Jared Rea

“But remember! No politics! Issues confuse people!”

Poor Batman. He wants to run a straight and honest campaign, but the foolish antics of McCa- err, I mean, the Penguin, will do everything he can to distract voters from the real issues. Reading far too much into a Batman episode aside, this is still the funniest video I’ve seen in ages.

Don’t you see, America? Batman is speaking to you.

This is about as far as a random joke on Twitter should probably go.

Much like how Rudy Giuliani became known for nothing more than a noun, a verb and 9/11 (By the way, I’m pumped for Biden), Senator John McCain has put himself in a position where he stands for little more than his time as a prisoner of war during Vietnam. When the Obama campaign nailed him for forgetting how many houses he owns, John McCain cried POW. When the fact that McCain was not in a “cone of silence” during the Saddleback forum came to light, McCain responded with POW. Even when offering up his wife in a wet t-shirt contest, the answer was POW. And these were just a few of the instances that a quick google search turned up. The google search necessary only because I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard this excuse in the past week alone.

John McCain uses his prisoner of war status as both sword and shield. It’s the entirety of his foreign policy experience and ultimate defense against legitimate questions and concerns rolled into a single onomatopoeia.

I wouldn’t have such a problem with this had he utilized his tragic experience in some sort of relevant way. For example, as an advocate for better care and rehabilitation for our troops coming back from the Middle East with post traumatic stress disorder and other conditions, as I’m sure he knows exactly what that feels like. Or how about shining a light on not only the veterans of our current wars, but those of past wars who had no home to come back to? I’d gladly accept his lame, “I lived in one house for five and a half years,” joke were it in that context. Instead, his experience has become just that: a punchline.

Typically, these sorts of opinion pieces are accompanied by a disclaimer. Something like, “John McCain is a national hero and deserves respect for his time as a prisoner of war, but!” The “but,” this time being that I don’t care for that disclaimer. Until John McCain shows some respect for not only himself but his fellow veterans by not trivializing something so horrible, I don’t feel the need to respect it either.