Sort of the way I'm reluctant about discussing baseball.

[gridlore]

Posted in one of the SJ Games forums, not written by me.

John McCain had this to say a couple of months ago when he was asked how his experiences it Vietnam shaped him to be President:

"I kind of reacted the way I did because I have a reluctance to talk about my experiences," he said, noting that he has huge admiration for the "heroes" who served with him in the POW camp and said the experience taught him to love the U.S. because he missed it so much.

"I am always reluctant to talk about these things," McCain said.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/mccain-in-colom.html

He's so reluctant to talk about it that it's his campaign's answer for why he doesn't know how many houses he has

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/21/mccain_spokesmans_retort_obama.html

"This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison,"

He uses it to explain why he volunteered his wife for a topless beauty pageant:

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/08/15/christian-pac-to-air-pro-obama-ad/

“These smears on John McCain’s character and faith expose the utter hypocrisy of Barack Obama’s claim to represent a new kind of politics. It’s disgraceful.” He went on to say that Americans “know that John McCain’s faith and character were tested and forged in ways few can fathom.”

He uses it to explain why he wasn't cheating :

http://tinyurl.com/6d4ur6

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

He uses it to explain why he likes Pittsburgh (or Green Bay; they're hard to tell apart):

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/in-pennsylvania.html

"Asked what first comes to his mind when he thinks of Pittsburgh, McCain chuckled, "the Steelers. I was a mediocre high school athlete but I loved and adored the sports but the Steelers really made a huge impression on me particularly in my early years."

And then McCain told a rather moving story about his time as a P.O.W. "When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the pressures, physical pressures on me, I named the starting lineup, defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron mates.""

He uses it in advertisements:

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16017.html

He uses it to defend his health care policy:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/21/elizabeth-edwards-responds-to-mccain-over-cheap-shot/?eref=ib_politicalticker

“It’s a cheap shot but I did have a period of time where I didn’t have very good health care, I had it from another government,” said McCain, referring to the years he spent as a prisoner of war. “Look, I know what it’s like not to have health care.”

He uses it to explain why he liked a 1970s band in the 1960s:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/15/mccain-rises-to-abbas-defense/

“If there is anything I am lacking in, I’ve got to tell you, it is taste in music and art and other great things in life,” McCain joked. “I’ve got to say that a lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane and never caught up again.”

Does reluctance have another definition I'm not aware of?

Comments

[bunyip.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he's reluctant to tell the truth instead of smears ;)

[capplor.livejournal.com]

You can also ask him about how good his judgment is, when just about every choice he's made in the past year has been a dud, or backfired. He'll tell you that it's better than Obama's who doesn't seem to make any critical errors of judgment, except in how the Roves & Limbaughs will choose to attack him.

[lysana.livejournal.com]

And those attacks are all Obama's fault, you know. If he wasn't so willing to defend himself, they wouldn't have to talk trash about him.

P.S.

[capplor.livejournal.com]

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/23/mid-day-open-thread-50/

[buzzgunner.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind that if Obama wins, 2008 will almost certainly been your last chance to attend the ARPC spring shoot, Doug. He has expressed distaste at private firearm ownership at every possible turn and his new running mate (Biden) authored the Clinton Gun Ban.

Be very afraid.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

That's my one big problem with him. Of course, the recent SCOTUS case on the gun ban in D.C. means there is a strong precedent against over-arcing gun laws.