Do we want this?
From: "Shakina Nayfack"
Date: September 28, 2008 9:10:49 AM PDT
Subject: My Holiday with John McCain


Hi Friends,

The story below is from a professor I knew at UC Santa Cruz. Please read and pass it along to everyone you know, especially folks who might still be undecided about the upcoming presidential elections.

In Community,
Shakina
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MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN

by Mary-Kay Gamel


It was just before John McCain's last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child).


It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week, since Turtle Island has a small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately.
He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was "if he likes this so much, why hasn't he memorized any of it yet?" I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his "readings" which then became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people's buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day.


Unfortunately this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chine women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn't meet up to this standard. He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska, that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight.
McCain's appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David, the American economist, had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her.


Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day, and his response was shocking: "Oh, that was Cindy's idea ˆ I didn't have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can't imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona . No, it wasn't my idea at all.

I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time [i.e., Clinton era policing of no-fly zone]. I was shocked when he said, "If I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson". Given McCain's personal experience with the horrors of war, I had expected a more balanced point of view. I commented on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Ja pan during WWII ˆ- but no, he was not to be dissuaded. He went on to say that, if it were up to him, he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn't seem to have mellowed out his perspective, but rather had made him more aggressive and vengeful towards the world.
My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island. Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn't be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight. Amy burst into tears at this abusive comment. I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He became very angry and abusive towards me, and said, "Don't you know who I am." I looked him in the face and said, "Yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met" and headed back to my cabin. I am happy to say that later that day - when I arrived at lunch - I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain's bullying.


Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making it public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first announced his bid for the Republican nomination, but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story. I can't imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be. If his attitudes toward women and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.


--
Mary-Kay Gamel
Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts
Cowell College
University of California, Santa Cruz

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

Good story. Its got a great build up, starring an over-bearing antagonist character, with the narrator becoming the protagonist hero in the end by standing up to the villain during an apropos climatic finish. And, of course, the narrator has to have some "official" tag at the end to let you know they're not just some schmuck from Anytown USA, just like those Nigerian 419 Scam emails I get assuring me that the person is an honest, God-fearing being that sincerely wants my help. There seems to be a strange similarity between the 419 emails and this one.

Now, is there any chance that this story actually happened? Or is this just part of an internet smear campaign from those who wish to keep McCain from gaining office? I'm not convinced so easily.

Mary-Kay Gamel


she is teacher there, but did she write the letter is different thing, but there is her e-mail address so it is easy to ask

Mary-Kay Gamel


she is teacher there, but did she write the letter is different thing, but there is her e-mail address so it is easy to ask

Its not necessarily "if" she wrote the letter, there's a good chance she did. Its if it actually happened and if anybody can corroborate her story. "If" it happened exactly like that or if that's just her version.

I could ask her, but if she believes what she wrote, then she's going to confirm it. I'm not going to take her word for it since I don't know her, nor does her position or where she works mean anything to me.

Could be real. could be fake. if she is a real teacher and confirms it as real this has some meaning to me. If it is fake then I would be mad. I hate smears. Like the ones that hurt Kerry in 04.

I have made up my mind as my past posts show. I am an Obama supporter. The main reason I was looking at McCain was his experience, but once he picked a person with less experience than Obama for his VP I was done looking at him. The guy is 72 years old, two years removed from the life span average for a male. I'm sorry, but he lost my vote there for sure. It just proved his hypocrisy and created a dangerous situation if he were to die of old age.

Chris.

P.S.

life span http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question87287.html

By hypocrisy I mean saying that Obama does not have the experience then picking a VP with the same or less experience.

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But what makes it real just because she confirms it? What is to prevent her from lying about it? Is there anyone else that can corroborate her story?

Is there anyone else that can corroborate her story?

Yes... but you would probably question my source... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

Being she is a Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts, she most definity would be a democrat.

she don´t have to be neither.

Is there anyone else that can corroborate her story?

Yes... but you would probably question my source... ;)

Yes, I would. :)

Being she is a Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts, she most definity would be a democtrat.

I should hope we can move away from such thinking. Both Democrats and Republicans are human, and as such, some of them see fit to lie and others do not. It doesn't matter your political affiliation, its just your own morals and ethics.

Being a democrat doesn't automatically make her a liar. For all we know, it could have really happened.

Being she is a Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts, she most definity would be a democtrat.

I should hope we can move away from such thinking. Both Democrats and Republicans are human, and as such, some of them see fit to lie and others do not. It doesn't matter your political affiliation, its just your own morals and ethics.

Being a democrat doesn't automatically make her a liar. For all we know, it could have really happened.

I did not say anything about being a liar.
You could assume if she is a democrat that she would have a motivation to bend the truth.
What is the ratio of professors being republican or democrat?

second story

or not
mary-kay answer?

You would need to suspect she has political motives when choose to report this now that McCain is the top republican running for president. The same as when she choose not to report it in year when John McCain lost the nomination to President bush.

second story

or not
http://www.mary-kay answer?

Well, there you go. She claims she didn't write it. Sounds like someone is just trying to spread some smear on the internet.

Being she is a Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts, she most definity would be a democtrat.

I should hope we can move away from such thinking. Both Democrats and Republicans are human, and as such, some of them see fit to lie and others do not. It doesn't matter your political affiliation, its just your own morals and ethics.

Being a democrat doesn't automatically make her a liar. For all we know, it could have really happened.

I did not say anything about being a liar.
You could assume if she is a democrat that she would have a motivation to bend the truth.

Point taken, but remember that it is still an assumption. Regardless, it looks like Aristo found claims by her that she didn't write it. At this point I'm more inclined to believe it was written by similarly minded people who write Nigerian 419 scams and forward them around. Its just too well written to sound like its a recollection coming from someone's memory.

second story

or not
mary-kay answer?

sorry this is the right answer, not the first, the other one was snipped,
the last sentence was taken away

What is the ratio of professors being republican or democrat?

Considering they've been on a 'firing spree' since 911, I would guess 1000/1... ;)

(Those homeless shelters sure did fill up fast.)

---

It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

I have investigated this a bit further, and here is a link to what I have found.
McCain

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

I have investigated this a bit further, and here is a link to what I have found.

OMG! This thread just turned into 'RealityWeb.com'... ;)

(BTW - At best, it was an exaggeration... At worst, it was a hoax.)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .