Personal Histories

The Republican Party irreverently lauds itself as the party of American values, Christian values. When looking at the plain facts, John McCain doesn't seem to have a very good track record on family values. Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times writes in 2000, about a troubling period in the Senator's life after coming back from Vietnam. His physical problems after his experience led him into a post as the Navy's liaison to congress. This post forced him to travel throughout the country to meet with different representatives. It was during this time that he met Cindy Lou Hensley. "Although he was still living with his wife, he was aggressively courting a 25-year-old woman who was as beautiful as she was rich." This courtship led to his remarriage which eventually gave way to the sequence of events that would grant him his current lot in life.

This is not a snide commentary on the character of John McCain, but rather a sincere cause for perplexity to me because of the accommodating nature of social conservatives. As I can recall from my admittedly limited knowledge of the Christian faith, thou shalt not commit adultery is one of the ten commandments is it not? Even though one may not be able to construe his actions as outright adultery, though he did apply for a marriage license prior to the finalization of his divorce proceedings ("McCain Revealed" CNN, 8/30/08), they probably should be construed as somewhat of an affront to marriage; especially by those who so ardently defend the definition of it.

By the way, has anyone seen a family portrait of the whole McCain family, including the children from the previous marriage? I haven't.