Saturday, November 1, 2008

A Masterful Maltreatment by McCain

NOTE: This was received via e-mail today. It is a first person encounter with John McCain by Mary Kay Gamel, a literature and classics professor at UCSC. She is asking people to disseminate this letter to shed light on the character and attitudes of candidate John McCain.

My Holiday with John McCain

It was just before John McCain's last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island, in Fiji, with John McCain, Cindy and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child).

It was not our intention, but our misfortune to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week, since Turtle island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately.

He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself my first thought was "If he likes this so much, why hasn't he memorized any of these yet"?

I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his "readings" which became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but peoples buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day.

Unfortunately, this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-China women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn't meet up to this standard. He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high, and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight.

McCain's appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David, the American economist, had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain, as McCain kept aggressively flirting with her and touching her. Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego and rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day and his response was shocking. "Oh that was Cindy's idea - I didn't have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can't imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona. No it wasn't my idea at all".

I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day, he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time. I was shocked when he said, "If I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson". Given McCain's personal experience with the horrors of war, I expected a more balanced point of view. I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during World War ll - but no, he was not to be dissuaded. He went on to say that if it were up to him, he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn't seem to have mellowed out his perspective, but rather had made him more aggressive and vengeful towards the world.

My final encounter with McCain was on the morning he was leaving Turtle island. Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy she shouldn't be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight. Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment. I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He bacame very angry and abusive towards me, and said, "Don't you know who I am"? I looked him in the face and said, "Yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met", and headed back to my cabin. I am happy to say that later that day when I arrived at lunch, I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain's bullying.

Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making this public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination, but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I didn't act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel that it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story.

I can't imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be. If his attitude toward women and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.

Mary-Kay Gamel
Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature and Theater Arts
Cowell College, University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz California 95064
831-459-2381 (office); 831-429-8803 (home)
mkgamel@ucsc.edu

26 comments:

The Immortal said...

This should have been released months ago. Of course, I really don't know if this is true, but it should be corroborated by Amy and her economist husband, as well as other people there at the time. But I guess its authentic, since she left her e-mail and phone numbers. Pretty brave if you ask me because those redneck types in the US can also be vicious. That's part of the hatred fomented by the GOP campaign. They feel so superior that they cannot stand to lose versus someone whose race they always felt was inferior.

Anonymous said...

wow, this is really something, if this is true. We have to pass this on and let America know about it. Ever the audacious Durano. My Hats off to you.

Anonymous said...

As much as I dislike McCain, I seriously doubt this is true... sorry!

Spams and urban legend types of emails have always been popular and I don't think it's the best way to fight, politically speaking.

Who is going to prove this is true? And even if the person did spend the holidays with thw McCains, it doesn't prove it acted like a jerk...

Anyway, I think this type of email is more gossip than real.

Paul Eilers said...

I don't think this email post is true.

Some of the things written in it are much too obvious.

Sorry, but good try.

Kim said...

wow Durano ...
this man sounds like the ultimate bully...
I've got my fingers crossed that he doesn't make it to the whitehouse!!!

Stunatra said...

McCain is definitely not presidential material, that's for sure.

http://stunatra.blogspot.com/

robin said...

I doubt very much if this actually happened. If it was true the media would have unearthed it months ago and it would have been greatly publicized.

Kim said...

hello Durano
great news for you at my blog :) :)

The Fitness Diva said...

If it was proven to be true, his supporters still wouldn't change their votes, anyway. They'd look for all kinds of excuses and reasons that justify the behavior. Anything to still be right.
The need to be right overrides all.

I don't know if it's true or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

*lynne* said...

the first place I always look to verify things like this is snopes.com. In this case, they say its validity is undetermined. The person whose name is given along with all the contact information, is NOT the person who started the story/shared the experience. Please read more here.

Please base your decision on McCain (or Obama) not on such email, but on more verifiable stuff. Factcheck.org is a good place to start.

(personally? I would have LOVED to see snopes verify it as true... oh well...)

KCee said...

Regardless if this story is true or not, I hope that America elects the best and well deserving leader for the highest office in the land.

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Immortal,

I just got back to my home base after spending some months in an Asian country with very limited internet access and plagued by intermittent power supply outages. I just wish I had more time to determine if this is true.

The professor is indeed courageous for putting her contact information - whether to lend credibility to the story or because it's for real.

