there is some conflict or struggle in the business?
Barack Obama once crashed his bike on his paper route.
Triangle man, thank you for your response.
Not clear how you get a plane shot accidentally shot out from under you on an aircraft carrier. Must be some video. (Oh no, that sounds tragic, over 100 servicemen killed in that one?)
On this show I heard they referred to a crash in the Gulf of Mexico.
Which of these examples is false, then?
Oh, just saw Original George's response. Yes, a relative of mine flew almost 100 bombing missions in WWII. Harrowing stories.
Better get to work. Will check in on responses later. I don't want to use this line if it's false.
Barack Obama dropped three bongs in Havard. That really pissed off the rest of guys in the dorm.
AlphaLiberal said...
"Not clear how you get a plane shot accidentally shot out from under you on an aircraft carrier. Must be some video. (Oh no, that sounds tragic, over 100 servicemen killed in that one?)"
Here's how. Here's what I don't understand about your comment: your parenthetical suggests that you looked it up and found out about the Forrestal fire. If so, why did you still run your comment anyway, knowing exactly what happened? Sometimes I start writing a comment, and I need to look something up which discloses that my comment is misconceived. In that situation, the right thing to do is to abandon the comment, not add a parenthetical saying "oh, I guess I'm wrong" and publish anyway.
AlphaLiberal said... So is it true that John McCain crashed an inordinate number of aircraft in his flying career?... I'd appreciate some facts (and actual knowledge, no screeching please).
---
Anyone who really wanted these facts could have found them in about 20 seconds on Google.
Barack Obama dropped his granny when he found out she was a "typical white person."
If only Mitt Romney's dad had given him more trouble!
I'm not sure Romney doesn't have those father issues too. After all, his father ran for President too! And lost. Too.
Re: alphaliberal:
John McCain is basing his whole campaign on his military service and his capture by the enemy after crashing.
This is not even close to being true. In 2000, yes, there would have been a certain amount of truth to that, particularly given the prominence his memoir had in his campaign -- it was a little creepy and personality-cultish. But in 2008? He's running on the record he's spent the last decade amassing as a bipartisan reformer in the Senate. True, it's often stupid reform, like the McCain-Kennedy immigration amnesty debacle, or the probably-unconstitutional bipartisan campaign-finance reform bill. But it is a record, and most of it has nothing to do with his military service.
Maybe we should be voting on which of the two dads we prefer.
Barack Obama worked hard on a law that when a doctor aborted a baby if he made a mistake and it was still breathing, then he got to finish the job.
He’s good that way.
Here's another nitwit Naval carrier aviator:
On one of his first combat missions, he gets shot down.
Later, he almost crashed a bomber.
Another time, he almost hit a tree landing.
And another time, he didn't listen to ground control, landed in the wrong place, and got stuck.
Another time, he sorta crashed another fighter.
Another time, he was doing some close maneuvers. There was a major screw up, maybe his fault, and he had to cut his flight short.
He admitted suffering from depression as a result.
To top of it off, he crashed another flying machine.
Oh, best of all, one time he was trying to land, but he came down to fast, and had to search around for a place to come down with only a few seconds worth of gas left.
What a dope, that Neil Armstrong. Totally untrustworthy.
Barack Obama told Hillary that she was likeable enough.
But he had his fingers crossed when he said it.
It's kind of a truism that military pilots are often pushing the envelope of what their machines are capable of, either by flying into hostile fire, or landing on the backs of bucking ships in the middle of typhoons. If the military thought the crash was insignificant enough that they let the pilot keep flying, then we groundpounders don't really have much cause to dispute. Safe operation of motor vehicles takes second place to the mission.
If the average person, you or me, were to crash 4 or 5 cars, we'd probably say they were a bad driver. If a movie stuntman crashes 4 or 5 cars, he's just doing his job.
Barack Obama dropped a lot of money on a new house in Chicago. Luckily his buddy was able to sell him the rest of the block at a discount. Like a 75% discount.
It’s great to have friends.
Of course he dropped the friend too.
Strange -- isn't it? -- that both candidates wrote a memoir with the word "father/s" in the title.
Not, it's just a total cliche meant to boost sales. I wouldn't be surprised if the marketing gurus titles Obama's book based off of McCain's, not for politics, but for sales.
Barack Obama loved going to church and really liked his pastor. But then the pastor sort of got in trouble with some of the things he said that didn’t have much to do with Jesus.
Of course he dropped his pastor too.
Alpha,
Did you miss the lesson on pseudonyms?
You are a well known troll on this sight. If you wish to raise doubts about McCain's military career, you must use some other name, preferably without the word 'liberal'.
Also preface these sorts of questions with, "I am a long time Republican and voted for Bush twice, but. . ."
