Everyone knows that John McCain hates talking about his war record, which means the fact that he in fact talks about it all the time is indicative of some deep-seated self-loathing. But not tonight! Tonight, the responsibility for linking nouns and verbs to "P.O.W." falls for former Senator and lobbyist powerhouse Fred Thompson and his titanic rhetorical skills. Thompson will go into detail - graphic detail - about McCain's war record:
The guards cracked ribs, broke teeth off at the gums. They cinched a rope around his arms and painfully drew his shoulders back. Over four days, every two to three hours, the beatings resumed. During one especially fierce beating, he fell, again breaking his arm. John was beaten for communicating with other prisoners. He was beaten for NOT communicating with so-called "peace delegations." He was beaten for not giving information during interrogations. When his captors wanted the names of other pilots in his squadron, John gave them the names of the offensive line of the Green Bay Packers.
In the first place, you should note that Thompson is basically conceding the electoral votes from the state of Minnesota, otherwise he'd almost certainly pander to Minnesotans by amending the story to feature the offensive line of the Minnesota Vikings, like McCain does when he's in Pennsylvania.
But, at the risk of briefly intruding on territory that Andrew Sullivan will likely address with greater eloquence, I'd find this story a great deal more moving if it weren't for the fact that the Bush administration permits these same sorts of atrocities do be done in our nation's name. To say nothing of McCain's own failings in this regard.