Temper, temper, temper…

I admit that I have become a Huffington Post addict this fall.  When I read about McCain's explosive rage story today, which took place at the craps table in 1995, I had to post something that I received in my email last night.  Just an interesting piece written by a professor at UCSC who experienced McCain during her vacation a few years back. 

 MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN
 by Mary-Kay Gamel, Professor of Classics,  Comparative Literature, and
 Theater Arts
 Cowell College, University  of California, Santa Cruz

 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  this 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 – 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 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 Japan  during WWII –' but no,
 he was not to be dissuaded. He went on to say  that if it was 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 this 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.

Comments (Archived):

  1. tom

    I’m voting for Obama but snopes.com says this is unverified. I believe McCain has a bad Mctemper but this story sounds like some spice has been added to it.

    1. Gotham Gal

      My guess is, you are probably right.

      1. RZ2849

        So then why would you post it? Oh wait, let me answer that – because you lack integrity and have no problem with posting a story that you acknowledge is probably made up to promote your candidate of choice.

  2. Mike

    I’m calling BS on this. I have no doubt in my mind that the man is a jerk and would do this sort of thing…but that seems like a step out side the bounds of reality. The whole “I’d Nuke em” doesn’t sound right. Historical Fiction I think.

    1. Gotham Gal

      perhaps

  3. awilensky

    You know, most folks believe that John Mcain’s total involvement with the Keating Five was merely as a fall guy that reached out for a friend. Some folks that later interviewed friends of Keating uncovered anecdotal evidence that Mcain colluded with Keating from the beginning, in order to profit from the thrift loan rigging, and use his position as Senator to cash in on the ill gotten gains.. I think there was a book on it that never got widely circulated. I’ll try and find the author and title. The man is a virus. Hey, and I’m no zombie for Obama, either. I think he is only slightly less flawed, but more of a citizen’s advocate.

  4. chefbikram

    GG, if you know that this is unverified and possibly political fiction, why keep it up on your lovely blog?

    1. NONE

      Because Gotham Gal has another agenda.