Barak Obama believes in change.
This year he dropped Newports for Kools. Menthol.
Alpha,
See for example Walter Neff. Very subtle use of racism which could very plausible be coming from a McCain supporter. This effectiveness of this tactic has been lessened by Dana Milbank but is still useful in the lesser media.
Ghee, Barack Obama seems to drop a whole bunch of things. I think he has the dropsies.
I wonder how he can take a pee?
Shorter El Presidentie
Facts=Racism.
The comparisons of the two candidates' relationships with their fathers is interesting.
McCain started his career in the Navy from a privileged position because of his father. Graduating from the USNA and having an Admiral for a father, both count for something in terms of getting ahead in the Navy.
Contrast with Obama's father and how far he had to go without that advantage.
If only Mitt Romney's dad had given him more trouble!
Even better if George Romney had converted to the Methodist, Presbyterian or Episcopalian church before Mitt was born.
As a lifelong Republican, its with sadness that I can no longer vote for McCain. His vicious attacks on Obama and crashing of several planes 40 years ago make it impossible.
Further, his support of Bush-Hitler and his failure to expose Palin daughter as Trig's real mother are inexcusable.
But that's just me, a life long Republican.
Triangle said,
McCain started his career in the Navy from a privileged position because of his father. Graduating from the USNA and having an Admiral for a father, both count for something in terms of getting ahead in the Navy.
I always wondered the same thing about the Kennedy clan. How far would any of them have made it in politics without Papa Joe as the head of the family.
Strange -- isn't it? -- that both candidates wrote a memoir with the word "father/s" in the title.
Anxiety of Influence. (Didn't Harold Bloom come up in the recent Obama bio discussion?)
Mitt Romney's dad made him drive American Motors products - oh the indignity. I chose to drive them because they were, at times, free.
Shorter Neff--
Obama smokes the black man's cigarette.
RCOcean,
Good try, but you may be trying too hard.
I would have said American Spirit, but he is Democrat so he hates the American Spirit. He prefers we develop a more European one so the French will like us.
Its a global test.
He does not smoke Malboros because he is a city guy.
Plus he is too much of a pussy to smoke Lucky Strike or Chesterfield regulars.
Yikes! Obama up by 2 in North Dakota?
Now if you told me that he bummed some Benson and Hedges off Katie Couric, now that I can believe.
Neff, you kidding me? Those are all American brands. Don't you think he's smoking these? Probably gets them straight from Putin. Your troll-fu is too strong to resist.
El Presidente,
There is no try. There is only do or not do.
Not, it's just a total cliche meant to boost sales. I wouldn't be surprised if the marketing gurus titles Obama's book based off of McCain's, not for politics, but for sales.
I think Obama's first book -- Dreams from My Father -- came out before McCain's, actually. That said, though, remember that both McCain and Obama are named after their fathers. It's not particularly mysterious to me why fathers would be a looming presence in each of their psyches.
Obama really didn't have a father.
McCain might have had too much of one, i.e. too much of a legacy to have to carry on.
Both men's lives are defined by their anger about their situations with respect to their fathers. Both acted out. Both are still acting out, but in radically different ways. McCain vents his rage and resentment and gets in people's faces. Obama puts it in the deep freeze, covering it with a smooth, pliable persona. He is emotionally detached, a little dead.
Both strike me as dangerous characters to entrust with the awesome powers of the presidency, but it's not like we haven't had a run of deeply neurotic presidents:
JFK: Risk-taking sex addict. Had to share his girlfriends with his philandering father.
LBJ: Bullying mama's boy.
Nixon: Deep resentments and vengeful mindset; pathological liar. Ashamed of his father.
Ford: Normal, although never knew his real father.
Carter: See Nixon.
Reagan: Ashamed of his alcoholic father. Adapted sunny persona to cover up pain. Trouble forming friendships.
Bush 41: Seemingly normal, but warped by later career as spook.
Clinton: See Nixon + JFK + Ford
Bush 43: Sibling rivalry, ambivalence about his legacy, arrested adolescence, alcoholism.
That we haven't blown ourselves up at some point since 1960 is a miracle.
We have to figure out some constitutional way to make sure all our future presidents after this election are more like Jerry Ford.
From my reading and personal experience the worst leaders are the mamas boys who as adults surround themselves with women staff & 2nd rate males.
Clinton and FDR and perfect examples of this - but not McCain or Obama.
My dear fellow, it is quite racist to presume that the good Senator smokes Newport or Kools. We have no evidence that is the case.
He does enjoy the occasional Colt45with a Philly Blunt, but that does not count so please stop this racist stereotyping.
