Rethinking McCain

John McCain has risen from the ashes phoenix-like after tumbling when he proposed a bill that would allow amnesty to millions of illegals. He had stepped on the new "third rail" of politics and was cast out by many Conservatives. But then a funny thing happened, no other Conservatives stepped in and assumed the role.

Romney tried but was too polished, Huckabee is too evangelical and Fred Thompson just petered out and called it a day.So McCain started rising in polls and started winning primaries. The other candidates fell by the wayside except for Huckabee and he just hangs around, gnat-like, to increase his chances for a Veep slot or keep his profile up for a Senate run. McCain is the nominee.

Now I've always liked John McCain and supported him in 2000 against Bush. He lost me because he ran a horrible campaign but I still believe he'd have made a good President.

Last night they had a one-hour profile on MSNBC--a station I never watch but it was on from the debate the night before. Looking at the events in McCain's life and how he survived has made me take another look at the man.

First, he survived what is known to anyone in the Navy as the worst ship fire in recent history--the USS Forrestal fire in 1967. McCain was in the cockpit of his aircraft when an armed missile took out his fuel cell. The flight deck became a conflagration and McCain was in the middle of it. Video shows McCain jumping from his aircraft, hitting the deck and rolling away with no major injuries. He then was shot down over Hanoi and held in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" for more five-plus years. He didn't buckle when faced with torture--both mental and physical--on a daily basis.

Now think about the present, with Obama as the likely nominee, could you see Obama doing any of that? Maybe he'd sit down and try to reason with his captors as they beat him unmercifully. The man does not exude toughness to me. He doesn't come off as an alfa male type, one who would stare down Ahmadinejad or Nasrallah.

We're still facing the threat of terrorism on a daily basis and those scum are waiting for a single hole in our security net to strike. The fact that Bush has secured the nation has led us to the point where terrorism is no longer front and center in our minds--by taking it to the terror elements, he's made the country safer yet less safe by us putting our collective guard down.

I'm rethinking McCain and the NY Times incessant tabloid-like fodder against him is only galvanizing support in his direction. In the midst of the so-called "Obamania," the Times has pissed off enough people that McCain now leads nationally over the Messiah. Take some time fellow conservatives and think, Obama or McCain? The choice is a simple one.