But of course, he doesn’t like to talk about being a POW:
John McCain, who often invokes his ordeal as a Vietnam war prisoner to show his devotion to his country as he runs for U.S. president, drew on the experience again on Monday — this time to deflect sniping over the number of houses he owns.
[…]
In an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, McCain, 71, said his priority was to keep Americans in their homes in tough economic times.
Then he recalled his Vietnam experience.
“I spent 5 1/2 years in a prison cell without — I didn’t have a house. I didn’t have a kitchen table. I didn’t have a table. I didn’t have a chair,” he said.
“I spent those 5 1/2 years … not because I wanted to get a house when I got out.”
No, you wanted seven.
Seriously, look, John, we get that you were a POW. And that’s wonderful, blah blah blah. But here’s the thing: it’s 2008. You’ve been out of that POW camp for longer than I’ve been alive. And while I know that’s an experience that would have lasting impact, here in 2008 I’d like to live in a country that I can be proud of. And to do that, I’m going to have to have a president who doesn’t spend all his time talking about what happened to him 36 years ago.
We know what you did then, John, and frankly, I’m getting to the point that I don’t care. Not that I don’t care for you personally — although you’re frankly repeating the story so often that I’m getting desensitized — but because I don’t cast my vote based on who has the more interesting personal anecdote.
So enough with the sixties, John. That was two generations ago. I’m interested in what you’re going to do for my daughter, and her children, should she have any. I’m interested in what you’re going to do between 2009 and 2013. And yes, part of figuring that out involves looking at what you did in the 36 years since you left the POW camp. And you don’t get to waive it away just because once, a long time ago, you did something heroic.
