The majority of people I talk to feel that neither Sen. John McCain nor Sen. Barack Obama are the best presidential nominees their parties could select. This is a significant misjudgment, I believe, because in both cases, their life's experiences actually make them the strongest nominees since Dwight Eisenhower.
Take the life-defining POW experience of John McCain. A high percentage of the first American POWs in North Vietnam committed suicide because they felt they would or did betray their country by giving more than their name and service number to their captors.
In response to this needless loss of servicemen our military developed two POW training camps that focused on how to survive interrogation and captivity as a POW. In the late 1970s I had the opportunity to be the supervising physician at the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps POW training camp. Within 24 hours in the camp all the "prisoner" students were broken with waterboarding and other techniques.
It is frightening what can be done to the human spirit by torture. Those "prisoner" students who steadfastly defied the interrogation tactics were taken aside and counseled, as defiant POWs are executed. The teaching lesson for all was to give a little informantion to your captors when you could no longer stand a torture session.
That's how you survive being a POW.
Broken by torture, yes, but not defeated. Compound daily torture to John MCCain for more than five years and you start to understand the strength of the man. Break bones already broken. Deprive him of sleep. Waterboard. Starve so that only those who ate insects survived.
A definition that has never failed me is a "hero is a fool in the wrong place at the right time." It is not being a war hero that qualifies John McCain to be president, but rather what he did as a broken POW. He endured, made appropriate compromises to survive and cherished freedom and life. Few have been so tested and America will not go wrong standing behind him.
It concerns me that Barack Obama has not had military service, as I believe knowledge of our military is very important for the Commander in Chief. But Obama has endured his own POW camp. Yes, it is more subtle, but try being a black man in America, even in 2008.
There are looks, innuendos, put downs, put outs, and threats lurking. A black man has to constantly prove himself. Daily imagined or real racism and ultimately— despite our laws and opportunities—there is a break point.
Again, what happens at break point is most important. Give up, join gangs, get hooked on drugs, drop out of school? Like McCain, Obama endured. He has persisted, compromised and thus has been able to rise above it to become the Democratic presidential presumptive nominee.
Many, many blacks have sacrificed greatly to lead the way for Barack Obama, but it is his own personal strength and determination that have carried him to the top. By becoming the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama freed blacks from the prison walls of a slave history, labels of below-average intellect, laziness and worse.
In truth, blacks in America should understand with Obama's success they are truly "free at last" and they finally have an equal place at the table. Michelle Obama is right: she finally can be proud to be an American. America can safely stand behind the strength of Sen. Obama as he has endured and conquered, just as has Sen. McCain.
Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and G.W. Bush did not assume office with the proven strength of Senators McCain and Obama (Bush the First did have W.W. II experience).
In summary, both candidates have faced extreme adversity and have learned the skills needed to endure. It is time to turn away from the character of these candidates and towards the evaluation how these candidates intend to solve the escalating problems that America faces.
