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[william Eggers <wce1482 AT yahoo.com>]

I don't generally reply to this kind of stuff, but in this case I guess I 
will.  About John McCain.  From my understanding, he broke his leg when he 
was captured and they refused to set it until he cooperated with his 
captures, which he did.  So he didn't need the fortitude.  Look it up about 
his prison experience.  If he is elected, he has already said he will 
continue the Iraq war, for 100 years if necessary.  That is until we win.  
However, I have never found anyone who could tell me what we are fighting to 
win so it is going to be hard to tell if we do.  He also wants to continue 
Bush's policy of taxing the middle class and letting the rich go without 
taxes. He also agrees with Bush on illegal surveillance of the people and all 
the other Bush illegal activities.  So unless you want to see the end of 
democracy in this country, I wouldn't vote for McCain.  On the other hand 
Obama voted to allow Bush to continue to tap you phone lines without
 a warrant and now he is hedging about getting out of Iraq.  I don't really 
know who to vote for.  McCain wants to continue to make the presidency into a 
dictatorship and Obama is starting to back track on helping anyone but big 
business.
 
Bill Eggers
Winterset, Iowa

--- On Sun, 7/20/08, jmroll AT bellsouth.net <jmroll AT bellsouth.net> wrote:

From: jmroll AT bellsouth.net <jmroll AT bellsouth.net>
Subject: [Homestead] Joe'Porter's view
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Sunday, July 20, 2008, 9:30 PM

This is very well written and I recommend everyone take a little
time to read this entire write-up. You won't be disappointed!

Dear Friends: My name is Joe Porter. I live in Champaign, Illinois. I'm
46 years old, a born-again Christian, a husband, a father, a small
business owner, a veteran, and a homeowner. I don't considerable myself to
be 
either conservative or liberal, and I vote for the person, not Republican 
or Democrat. I don't believe there are "two Americas" - but that
every 
person in this country can be whomever and whatever they want to be if 
they'll just work to get there - and nowhere else on earth can they
find  such opportunities. I believe our government should help those who are 
legitimately downtrodden, and should always put the interests of
America  first.

The purpose of this message is that I'm concerned about the future of
this great nation. I'm worried that the silent majority of honest, 
hard-working, tax-paying people in this country have been passive for too 
long. Most folks I know choose not to involve themselves in politics.  They  
go
about their daily lives, paying their bills, raising their kids, and doing 
what
they can to maintain the good life. They vote and consider doing so to be a
sacred trust. They shake their heads at the political pundits and so-called
"news", thinking that what they hear is always
spun by whomever is reporting it. They can't understand how elected
officials can regularly violate the public trust with pork barrel spending.
They 
don't want government handouts. They want the government to protect
them, not raise their taxes for more government programs.

We are in the unique position in this country of electing our leaders. 
It's a privilege to do so. I've never found a candidate in any election
with whom I agreed on everything. I'll wager that most of us don't even
agree with our families or spouses 100% of the time. So when I step
into that voting booth, I always try to look at the big picture and cast my 
vote for the man or woman who is best qualified for the job. I've hired
a lot of people in my lifetime, and essentially that's what an election
is - a hiring process. Who has the credentials? Whom do I want working for
me?   Whom can I trust to do the job right?

I'm concerned that a growing number of voters in this country simply
don't get it. They are caught up in a fervor they can't explain, and
calling
it "change".

Change what?, I ask.

Well, we're going to change America, they say.

In what way?, I query.

We want someone new and fresh in the White House, they exclaim.

So, someone who's not a politician?, I press.

Uh, well, no, we just want a lot of stuff changed, so we're voting for 
Obama, they state.

So the current system, the system of freedom and democracy that has 
enabled a man to grow up in this great country, get a fine education, 
raise incredible amounts of money and dominate the news and win his 
party's nomination for the White House - that system's all wrong?

No, no, that part of the system's okay - we just need a lot of change.

And so it goes. "Change we can believe in." Quite frankly, I
don't
believe that vague proclamations of change hold any promise for me. In recent 
months, I've been asking virtually everyone I encounter how they're 
voting. I live in Illinois, so most folks tell me they're voting for 
Barack Obama. But no one can really tell me why - only that he's going
to change a lot of stuff. Change, change, change. I have yet to find one 
single person who can tell me distinctly and convincingly why this man
is qualified to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful 
nation on earth - other than the fact that he claims he's going to 
implement a lot of change.

We've all seen the emails about Obama's genealogy, his upbringing, his 
Muslim background, and his church affiliations. Let's ignore this for a
moment. Put it all aside. Then ask yourself, what qualifies this man to
be my president? That he's a brilliant orator and talks about change?

CHANGE WHAT?

Friends, I'll be forthright with you - I believe the American voters
who are supporting Barack Obama don't have a clue what they're doing,
as 
evidenced by the fact that not one of them - NOT ONE of them I've
spoken to can spell out his qualifications. Not even the most liberal media
can explain why he should be elected. Political experience? Negligible. 
Foreign relations? Non-existent. Achievements? Name one. Someone who
wants to unite the country? If you haven't read his wife's thesis from 
Princeton, look it up on the web. This is who's lining up to be our
next First Lady? The only thing I can glean from Obama's constant harping
about change is that we're in for a lot of new taxes.

For me, the choice is clear. I've looked carefully at the two leading 
applicants for the job, and I've made my choice.

Here's a question - where were you five and a half years ago? Around 
Christmas, 2002. You've had five or six birthdays in that time. My son
has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school graduate. Five and a
half years is a good chunk of time. About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of sleep.
6, 000 meals, give or take.

