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1/ in 2008, historian Mary Hershberger re-appraised John McCain's statement that "I’m an old Navy pilot. I know when a crisis calls for all hands on deck" in connection with 1967 catastrophe on USS Forrestal in which 134 dead/missing and 161+ injured. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081007_investigating_john_mccains_tragedy_at_sea/
2/ catastrophic fire and explosion of multiple bombs resulted from concatenation of events described in official report http://www.jag.navy.mil/library/investigations/USS%20FORRESTAL%20FIRE%2012%20AUG%2069%20PT%201.pdf. McCain was in jet at epicenter, but luckily managed to walk away unscathed, while everyone around him perished or seriously injured.
3/ over the years, there have been rumors, that McCain, then a reckless flyboy (more recently merely reckless), precipitated incident through "wet-start" of jet engine. While his safety motto was "to hell with checklist", he was cleared of fault. But proven conduct troubling.
4/ while enlisted men were dying in the fight against fire and explosions on deck, McCain reported by Hershberger to have gone to pilot's ready room and watched fire on a television monitor.
5/ next day McCain commended heroism of enlisted men: "we're professional military men and I suppose it's our war. And yet here were enlisted men who earn $150 a month and work 18 to 20 hours a day...and certainly would have survived had they not stayed to help pilots fight fire"
6/ on day after the holocaust, only "hours after", McCain recalled their heroism to NYT reporter from comfort of villa in Saigon
https://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20080203MCCAINTIMELINE/content/pdf/19670731b.pdf
https://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20080203MCCAINTIMELINE/content/pdf/19670731b.pdf
7/ three months later, NYT reporter RW Apple recalled McCain "sipping scotch" with friends in Saigon on day after Forrestal holocaust
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20080203_MCCAIN_TIMELINE/content/pdf/19671028.pdf
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/20080203_MCCAIN_TIMELINE/content/pdf/19671028.pdf
8/ Hershberger reported that, while fellow sailors and airmen were wounded and dying, McCain, the admiral's son, apparently without naval permission, hopped on the NYT reporter's helicopter and decamped for "some welcome R&R" in Saigon, thus missing funeral for fallen.
9/ McCain's lack of interest in the funeral of his fallen comrades might be considered as US thinks about how to commemorate his death
10/ McCain then hared off to London, where his father, the admiral, was stationed. Then, while his injured shipmates recuperated slowly, mourning the dead, McCain, still presumably on active service, went to the French Riviera where he idled nights away gambling.
11/ Hershberger, a reputable journalist, had trouble publishing her 2008 story in major outlets. John Dean, in contemporary article, https://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/reflections-on-historian-mary-hershbergers-piece-on-mccains-war-record-and-a-qa-with-the-author.html endorsed Hershberger's credibility. In interview, many further McCain myths punctured.
12/ McCain grew up in Washington DC, where he attended elite schools. He was not an "outsider". He grew up in the swamp as child of prominent admiral.
13/ Rolling Stone published revealing profile in 2008, eviscerating McCain. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/john-mccain-make-believe-maverick-202004/
14/ and yet, only 10 years later, McCain is venerated by US media as some sort of modern saint - perhaps the most recent and one of the most bizarre manifestations of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
15/ an editorial today https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/mourning-not-just-mccain-but-civil-politics-1.2378807 praised McCain for "his old-fashioned civility in political battle". An odd statement given McCain's actual history.
16/ a good example of https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/john-mccain-make-believe-maverick-202004/ McCain's "civility" is this repugnant 1998 joke about teen-age Chelsea Clinton who, whatever one thinks of her now, didn't deserve such contumely from the odious McCain.
17/ RollingStone reported a 1992 incident in which the odious McCain screeched slurs at the wife whose fortune supported him for daring to mention that his hair was "getting a little thin on top".
18/ they recall another incident in which McCain, prone to temper tantrums since he was a child, threatened to go to blows with Sen. Grassley, who, unlike McCain, is a model of dignity, intelligence and decorum, but whose passing is unlikely to be nationally commemorated.
19/ McCain screamed at young campaign aide who failed to set up podium to conceal McCain's shortness.
20/ in 2008, even Republican senators were seriously worried about the volatile and crazed McCain
21/ McCain recklessly promoted war in Iraq, long before Bush put it on the table. He deserves extra share of blame for subsequent morass for US.
22/ in the cause of Middle Eastern destruction, McCain promoted false stories of connection between Saddam Hussein and AlQaeda and false stories of Iraqi WMD.
23/ Rolling Stone https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/john-mccain-make-believe-maverick-202004/ list more fiascos up to 2008. McCain was just getting started: Libya, Syria, Yemen were still to come.
24/ James Bond famously said "Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is an enemy action." Similar rules applied to accidents of navy pilots. Yet before he was shot down and prior to Forrestal incident, McCain had downed three planes and had mayhem reputation
25/ other than insider pull, there was no reason for McCain to qualify as pilot. "His record at the U.S. Naval Academy was dismal. He piled up demerits for breaking the rules, and barely passed his schoolwork, graduating 894th in a class of 899." http://www.pythiapress.com/wartales/McCain-Shootdown.htm
26/ his first crash, blamed on a stalled engine, was into Gulf of Mexico. But investigators "started the recovered engine without any problem, and their report left open the possibility of pilot error." http://www.pythiapress.com/wartales/McCain-Shootdown.htm
27/ McCain's next downed airplane resulted from him flying into power lines in Spain while hot-dogging. Even tho second incident and downing power lines and airplane damage, pampered scion of admiral's family kept privileges.
28/ third crash: McCain commandeered navy plane to navy airplane to fly from Norfolk to Philadelphia to attend the Army-Navy football game. "the plane’s engine quit, he said, so he bailed out". Another airplane destroyed with impunity for pampered McCain
29/ McCain's 4th lost plane was in Forrestal incident where he was at center of holocaust, said to start after rocket hit McCain's plane. As discussed above, McCain abandoned firefighting to watch from lounge, than abandoned ship on reporter's helicopter for R&R in Saigon
30/ McCain was shot down while bombing Hanoi (his 5th incident), but his downing was, in considerable measure, due to his failure to carry out avoidance tactics - see excerpt - that were routinely carried out by more disciplined pilots i.e. all other pilots.
31/ McCain's own account of incident reveals his failure to "follow instructions in combat". McCain flew too low and was downed by anti-aircraft fire. McCain later lied about incident in his book and political campaigns: despite records, he claimed to have been downed by SAM.
