Originally Posted by foundit66

McCain Criticized for Slur
He says he'll keep using term for ex-captors in Vietnam

Arizona Sen. John McCain refused to apologize yesterday for his use of a racial slur to condemn the North Vietnamese prison guards who tortured and held him captive during the war.
"I hate the gooks," McCain said yesterday in response to a question from reporters aboard his campaign bus. "I will hate them as long as I live."

McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent five years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, was questioned about the language because of a story last month in the Nation magazine reporting his continued use of the slur.

Since then, reports of McCain's language have been circulating on Internet chat sites and e-mails among Asian Americans, many of whom find the the term offensive and inappropriate for an elected official.

McCain's appeal to voters has been as a wartime hero and a feisty politician who speaks his mind and damns the consequences. But his comments on the eve of the key South Carolina primary show the candidate's vaunted "straight talk" in another light.

"The use of a racist slur can't be acceptable for any national leader, regardless of his background," said Diane Chin, executive director of the San Francisco-based Chinese for Affirmative Action. "For someone running for president not to recognize the power of words is a problem."

While McCain's words may have little effect in conservative South Carolina, where few Asian Americans live, they could come back to haunt him in other states.

....
TERM FOR HIS CAPTORS
McCain made no apologies yesterday.

"I was referring to my prison guards," McCain said, "and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend some people because of the beating and torture of my friends."

McCain made it clear that his anger extends only toward his captors. As a senator, he was one of the leaders of the postwar effort to normalize U.S. relations with Vietnam.

McCain Criticized for Slur / He says he'll keep using term for ex-captors in Vietnam


I can't help but think he's providing an opportunity for people to make mountains out of what can conceivably be a mole-hill.

The man WAS TORTURED. Period.
He harbors "ill feelings" (to put it mildly) for the people who tortured him.
Understandable.

He is referring JUST to his captors.

Quite frankly, I wish somebody would pull him aside and ask him to simply give some small deflection on the issue, and let it die. Instead, he may be giving it life support.
(Somebody has probably already asked him...)

This situation won't influence my vote. If it were a democrat with the same circumstances, still not an important issue, IMO.