Marco.org

I’m : a programmer, writer, podcaster, geek, and coffee enthusiast.

jgh:

I’m unfollowing anyone who trash-talks John McCain’s years of service to our country. You can hate his political views as much as you want, and you can think of him as some dementia-riddled ne’er-do-well who will put this country in the shitter, but it crosses the line to mock his evident love of our country and his years of serving in our armed forces.

Careful — that’s a fine line.

It would be ridiculous to suggest that McCain hasn’t served his country, or that his military experience is somehow invalid, or that he’s not patriotic. (Although McCain has no trouble saying that Obama hates his country and isn’t patriotic. But we’re above that.) It’s offensive to deny that anyone in the military hasn’t served his/her country.

But it’s perfectly valid to criticize McCain for using his POW experience where it doesn’t apply, including its common use as a “get out of question free” card whenever he’s asked something inconvenient.