Posted by Jed Lewison on Wed Oct 8, 2008 at 2:57 PM Pacific

A Veteran's Perspective

Brandon Friedman, who served as an infranty officer in both Iraq and Afghanistan and is now Vice Chairman of VoteVets.org, offers his take on McCain's "my fellow prisoners" line. An excerpt:

Of course, this is incredibly sad.  This is probably the sign of a war wound--of mental scarring--sustained on behalf of each and every American.  We're talking about a guy who literally sacrificed his own body and mind in the service of his country.  And we shouldn't forget that.

But it warrants our full attention.  Because that combat injury now has the potential to color John McCain's judgment in ways that we can't predict.  It can be the thing that drives his motivations and his decision-making process.  For John McCain to make such a statement--regardless of the cause--shows us that his experience in Vietnam takes up so much of his mental space that it affects each aspect of his thought process.  And frankly, that's not something we can accept from someone in the position to which he aspires.