Most of my friends are Democrats, but in case anyone was interested in voting for McCain. Back in 2000, John McCain called his Vietnamese captors, gooks. And even though he attempts to justify it by saying their cruelty is what prompted it, it’s a very offensive racial term. I am shocked that this was not made a bigger deal of, given how Allen lost the race in VA after calling someone “macaca” – a word that is not even popular derogatory slang in this country. Not to take away from how bad that was, but the fact is gook is a common derogatory word here.
It’s hard for me to believe that this man is trying to bring healing between the US and Vietnam. It’s almost as if he does it with a held nose and an eye on the presidency. I do not want my leader of the free world EVER using that word. I don’t care what you went through. The things that the Chinese went through with the Japanese during WWII was far worse than anything McCain ever could have gone through. But they’re not bitter, and calling people names.
Even in Vietnam, the civilians still are kind to Americans, despite everything that those innocent people were put through. He went in as a bringer of war, not a civilian. While what his torturers did was terrible, they acted like they were in wartime. I’m not saying I condone torture, but I would like to believe that McCain could understand, comprehend, and learn how to forgive. Forgiveness for something like that is hard, but I would like a leader who has the capacity to forgive on a great scale – to change the world, to make it better.
I don’t know why this story was buried – because he was a Vietnam vet or because the Asians are not as politically active. But this is why I will not vote for McCain.
