Mike
The reason I said that was the time John ranted and rave about some A-team not shaving and he knew from his experience that there was no excuse for it. Maybe this particular A-team was wrong then again maybe not. There are times when it would be wise for a SF member not to shave.

McCain was a Lieutenant Commander when he was flying in Viet Nam, which is hardly a "junior naval aviator."

It's not junior for a naval aviator but it's junior compared to commander-in-chief. He was still operating at the tactical level at that point rather than making strategic decisions.

He got promoted twice while in captivity and then took on a training squadron and a congressional liaison assignment, excelling at both. And, yes, he got selected for flag rank, so it was all-in-all quite an illustrious career.

Still, his strategic expertise comes from his years in the Senate, not his time in the Navy.

I'm assuming you're not counting high powered lobbyists in that set.

I watch McCain in Senate hearings and one thing that perturbs me about McCain when it comes to his military experience, is that he seems to think that his experience translate across all branches and all MOS’s. There are common experiences throughout the military but there are differences also. To think as a Naval Aviator to know what it is like to do the job of a Marine Infantryman or Army SF soldier is just plain wrong. Yes he knows what it is like to be a P.O.W. but that is not the same as doing the job of a SF soldier.

At least Kerry didn't look like a Disney animatronic with pathetically bad makeup. Small consolation, I agree...

The election is about 2009 and beyond, not 1967.

2009 and beyond... I wonder.

Much like Bush, McCain's vision of American seems to be a return to the 19th century and earlier, when we were a nation compose of rich folks, who mattered, and everyone one else, who mattered a whole lot less.

As for the Vietnam card, he has already badly overplayed it. I know Kerry was a goner when he came out with the salute at the '04 convention. Lame, lame, lame.

McCain was a Lieutenant Commander when he was flying in Viet Nam, which is hardly a "junior naval aviator." Undoubtedly, the Commanding Officer of his squadron was a Commander, merely one rank senior.

And further, McCain's Navy experience was much more than a junior officer; he had commanded his own squadron and had been selected for Rear Admiral (Lower Half) by the time he retired.

Granted, I'm just being anal at this point, because I don't disagree at all that going on about his time as a POW will ultimately be counter-productive for him.

But banging us over the head constantly with the fact that he went to Vietnam won’t get him elected president.

Exactly what I said back back in January of this year:

And by the way, John… You been talking to Kerry about the political value of having ’served in Vietnam’? Don’t go changing your name, like he did, OK?

You run with the record you have, not with the vision you'd like to have. He's chosen the "experience" card (and, I might add, so have you, James). Maybe he'll get wise and deal another hand, but that seems unlikely with this team, still thinking that divine providence got them the nomination and divine providence will get them the election.