McCain

After his time as a POW McCain said:

"I was not my own man anymore. I was my country's."

That was the line of the night. It illustrates why McCain should be our President. He belongs to us. He fought for us. He suffered for us. He was, as he puts it, an imperfect servant.

Everyone who has read this blog knows that I have loved and admired McCain for years. If you read his biography, Faith of Our Fathers, you will never look at McCain the same way again. The stories you have heard at this convention about McCain's sacrifice and bravery are only a small part of all that he went through.

My father taught me that a person is not judged by his mistakes, but how he learns from them.

John McCain was a party guy when he was young. He was cocky. He thought he was invincible. But he quickly found out in a place called the Hanoi Hilton that he was not. To say that McCain went to hell and returned would not be an overstatement.

He came home and he healed and he grew up.

I have lived long enough to understand that sometimes marriages don't work and sometimes we fail and we move on. Who of us can judge that?

I have met John McCain twice at fundraisers. I stood back and watched him. This is what I came away with.

When I was 19 I was thrown from a horse and landed on my back. To this day my back aches when I wake up. McCain had bones broken all over his body. They were never set properly. He was left for dead.

I watched him. I was looking for the grimace of an aching leg or a sore arm. I watched for a quick word to a staff member that he was ready to go because he was tired. But that never happened. He met, shook hands, took pictures, and spoke to everyone who wanted to for hours. I never saw him show the least bit of discomfort or weariness.

I wondered how could this be? After all his body had gone through. How? And then it occurred to me. After 5 1/2 years of torture and the kind of pain that he endured that you and I cannot imagine in our nightmares, he doesn't even notice a pang or an ache that might put you or I to bed for days.

Do you see what I am saying? He measures discomfort in a completely different way than we do. Every day that his broken arms and shoulders are not roped and pulled up behind his back and he isn't beaten in the face, is a day without pain.

They don't make men like this anymore.

There is a reason why this convention theme was "Country First." John McCain has always put his country first. He will always put us first. Because as he said,"my country saved me."

McCain has never forgotten that. He has lived his life returning that favor.

Obama is a good man. And his time will come. But for now, we need John McCain.

We need a hero.