This guy is scary (Hammer, “In Defense of John McCain,” Feb. 6-13). He is all about the war. I know you said you “disagree with many of his issues” but I find it unbelievable that you would come to this guy’s defense!

You state he is a man who says what he believes, however, he authored the McCain/Kennedy immigration act. When the “Right” came down on him, he backed off. In the real world, that’s called “flip-flopping.” But not for McCain. He’s not caving to the pressure of public opinion. No, only Romney and Huckleberry do that. (I’m not a fan of either!) He supports Bush’s illegal war and his defense is that he was the one person that spoke out about Rumsfeld’s strategy on troop numbers. Wow, what a maverick! He supports an illegal, undeclared war, he just wanted more of our troops in harm’s way!

And now, just a few days after you defended this guy, he voted “no” on a bill to abolish waterboarding. The same guy that was strongly against torture at the debates. That’s not flip-flopping. No, that’s, umm, yeah, that’s flip-flopping!

You call him a genuine war hero. Check out www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com. These guys have information that will challenge the “war hero” status that McCain enjoys. They also have a statement to McCain saying they will back off if he can give any proof that what they are saying is false. So far, McCain has not responded.

You state that if McCain became president, he would pursue an agenda based on his core beliefs. That would be the same core beliefs that we enjoy now from our beloved President Bush. And if we are not in Iran, or Syria or some other place by Jan. 20, 2009, we will be in short order. You know, terrorism and all. And you defend this guy!

Our country is broke! Our military is stretched too thin. Barack Obama and Ron Paul enjoy the most donations from active duty military personnel and they are the ones saying, “Let’s get out!” With McCain, we will just get in more wars. He said he would stay in Iraq for 100 years. He said in a speech just a few weeks ago that “there will be more wars”! Wake up!

With “lefties” like you and others saying “McCain’s OK,” many voters will say, “My candidate lost so I’m voting against the other Democrat,” vote for McCain and then hang on for four more years of a Bush policy implemented by a “maverick.” Good luck with all that!

Chris Wolf
Moorsville