  5. Gail

    Here is the response I received when I wrote to the sender of this email. As much as I detest this man, I agree that you should probably take down the piece unless and until it is verified.———————veracity of McCain story Little did I think when I forwarded this account to four or five friends on 16 September that I would be identified as the author or receive so many questions. Some of you have clearly received the email without the preface attached, and with me listed as author. Most simply ask whether this really happened, some praise “my” courage, some angrily accuse me of distortion and lies.I’m sorry that I did not check the story more carefully before forwarding it. I am paying for my mistake by sending this clarification to every person who contacts me. Here’s as much of the truth as I know:First of all, I did not write the account. Here is the preface as I received and forwarded it:To: Mary-Kay Gamel <[email protected]>Subject: Fwd: MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAINDate: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:13:22 -0400—– Forwarded Message —-From: Kate Marianchild <<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]>Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008Subject: My Holiday with John McCain: a first-hand account(Note from Kate: This shocking account was written by Ana Dubey, a friend of my cousin and her husband, who have known Ana for many years. Ana has a PhD in psychology and has a private practice in San Francisco . My cousin’s husband went to business school with Ana’s husband, who has since started and sold a number of successful companies. Ana’s husband is currently a Managing Director of a private equity firm in the Bay Area. Ana and her husband are not political activists and don’t have any personal ax to grind. In fact, in writing this account of her experience with John McCain, Ana is acting outside of her own economic self-interest as she and her husband are among the top 3-5% of our population who would benefit from the McCain tax/economic policies. Please pass this on to anyone you know who might vote for John McCain. Also please post it on blogs and send it to newspapers and radio stations.)I am not Ana Dubey (whose full name, I believe, is Anasuya Dubey, apparently the daughter of a former Indian Consul in San Francisco). I gather that Turtle Island costs $2000/day–I could never afford such a holiday. After the email was further forwarded and people wrote with questions, I wrote to Kate Marianchild. Here is our exchange:Dear Ms. Marianchild: I got your email with the shocking story and forwarded it. Some recipients are questioning it. I googled Ana Dubey and got a husband/wife team who run a bakery in Honolulu. Can you assure me that Ana Dubey really is a psychologist in San Francisco?thanksMKGYes, I can assure you of that. She is a private person and psychologist. And perhaps you can send this on to your friends:Dear Friends,Everyone is asking to talk to Ana Dubey or receive a direct email from her validating the “Holiday with John McCain” story. I emailed Ana and asked her how to handle all the correspondence I was receiving. She didn’t reply to me, which is understandable as we have never met and I am sure she is totally besieged with emails right now. I don’t feel comfortable forwarding lots of emails to her or giving out her email address.However, I did forward one email – one I received from Frances Moore Lappe (author of Diet for a Small Planet, Food First, Democracy’s Edge, Hope’s Edge, Getting a Grip, and etc, and founder of the Small Planet Institute – <http: http://www.smallplanet.org=“”>www.smallplanet.org). Frances (aka Frankie), said she would like to pursue the story by talking to Ana, and that she would distribute it if she were convinced it was authentic.Here’s what I just received from Frankie (Frances) Lappe. If you still have doubts perhaps you can contact Frankie, as she is a more public person than I believe Ana to be.Kate MarianchildKate,I just spoke with Ana, who was wonderful.Sounds like NBC is on it. Sure hope an interview gets aired.Thank you so much for asking her to call me. I admire Ana very much.FrankieFrances Moore LappéSmall Planet Institute25 Mt Auburn St., Suite 203 Cambridge MA 02138 617.441.6300 x 115I have not contacted Ms. Lappe, and the story is still quite uncertain. As a reader of texts I think it has the ring of truth (especially given McCain’s well-documented temper). Some have questioned the idea of McCain shopping and pushing his then no longer infant adopted daughter in a shopping cart, but those could have been references to earlier times. Presumably the holiday took place in December 1999, and some have pointed out that the US was not at war with Iraq then, but bombing raids based on the sanctions were being carried out. The NEW YORKER portrait of Cindy McCain attests that the adoption of Bridget was indeed her idea. And so forth.There are various sites where the story is being discussed. There is some corroborating information at http://thebruceblog.wordpre….I sent an inquiry to Snopes.com; no response yet.IF POSSIBLE, PLEASE PASS ON MY CLARIFICATION TO ALL WHO MAY HAVE SEEN THE STORY. At some point I will have to stop responding to the flood of emails; I’ve got work to do!In sum, the story may be true, but we’ll never know unless Ms. Dubey sees fit to come forward at some point. I hope she will. I also hope that all of you know the unquestionably true story of McCain’s shameful abandonment of his first wife, which is far more revealing than this anecdote.MKG– Mary-Kay GamelProfessor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater ArtsCowell CollegeUniversity of California, Santa CruzSanta Cruz, California 95064831-459-2381 (office); 831-429-8803 (home)[email protected]———————————————————————-

    1. Gotham Gal

      Thanks so much for sharing all this information. Much appreciated.

  6. NONE

    .Unbelievable! You can not find a single video or audio clip of this “so-called” McCain temper can you! It is nothing more than a character flaw that has been ginned up by the liberal media. And let me guess… all of you probably believe that Clinton had no temper at all.All you have to say is Huffington Post and any story can be immediately discreditedDRILL, DRILL, DRILL

  7. marshal sandler

    Most cowboys when they dig a hold stop when they get to the bottom ! Not Mr Mc ! I lived in Az for many years watched cowboy politics , not as harmless as digging a ditch!

  8. SamDee

    Madam,I truly think that you are a lying, sniveling Liberal witch. You would do or say anything to try to elect a Socialist like Obama. I find this very hard to swallow. I am in Arizona and I am forwarding this garbage that you wrote to John & Cindy McCain. I feel it is libelous and actionable in court if it is false. What tripe.

  9. scam

    I am an avid Obama supporter; however, it seems that the author, a woman Ana Dubey (pronounced “dooby”…. as in “smokin’ a dooby”?), but the article was written from the perspective of the husband of a woman named “Amy“…. thus making me more than skeptical. Am I misreading the article? If not, am I the only one to notice this? Somebody please enlighten me.

  10. Florida health insurancequotes

    I totally love article. I think you could write some other things to make your blog more complete.

    1. Gotham Gal

      Like what kind of things?