The Arrogance Of Randi Rhodes: McCain Was Well-Treated In Vietnam?

Just when I thought broadcast journalism couldn't sink any lower than the attacks on Sarah Palin's family or that the libs couldn't possibly say anything more stupid than what they've already said, uber-leftist Randi Rhodes had to go and prove me wrong.

While it is typical of the Democrat Party and of the left in general to re-write history, Randi Rhodes does it with an arrogance not seen since ... well ... I don't think arrogance like this has ever been seen before.

Rhodes has made the ultra-idiotic claim that John McCain was "well-treated" while a POW in Vietnam. I don't know what her definition of "well-treated" is, but a rationally thinking person would not characterize the torture and brutality of the North Vietnamese Communists as anything good.

Here is what she claims:

RHODES: Of course he (McCain) became very friendly with the Vietnamese. They called him the Prince. He was well treated actually. And he was well treated because he traded these propaganda interviews for good treatment. So look, it's a horrible story anyway you cut it, anyway you look at it, any way you you you deal with it. But, it's not the story Fred Thompson told. Nor is it the story Rudy Giuliani told. Nor is it the story Sarah Palin told. Nor is it the story anybody. Cindy McCain knew to limit herself to 'I think what my husband did in Vietnam was heroic' because she knows the truth too.

Yes, Cindy McCain and Fred Thompson do know the turth, which is why we know Randi Rhodes is deliberately telling lies. Yes, I am calling Randi Rhodes a liar. Got a problem with that? Well, then pull up your big-girl panties and deal with it.

Here are some accurate accounts of what happened to John McCain in Hanoi. From U.S. News & World Report in 1973:

Some North Vietnamese swam out and pulled me to the side of the lake and immediately started stripping me, which is their standard procedure. Of course, this being in the center of town, a huge crowd of people gathered, and they were all hollering and screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking at me. When they had most of my clothes off, I felt a twinge in my right knee. I sat up and looked at it, and my right foot was resting next to my left knee, just in a 90-degree position. I said, "My God--my leg!" That seemed to enrage them —I don't know why. One of them slammed a rifle butt down on my shoulder, and smashed it pretty badly. Another stuck a bayonet in my foot. The mob was really getting up-tight. ... I think it was on the fourth day that two guards came in, instead of one. One of them pulled back the blanket to show the other guard my injury. I looked at my knee. It was about the size, shape and color of a football. I remembered that when I was a flying instructor a fellow had ejected from his plane and broken his thigh. He had gone into shock, the blood had pooled in his leg, and he died, which came as quite a surprise to us—a man dying of a broken leg. Then I realized that a very similar thing was happening to me. When I saw it, I said to the guard, "O.K., get the officer." An officer came in after a few minutes. It was the man that we came to know very well as "The Bug." He was a psychotic torturer, one of the worst fiends that we had to deal with. I said, "O.K., I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital." He left and came back with a doctor, a guy that we called "Zorba," who was completely incompetent. He squatted down, took my pulse. He did not speak English, but shook his head and jabbered to "The Bug." I asked, "Are you going to take me to the hospital?" "The Bug" replied, "It's too late." I said, "If you take me to the hospital, I'll get well."

The above accounts are certainly more accurate since John McCain was there to see them and Randi Rhodes was not.

I believe that Randi Rhodes spoke those lies knowing that someone out there was going to be naive and gullible enough to believe them. (It certainly seems that CNN was gullible enough) But, then, I guess the average leftist will believe anything their fellow leftists tell them, even when they are bold-faced lies.

You can access the orignal article on-line here:

Rhodes Claims McCain Was 'Well-Treated' In Vietnam
Brian Maloney
Radio Equalizer
September 8, 2008

And the 1973 U.S. News & World Report article here:

John McCain, Prisoner Of War: A First-Person Account
John S. McCain III, Lt. Cmdr. US Navy
U.S. News & World Report
1973

Some Interesting Quotes From Last Night's RNC Activities

Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Like him or hate him, he made a very profound comment to Alan Colmes on Hannity & Colmes last night. I am certain that the left-leaning media is going to completely ignore it or at best white-wash it so that no one recognizes it, but I caught it and I am going to pass it along to you.