Simon demonstrates poor reading comprehension:
If so, why did you still run your comment anyway, knowing exactly what happened?
My question:
So is it true that John McCain crashed an inordinate number of aircraft in his flying career?
The FactCheck page does not say if most airmen crash four planes. And I didn't air this by lobbing a bomb but simply asked the question.
But it does say this:
McCain admitted to causing that incident through "daredevil clowning" but returned safely.
Elsewhere, the page chronicles McCain lying about the Corpus Christi incident.
And, this might explain his hostility to Spain:
His professional growth, though reasonably steady, had its troubled moments. Flying low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines, which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral. The tale has gotten better with age. These days they talk about the day McCain turned the lights out in Spain.
Colorful fellow.
El Presidente:
You are a well known troll on this sight.
You guys keep saying stuff like this and it's really dumb. True, I disagree with most people who comment here.
But that is not what a troll is! And if all you have to respond to an argument is name-calling it makes you look bad.
You don't even get that. Weird.
My dear boy, you are most certainly not a troll.
You are a tireless proponent of your liberal point of view regardless of the facts of any given situation. A faithful and loyal minion who would never betray his masters.
Much more of a flying monkey.
sight = a thing beholden with one's eyeballs
site = a location or slang elision for "it's all right"
cite = quotation, or a ticket from the police
zeit = time in German
Alpha, you are a troll when you take a partisan talking point "Reckless, incompetent John McCain crashed 5 planes!" off Moveon.org then come here and pose it and yourself as completely innocent, just asking an innocent question...
"Please, enlighten me!" Alpha says as he trolls his lure for the fish.
"Please, I'm ignorant of McCains despicable record of safe flying.." (Framing yourself as ignorant doesn't take much effort, does it Alpha?)
****************
Althouse - AND: Strange -- isn't it? -- that both candidates wrote a memoir with the word "father/s" in the title. Is there something about a struggle to come to terms with his father that drives a man to the top position? If only Mitt Romney's dad had given him more trouble!
Having a great and successful father the son idolizes both provides the son with a great role model and a high bar to get over...and simply because of regression to the mean, many sons, through no fault of their own, fail to measure up. Most fail to exceed their famous father's deeds.
Had he not been born a Mormon, Mitt would likely have been this year's Republican nominee. Though his Mormon values can also be credited with his lifetime success, particularly if Mitt Romney is asked about it.
Romney exceeded his Dad in most measures, and his older siblings, but he is steadfast in his conviction that his Dad was the greatest and he never will be "better" than George Romney.
Pretty admirable.
********************
On McCain, he has had an honorable and admirable life, for the most part. But we shouldn't vote on biography but on the candidate's capacity to lead and take us in the right direction. Part of that involves being smart enough, having vision, thinking strategically vs. tactically.
I would have much preferred Mitt Romney or Hillary to Obama and McCain. Or Jindal if he only hadn't lost his 1st Governor's race and had done all that Blanco failed to do in Katrina.
But "what ifs?" don't count. Autobiographies really don't count. Character matters, but plenty of people of high character, even war heroes, will not make a great executive leader.
In a business or military environment, sometimes you have to make a decision about selecting between an adequate candidate who is experienced and may do mediocre-to-middling in a leadership position, and an up-'n-comer with little experience with high potential for both success and disaster.
This time, Obama, an unthinkable candidate in certain past races..is an alternative to yet another jet jock of legendary stubborness, lack of vision, tactical vs. strategic thinking, and a combative nature.
Do the voters go with 4 more years of belligerant mediocrity at best, and 30 years of Republican policy dogma -- or roll the dice with a high-potential, untested leader who may end up governing from the Far Left?
All signs show to voters going with the dice roll.
I'm getting set for a "hold my nose" and "pray for the best" dice roll.
Then again, coming from a family of Democrats before I became a Reagan Democrat....what do I know? I was tagging along with my Mom or older brother stuffing Jimmy Carter pamphlets in mailboxes or doorstops while in junior high.
(It does make for an easy question to answer "Tell me one thing you regret about your life...")
I don't want to use this line if it's false.
Heh.
I always get a kick out of the name of Mr. Barely's book, Dreams of My Father. I'm even more amazed that it spanned more than 1 page because in essence it was the dream of Mr. Barely's dad to basically fuck and sire as many children as he possibly could, filander his way to a good time, and then to drink his way into forgetting all about it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-431908/A-drunk-bigot--US-Presidental-hopeful-HASNT-said-father-.html
Alpha,
I'm just trying to help. You are rightly attacking McCain's strength. By implying his time as a prisoner of war because of his own carelessness is very effective propaganda. I'm just saying that it would be double-plus good if you didn't use the 'liberal' moniker while making this attack.
Post a Comment