Many people I talk (or yell) politics with say being captured and tortured by the enemy is not something to put on your resume for any job. Several posters here make the same point. Hero? Not? The only true mark of a hero in our society is if you are treated like one. A baseball player who hits a winning home run is lauded higher than a policeman who saves a child from a killer. A hotshot football quarterback is better paid, better treated, and praised more than a fireman who almost dies carrying a victim from a blaze. A soldier who drives his jeep off a bridge and kills himself and everyone he's carrying is called a hero posthumously (and his victims too). A solder who kills a dozen of the enemy and puts his life at risk to protect innocent civilians is lucky to make it back and find his family and home intact. Is John McCain a hero? One thing I know, when it became, in his mind, politically convenient, he forgot the dislike he had for torture, after experiencing it himself, and supported Bush's torture policy. And he opposed the new improved GI Bill. And I know a lot of people he went to military school with didn't like him, a lot of the men he served with didn't like him, and a lot of his fellow senators don't like him. I sort of liked him when he bucked Bush. Looking back, I think that was just personal because of the 2000 election. I am not an Obama fanatic. He and McCain have issues. Like the economy, the wars, energy policy, health care, global warming, immigration and the erosion of the rule of law. I'd rather they talk about that. Speaking truthfully about these topics requires real heroism. Let see what they've got.

Telemachus wrote the following post at 06/30/2008 10:05 PM: Many people I talk (or yell) politics with say being captured and "Speaking truthfully about these topics requires real heroism."

Your one line at the end is one that politicians have a problem with. That covers, Presidents, Senators, Congressmen and also at state, county and city levels.

Who is a good candidate?????????????????????­?

Hopefully we can find it in one. None have shown me much. I was a Viet Vet a couple of times and I came back in one total package, so I admire McCain and Clark I knew as a 2nd Lt. People are a lot like the people that write publicity for us. (They mache misteaks) and (ex ag er ate)

Your one line at the end is one that politicians have a problem with.

It's unfortunately the one the American public has a problem with too.

We all run around shouting that we want honesty from a politician, but we really don't.

If politician's were to actually tell us the truth..we'd NEVER elect them.

Hi! I'm your local politician from party X..our economy is in the toilet so badly that it'll take every ounce of tax dollars we can squeeze out of all of you for the next two decades to fix it.

And I'd also like you to be aware of the fact that due to gross mismanagement of the educational system and our industrial sector of the market we won't be competitive on the world economic stage for another entire generation. We will of course be addressing this, but meanwhile tighten your belts, it's going to get ugly around here.

And some of our "social saftey net" programs like social security, medicare, and medicaid are running out of funding, which leaves us only two options. You're going to pay more, or you're going to get less.

Either way will work, but you're going to have to come to some sort of consensus on this. And if we cancel it, you'll each be assigned one sick elderly person to care for, as they'll now be homeless.

And about the military budget..we have a choice there too.

Pay the military men and women more, but cut funding for military hardware and pull out of this war honorably or not. I mean, it's really expensive having our armies in foreign countries.

Or alternately, up your taxes, continue selling our souls to the chinese for extra bucks for ammo, and accept a lot more military casualties actually finishing this thing for good.

Your call.

Vote for me! I'm from party X and we're freaking honest.

I would tap my home equity to support that candidate.