I get a kick out of two things here. For one, I’m generally OK with hardworking people, in both the private and public sectors, taking advantge of unique oppurtunites afforded to them by their jobs, and I love hearing stories about clandestine operations that turn into legendary party stories. I’m being honest here – let the Navy people have some fun and give them experiences that they could only get in the United States Navy. I’m all for perks for people who sacrifice in the name of military service.
But I’m also amused because this is the exact kind of wasteful spending John McCain and his followers rail against and promise to cut from the budget. It’s all too easy to imagine our GOP friends screaming in “outrage” if it were a Dem politician authorizing Florida-to-Maine lobster runs on the government dime. If John Kerry had done this, I think the heads of BMG commenters EaBo Clipper and MCRD would explode. I’d be interested to see what form of the “it’s OK if you’re a Republican” argument is usded to defend this obvious malappropriation of governement resources and tax payer dolllars.
Further striking is the context that McCain was willing to authorize lobster runs for his parties, but he famously opposesed increasing education benefits for veterans via the Webb-Warner GI Bill. You’d think that a guy who wanted the best grub for his officers would want the best oppurtunities for the enlisted warriors of whom he aspires to be Commander in Cheif.
The second thing that jummped out was that McCain refuses to release his service records.
VA-174 had a stellar safety record under McCain….But why that record did not result in a promotion up the command chain remains something of a mystery. The full picture of McCain’s stewardship of VA-174 is unavailable, because his campaign declined to authorize the release of his Navy service records to the Globe.
Isn’t the right still obsessed with John Kerry not releasing his service records? The records aren’t important to me, personally, because I doubt anything contained therein could change my vote. But it does beg the question, what is McCain hiding about his Naval career? Open up your records, John McCain!
put him as McDisaster totalling five planes and causing a massive fire during his Naval career. There are other places which give him the name “Songbird” for his collaboration with North Vietnamese interrogators. One can spin all of this as tabloid journalism at best or worthless internet tin foil hattery.
My “hat link” here.
http://people.csail.mit.edu/ra…