When Alan Colmes asked Mayor Guiliani about what achievements Sarah Palin had as Governor of Alaska, the Mayor responded that Gov. Palin stood up to corruption in her own party and further went on to note that she has no counterpart in the Democrat Party. Not satisfied with that answer, Mayor Giuliani also noted how Barack Obama came from Chicago and yet made no effort to clean up the corruption there which meant either Obama was blind or there was no corruption in Chicago at all. Most rationally thinking people who know something about the politics in that region of Illinois can see that Obama must be blind.

Sean Hannity himself noted a few other things that were very important in helping us understand how Old Media has marginalized itself. He noted that many aggressive and belligerent questions have been thrown at Gov. Palin concerning the pregnancy of her teenaged daughter, but not one major media outlet has ever questioned Barack Obama on his relationship with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Such is a prime example of the irresponsibility of Old Media.

But, I would like to have a look at Sen. Fred Thompson's speech. Certain items stood out either because they were humorous, humorously true or just plain truth. Let's look at a few of them.

On Gov. Sarah Palin:

Now, she’s from a small town with small-town values, but apparently that’s not good enough for some of the folks who are out there now attacking her and her family. Some Washington pundits and media big-shots are in a frenzy over the selection of a woman who has actually governed rather than just talked a good game on the Sunday talk shows and hit the Washington cocktail circuit. I say give me a tough Alaskan governor who has taken on the political establishment in the largest state of the union and won over the Beltway business-as-usual crowd any day of the week. But it’s pretty clear the selection of Governor Palin has got the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic. And no wonder: She’s a courageous, successful, reformer who’s not afraid to take on the establishment. She has run a municipality, and she’s run a state. And I think I can say without fear of contradiction she’s the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose ... with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt. OK.

And as Mayor Giuliani noted, Gov. Palin does not have a corruption-fighting counterpart in the Democrats.

Sen. Thompson also said something that the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, William Jefferson and many other corrupt members of Congress should be terrified of:

When she and John McCain get to Washington, they’re not going to care how much the alligators get irritated. They’re going to drain that swamp.

We all know about Nancy Pelosi's deal with T. Boone Pickens and how she has direct influence on legislation that could funnel money in the form of Federal subsidies to the North Texas Wind Farms. Something like that is exactly what the McCain/Palin Administration would go after. If Pelosi were smart, she would be afraid ... very afraid.

On Sen. McCain:

Strength, courage, humility, wisdom, duty, honor. It’s pretty clear there are two questions that we’ll never have to ask ourselves: Who is this man? And can we trust this man with the presidency? He’s been to — he’s been to Iraq eight times since 2003. He went seeking truth, not publicity. When he travels abroad, he prefers quietly speaking to the troops amidst the heat and hardships of their daily lives. And the same character that marked John McCain’s military career has also marked his political career. This man, John McCain, is not intimidated by what the polls say or by what is politically safe or popular. At a point in time when the war in Iraq was going badly and the public lost confidence, John stood up and called for more troops. And now we’re winning. ... For years, members of Congress, Republican and Democrat alike, have gouged the taxpayer with secret earmark spending. Well, he has never sought an earmark.

When Barack Obama was taking criticism for not visiting the troops, he finally went to Iraq, but only to those places where the cameras were rolling for him. When he discovered that reporters and cameras would not be allowed into the hospital, he cancelled a visit with wounded troops. Just not enough attention for him there.

And we see a comment about Fiscal Conservatism. That is a major issue for us Republicans. We will finally get someone in the White House who will truly fight for economic sanity.

This is key too:

Now, our opponents tell us not to worry about their tax increases. They tell you they’re not going to tax your family. No, they’re just going to tax businesses. So unless you buy something from a business, like groceries or clothes or gasoline, or unless you get a paycheck from a business, a big business or a small business, don’t worry, it’s not going to affect you. They say they’re not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the other side of the bucket.

The Republicans understand that it is the consumer who ultimately pays taxes. The Democrats think that money is magically created by businesses and therefore can be confiscated at any time for any reason.

It was a fantastic speech by an exceptional man. Feel free to read the entire transcript on-line here:

RAW DATA: Fred Thompson’s Remarks At GOP Convention
FoxNews.com
September 2, 2008

What Now For Conservatives?

That's a good question. I was watching Glenn Beck last night and he has come to the same conclusion that Michael Savage came to: Republicans have become Democrats and Democrats have become Socialists. I believe that too. John F. Kennedy was further to the right than John McCain is today. The leftward slide of the political scale is undeniable. But, short of just letting the country wallow in an economic hell such as we saw in the late 1970's, what can we do about it?