John McCain spent that amount of time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North 
Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp. When offered early release, he refused it. He
considered this offer to be a public relations stunt by his captors, and
insisted that those held longer than he should be released first. Did you get
that part? He was 
offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A regimen of beatings and torture
began.

Do you possess such strength of character? Locked in a filthy cell in a 
foreign
country, would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your fellow man? I
submit that's a quality of character that is rarely found, and for me, this
singular act defines John McCain.

Unlike several presidential candidates in recent years whose military 
service is questionable or non-existent, you will not find anyone to 
denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man. A graduate of 
Annapolis, during his Naval service he received the Silver Star, Bronze
Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. His own son is now 
serving in the Marine Corps in Iraq. Barack Obama is fond of saying "We
honor John McCain's service...BUT...", which to me is condescending
and offensive - because what I hear is, "Let's forget this man's
sacrifice for his country and his proven leadership abilities, and talk some
more about change."

I don't agree with John McCain on everything - but I am utterly
convinced that he is qualified to be our next President, and I trust him to 
do 
what's right. I know in my heart that he has the best interests of our 
country in mind. He doesn't simply want to be President - he wants to
lead America, and there's a huge difference. Factually, there is simply no 
comparison between the two candidates. A man of questionable background
and motives who prattles on about change can't hold a candle to a man
who has devoted his life in public service to this nation, retiring from
the Navy in 1981 and elected to the Senate in 1982.

Perhaps Obama's supporters are taking a stance between old and new.
Maybe they don't care about McCain's service or his strength of
character, or
his unblemished qualifications to be President. Maybe "likeability"
is a 
higher priority for them than "trust". Being a prisoner of war is not
what 
qualifies John McCain to be President of the United States of America -
but his demonstrated leadership certainly DOES.

Dear friends, it is time for us to stand. It is time for thinking 
Americans to say, "Enough." It is time for people of all parties to
stop following the party line. It is time for anyone who wants to keep
America first, who wants the right man leading their nation, to start a
dialogue with all their friends and neighbors and ask who they're voting
for,
and why.

There's a lot of evil in this world. That should be readily apparent to all
of us by now. And when faced with that evil as we are now, I want a man who
knows the cost of war on his troops and on his citizens. I want a  man who 
puts
my family's interests before any foreign country.

I want a President who's qualified to lead.

I want my country back, and I'm voting for John McCain.
 
Joe Porter
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>From bobford79 AT yahoo.com  Mon Jul 21 09:44:34 2008
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Subject: Re: [Homestead] Joe'Porter's view
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John McCain
>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Service/branch United States Navy 
Years of service 1958 - 1981 
Rank Captain 
Battles/wars Vietnam 
Awards Silver Star,
Legion of Merit,
Distinguished Flying Cross,
Bronze Star

Purple Heart,
Meritorious Service Medal,
Air Medal,
Navy Commendation Medal,
Combat Action Ribbon,
Prisoner of War Medal,
(partial list)
 


Prisoner of war
John McCain's capture and imprisonment began on October 26, 1967. He was 
flying his twenty-third bombing mission over North Vietnam, when his A-4E 
Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi.[33][34] McCain fractured both 
arms and a leg, and then nearly drowned, when he parachuted into Trúc Bạch 
Lake in Hanoi.[33] After he regained consciousness, a crowd attacked him, 
crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt, and bayoneted him;[33] he was then 
transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".[34]

 
McCain being pulled from Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi and becoming a POW[35] on 
October 26, 1967.Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to 
treat his injuries, instead beating and interrogating him to get 
information.[36] Only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father 
was a top admiral did they give him medical care.[36] His status as a 
prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of The New York Times[37] and The 
Washington Post.[38]

McCain spent six weeks in the hospital while receiving marginal care.[33] Now 
having lost 50 pounds (23 kg), in a chest cast, and with his hair turned 
white,[33] McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi[39] 
in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him 
to live a week.[40] In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, 
where he would remain for two years.[41]

In mid-1968, McCain's father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the 
Vietnam theater, and McCain was offered early release.[42] The North 
Vietnamese wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes,[43] and also 
wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated 
preferentially.[42] McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would 
only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as 
well.[33]

In August of 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain.[44] He was 
subjected to rope bindings and repeated beatings every two hours, at the same 
time as he was suffering from dysentery.[33][44] Further injuries led to the 
beginning of a suicide attempt, which was stopped by guards.[33] After four 
days, McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession".[33] He has always 
felt that his statement was dishonorable,[45] but as he would later write, "I 
had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. 
I had reached mine."[46] His injuries left him permanently incapable of 
raising his arms above his head.[47] He subsequently received two to three 
beatings per week because of his continued refusal to sign additional 
statements.[48] Other American POWs were similarly tortured and maltreated in 
order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements.[49]

 
Interview with McCain on April 24, 1973, after his return home.McCain refused 
to meet with various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, wanting to give 
neither them nor the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory.[50] From late 
1969 on, treatment of McCain and many of the other POWs became more 
tolerable,[51] while McCain continued to be an active resister against the 
camp authorities.[52] McCain and other prisoners cheered the B-52 
Stratofortress-led U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972 as a 
forceful measure to push North Vietnam to terms.[46



--- On Mon, 7/21/08, william Eggers <wce1482 AT yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: william Eggers <wce1482 AT yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Joe'Porter's view
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Monday, July 21, 2008, 6:42 AM
> I don't generally reply to this kind of stuff, but in
> this case I guess I will.  About John McCain.  From my
> understanding, he broke his leg when he was captured and
> they refused to set it until he cooperated with his
> captures, which he did.  So he didn't need the
> fortitude.  Look it up about his prison experience.Â