Don’t expect truth from McCain camp

by The Rev. John A. Jorgensen

We need to be very careful about expecting any truth in campaign advertising. Apparently President Bush has taught Sen. John McCain that the way to win is to lie, lie, lie – if one repeats a lie enough, people will believe it.

Just by way of example, let’s take part of McCain’s latest TV ad, which McCain says he approves. One lie: “Sen. Obama made time to go to the gym rather than to visit wounded troops.” First of all, the gym he visited was in Kuwait, to play basketball with the troops. Second, Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel – who accompanied Obama – said that they always went out of their way to visit troops and to listen to them.

Another lie: “Sen. Obama canceled the trip to visit the wounded troops because the Pentagon would not allow him to take in cameras and the press.” The were no plans to take cameras or the press. Just as Obama’s trip to visit the wounded at Walter Reed was done quietly, without cameras or the press, this trip was to be the same.

Still another lie in the same ad: “I am always there to support the troops.” It’s interesting that the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America give McCain a “D” for his voting record, and the same group gives Obama a “B-plus.” The Disabled Veterans of America rate McCain’s voting record as 20 percent good for them, but they give Obama’s voting record an 80 percent for them. Someone has stated that there is a big difference between being a veteran and supporting veterans. “Send them to war time and time again, and just forget about them when then come home” – seems to be McCain’s way.

Believe or not, there are still more lies and exaggerations in this single ad. If one wants to learn more shocking facts about McCain, read Cliff Schecter’s book “The Real McCain.” There you will learn that he was dating his present wife while still married to his first wife, the kind of language he often uses when he loses his temper, and what a flip-flop his whole life has been to serve his political purposes – and so much more. Is this what people mean by a man of family values?