Well, two columnists, Dan Calabrese and Michelle Malkin, have something to say on this issue.

First From Dan, writing for the North Star Writers Group:

Conservatism is out of favor at the moment not because it is the wrong philosophy of governance. It isn’t. It’s absolutely the right philosophy. It’s out of favor because its leaders have failed to apply it to address the priorities of the nation. I hate to tell you this, but the typical American voter, unlike the typical conservative activist, is not sitting around cursing illegal immigrants, gay marriage, abortionists, left-wing media bias and gun control. Nor is the typical American sitting around wallowing in Ronald Reagan nostalgia. Most Americans’ priorities are decidedly non-ideological. Will I have my job? Can I pay my mortgage and my grocery bill? Are my kids safe? Is the country safe? Will I be able to get health care if I need it?

Dan's point is that we have lost sight of what we should be doing. It is not that we need a Conservative in power. It is that we need to address the current crop of problems with Conservative ideas.

Dan goes on:

These were the needs of the nation in 1980. Reagan didn’t go around saying, “Elect me because I’m conservative.” He convinced voters he understood the priorities of that particular time, and he convinced them he would do what he said he would do. And with the exception of cutting spending, he did. That’s why he won, and that’s why he’s now an icon. He applied conservative thinking to the problems of the day, developed solutions and convinced people he was the man to achieve the solutions.

And we Conservatives forgot about that. Instead of looking towards real Conservative thinkers like Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter and Fred Thompson, we got bogged down in arguments like who was most electable and who was most likely to defeat Hillary. Because we took our eyes off of the true goal, we got lost and encountered obstacles. We will now have another four years to contemplate this before we can try again.

Dan's conclusion:

A conservative who connects with people on the things they care about, and explains why each can and should be addressed by a conservative answer, can win. But it’s the substance of the answer that matters, not the conservative label. ... The right solutions are conservative ones. There’s no question about that. But with most of the stuff conservatives have been talking about lately, would it really be a surprise if the electorate doesn’t know that?

You can access the complete column on-line here:

Ask Rush Limbaugh If Conservatism Cares About America
Dan Calabrese
North Star Writers Group
February 7, 2008

And Michelle Malkin makes a similar statement with her most recent column. Instead of sitting around bewildered by the fact that John McCain is the GOP frontrunner, we can get motivated and still have a major impact no matter who is in the White House.

From Michelle's column:

Dissatisfied with the flawed crop of GOP candidates who lacked the energy, organizational skills, and ideological strength to carry the conservative banner and ignite your passions? Then pay attention to the next generation of Republican state legislators who do vote consistently to lower your taxes, uphold the sanctity of life, defend marriage, and cut government spending. Support their re-election bids. Reward them for standing with you instead of their Democrat opponents and the liberal media. ... If you can't stomach John McCain, channel your support and energies to Republicans who do represent your values and who have treated the conservative base as allies instead of enemies. There are a new generation of combat veterans running for office who haven't made a career of trashing the base. Check out staunch economic, social, and national security conservative congressional candidates like Iraq/Afghanistan veteran Eric Egland in California's fourth district. Check out the Vets for Freedom (Vets For Freedom) group for their endorsements. Opposed to the amnesty bill? Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and John Cornyn of Texas all fought the McCain-Kennedy-Graham-Martinez-Bush open-borders disaster. All of those Senators are up for re-election this year. Send them some money. Then send a few more bucks to the enforcement proponents on the House side as well. Don't sit and wait for the fence to get built. It won't be finished under the Bush administration or a McCain administration or an Obama or Hillary Clinton administration. What you can do is pressure mayors and police chiefs and city councils to rescind dangerous sanctuary policies. What you can do is alert county sheriffs that you want them to work with the feds to end illegal alien catch-and-release policies in your neighborhood.. What you can do is stop patronizing businesses that you know are knowingly employing illegal immigrants using fake Ids and stolen Social Security numbers.

Yes, we can still be active and we can still make a difference. I will continue posting on this blog in the hopes that other like-minded Conservatives will read it and then discuss these ideas with other people.

I won't give up.

You can access the complete column on-line here:

Quo Vadis, Conservatives?
Michelle Malkin
TownHall.com
February 7, 2008