“I hate the gooks” - John McCain - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth
I’m of two minds on this. On one hand, it’s a hideous thing for McCain to have said. It’s something that I really don’t want to ever hear from someone who’s trying to be president.
On the other hand…from a strictly human perspective…I mean, homebody was in a POW camp being tortured by the Vietnamese for five years. Every Vietnamese person he saw (except for that one dude he talks about in speeches who loosened his chains, which may or may not be bullshit) was physically torturing him. I don’t really expect his view to be fair and balanced, you know?
And I think the author’s statement that “a lot of people have personal trauma in their lives doled out to them by bad guys of every stripe, be they white or black or gay or Jewish or female” is a bit of a non sequitur. Yes, bad shit happens to people. For most people, that bad shit does not consist of being bayoneted through the testicles, locked in a hole in the ground and tortured for half a decade — tortured so badly that, for the rest of your life, you can’t actually raise your arms above shoulder height. That tends to warp someone’s perspective.
I’m not saying McCain is right here. He’s not. Judging an entire ethnic group based on the actions of a few is wrong. And he should have been able to deal with his hatred over the last, what, forty years?
I’m just saying that his situation and experience is rather unique, and that I personally don’t feel as if I can judge him as a human being for his views. He went through a hell that most members of modern civilization — even most military personnel — cannot understand.
Doesn’t mean I’ll vote for him, of course.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Laurenn // Feb 28, 2008 at 12:26 pm
See, there are two things about this that stand out for me, aside from the totally unforgiveable racist statement:
1) We have to have a diplomatic relationship with this country. How on earth can he claim he would think straight on any dealings with Vietnam if this is what he says?
2) Vietnam is in the WTO. So, again - how are we supposed to negotiate trade with a country who our leader claims to not be able to forgive? Not mention, has no problem insulting?
I totally understand why he would feel this way. What happened to him was horrific. But if he cannot be diplomatic enough to not say it to reporters, how the fuck can he be diplomatic enough to y’know, lead a country? Unless we are just really into the idea of GW Mach 2…
2 admin // Feb 28, 2008 at 12:27 pm
No, I totally agree. It’s not something a president of any country ought to be saying.
3 Alex // Feb 29, 2008 at 7:58 am
“Judging an entire ethnic group based on the actions of a few is wrong.”
That’s not really what he’s doing though, is it? Clicking thru to the actual Chronicle article, it turns out that McCain wasn’t talking about all Vietnamese. He was talking specifically about his torturers. He thinks these men are monstrous and describes these particular men with the worst epithets in his language. Okay, fair enough.
What baffles me is that McCain seems completely oblivious to why some people might take offense to this. I don’t think I’d call McCain racist on this alone, but he’s definately guilty of using racially charged language in a thickheaded manner.
4 Paul // Jun 12, 2008 at 9:50 am
Sorry but he said. “I hated the gooks” not “hate” and was speaking of those that tortuted him.
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