McCain Calls Americans "My Fellow Prisoners"

by: Brandon Friedman

Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 17:21:55 PM EDT

Here's the video:

Just so we're straight on the context, here's the transcript, along with the extended version of the clip below:

"You and I together will confront the $10 trillion debt that the federal government has run up and balance the federal budget by the end of my term in office.  (Applause)  Across--across this country, this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners.  And the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent!  You know, we've all heard what he's said, but it's less clear what he has done, or what he will do."

Okay.  The implications here are myriad.  First, barring any as-yet-undisclosed contextual reasons for the odd reference, let's be frank about what this is: This is likely evidence of severe post-traumatic stress, or, PTSD.  I'm not a doctor, but I don't need an M.D. to diagnose a sucking chest wound, either.  It's obvious, and it's out there now.  And if, for some reason, I'm wrong, then it's a sign of dementia--which would be much worse.  That simply wasn't a normal lapsus lingua.

Second, we're now left to determine how this affects John McCain as a leader.  To be certain, PTSD in and of itself should never disqualify a person from holding any job.  If that were the case, no one who's served in combat would ever get hired.  What matters is the extent to which it affects each individual.  Many people with whom I associate have some level of combat-induced PTSD, whether it manifests itself minimally as insomnia, occasional nightmares, impatience, and emotional distance, or, more severely, in the form of panic attacks and a crippling inability to focus or function.  The bottom line is that everyone processes it and handles it differently.  That said, when a person refers to Americans in a speech--nearly 40 years later--as "my fellow prisoners," this denotes a level of trauma that simply cannot be ignored.

On the other hand, if we're witnessing some form of dementia unrelated to PTSD, then there's even less flexibility.  I'm not aware--and I'll be the first to admit that I'm no expert here--of dementia being very treatable, much less reversible.  Perhaps if Americans were granted access to McCain's health records, we'd know where to start.

So this goes to the heart of the question: Where is John McCain's mind?  Is it here, with us, focused on the future?  Or is it trapped, caught in an endless loop of horror, always focused on Vietnam, to the point that any appropriate sense of time becomes warped--to the point that Vietnam is not necessarily something from the past, but something that is still occurring.  It's as if John McCain looked out across his supporters--the people who give him strength--and he saw his fellow prisoners.  

Of course, this is incredibly sad.  This is probably the sign of a war wound--of mental scarring--sustained on behalf of each and every American.  We're talking about a guy who literally sacrificed his own body and mind in the service of his country.  And we shouldn't forget that.  

But it warrants our full attention.  Because that combat injury now has the potential to color John McCain's judgment in ways that we can't predict.  It can be the thing that drives his motivations and his decision-making process.  For John McCain to make such a statement--regardless of the cause--shows us that his experience in Vietnam takes up so much of his mental space that it affects each aspect of his thought process.  And frankly, that's not something we can accept from someone in the position to which he aspires.  

(H/T to The JedReport)