HuffPo-McCain's Secret, Questionable Naval Record

[Somawas]

This whole idea that John Lehman told John McCain he was going to be promoted to flag two years after he made captain sounds preposterous to me." All of the evidence, indications and comments that the New York Times published a flattering lie about McCain's career on its front page are easy for John McCain to refute. All he needs to do is sign Standard Form 180, which authorizes the Navy to send an undeleted copy of McCain's naval file to news organizations. A long paper trail about McCain's pending promotion to admiral would be prominent in his file. To date, McCain's advisers have released snippets from his file, but under constrained viewing circumstances. There's no reason McCain's full file shouldn't be released immediately. In June 2005, seven months after he lost his bid for president, Senator John Kerry signed the 180 waiver, authorizing the release of his complete military service record to the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press. ** Unlike Kerry, McCain shouldn't wait until after the election to do so. The Navy may claim that it already released McCain's record to the Associated Press on May 7, 2008 in response to the AP's Freedom of Information Act request. But the McCain file the Navy released contained 19 pages -- a two-page overview and 17 pages detailing Awards and Decorations. Each of these 17 pages is stamped with a number. These numbers range from 0069 to 0636. When arranged in ascending order, they precisely track the chronology of McCain's career. It seems reasonable to ask the Navy whether there are at least 636 pages in McCain's file, of which 617 weren't released to the Associated Press.

Some of the unreleased pages in McCain's Navy file may not reflect well upon his qualifications for the presidency. From day one in the Navy, McCain screwed-up again and again, only to be forgiven because his father and grandfather were four-star admirals. McCain's sense of entitlement to privileged treatment bears an eerie resemblance to George W. Bush's.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-klein/mccains-secret-questionab_b_107409.html?icid=100214839x1204269858x1200173924

[Rick Myers]

1. When I brought this up several weeks ago...

I was savaged by a few posters. But this is VALID material to review for a Commander in Chief.

There are other issues in his military record...

[pnwmom]

2. I agree. John Kerry signed the 180 waiver. So should McCain.

It might be different if he weren't campaigning as a war hero. But he is.

[patrice]

3. It kind of seems to me that when a guy runs on a military record, we should be allowed

all of the facts in that record.

Time for a LTTE.

[elleng]

5. Exactly.

Wes Clark has said it all:

http://securingamerica.com/node/2957

[Rick Myers]

6. Exactly.

Fact:

McCain graduated bottom 5 of his class...

Fact:

McCain lost a TOTAL of 5 aircraft during his service. NO ONE gets away with that...

[williesgirl]

4. If he was so great, what's the problem releasing everything? rec'd