Anyway, I agree that racism has raised it's ugly head in this election but has been disguised as issues, associations, etc. I only hope that the country does not sink into deep divisions that cannot be repaired. :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Jenaisle,

Thanks, but coming very late into the campaign and the justification given for the failure to immediately disclose the story makes me a bit queasy. Anyway, I don't think really that it would change any voter's choice at this time. :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Zhu,

No need to apologize really. I am aware too of the false e-mails that come up and also eyewitness accounts, but this was received from a reliable source, and if ever, this is his first unreliable item. LOL!

I hope you're comfortable with the weather in Canada! :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Paulshealthblog,

WELCOME!

That's okay. As I mentioned to the commenter above you, it came from a source who has always been reliable.

It's late in the game for it to change minds for each voter's respective choice. As long as the voting process is clean and fair, that would be the more important matter.

Thanks for dropping by. :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hello Kim,

At this time, I just hope whoever wins unites America and is moved towards healing the divisiveness that has cut across its populace.

And whoever our choices are, whether they win or lose, we only have to pray they do the right and just thing, regardless of their past or how it was pictured to be by their opponents, Have a great day, :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Stunatra,

WELCOME!

One will never really know who has Presidential material until they assume office. Backgrounds and experience are factors but the Presidency has no equal when it comes to experience.

Presidents who served well were able to cope with the problems at the time of their tenure. The problems faced by the incoming President are unprecedented (pun unintended, and a combination of the two candidates' backgrounds and experience would have been ideal.

That's wishful thinking of course, but no single person could possess all the right qualifications upon assumption of any office, some have to be learned on the job. :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Robin,

WELCOME!

That crossed my mind too, about the media picking it up. But there has been a lot of reports published in some blogs, for and against both candidates, that were ignored by the media, perhaps because of the difficulty of verification or inadequate evidence or corroboration.

Doubts are always to be expected in such cases. This one is such a minor encounter that would warrant even less attention from them. I don't know if you've seen reports and eyewitness accounts in conservative blogs against Obama, but they're enough to have him shot or hanged, but the mainstream media ignored these too.

Anyway,if you're voting in this election,your choice is as good as anybody else's. Take care. :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hello Kim,

I'll be there in a second. My heart is beating fast though. LOL! :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Fitness Diva,

You're correct, this will not change minds at this late stage.

On the second point, you're right again, being right or having the appearance of it is the overriding concern. Anything can be justified.

Enjoy yourself on election day! :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Lynne,

WELCOME!

Thanks for the effort to verify the story. I always go to factcheck.org for reports on most things except those that come from sources who have always been reliable.

The info on snopes.com points to a different name and contact information of the author, owing to her sending out the original e-mail to friends, and which was subsequently redistributed beyond her control but which retained her personal address and contact numbers.

The reported real author, A Dr. Dubey, works for a newspaper which has obtained verification on substantial portions of her story, corroborated by at least two other people. The paper however, has yet to run the story itself.

Thanks for the plea to observe verifiable facts for posts or choices, but I do verify these too. I know coming from a 3rd world country in Asia where I worked for the last 4 months, and where power supply is intermittent and internet access is almost nil and super slow is no excuse, but I will be more vigilant this time. I just actually returned to my home base yesterday and I couldn't wait to get wired to the internet.And, there's a lad who's no longer on my reliable list after missing the info on the real name of the author. He at least told me about the newspaper verification thing.

Thanks for dropping by. Good luck to your candidate - and good luck to America and the rest of the world. :-) --Durano, done!

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Kcee,

I am one with you in that wish. Whoever wins should bring a new dawn to the country and to the world at large.

Kcee, I wish something for you too, that your art flourish and grow in following. I couldn't post a comment in your site where I was since your site took longer to upload than most. Anyway, I'm back and you'll be reading more of me. He he he> :-) --Durano, done!

KCee said...

Hi Durano,

Thank you. I have that exact same wish for myself. :)

I went offline for a week, and every single day I was away from my computer, I made 2 drawings the least. It was truly an inspiring and relaxing experience. I believe I should do it more often.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing and reading more of you. :) Have a great week ahead!

KCee

durano lawayan a.k.a. brad spit said...

Hi Again Kcee,

Such things as the pursuit and development of innate talent is indeed relaxing. It will also give you a better perspective on life, your loved ones, and yourself. Do conduct it more often.

Yes, I'll be here more often. I'm baaaack! LOL! :-) --Durano, done!

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