John McCain: No 2012 White House run :-))

The morning after last week's presidential election, Republican Sen. John McCain and his wife, Cindy, drove by themselves in Phoenix to get a morning coffee.

"Not the newspaper," McCain told Jay Leno tonight. "I knew what it was going to say." (See below for a link to a video clip.)

For his good-natured 14th appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" tonight, McCain made no news, other than confirm the obvious: that he's done with presidential politics. He trotted out some old jokes: Since the election he's been sleeping like a baby, sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours...

He called President-elect Barack Obama "a good and decent person."

The Arizona senator attributed his loss varyingly to having been on Leno's show too often and completely on the media, laughingly as it turns out. He said he'd never been seriously concerned about Leno's write-in candidacy.

He praised his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Dismissing unnamed McCain campaign sources who've recently trashed Palin to some reporters, McCain said, "I couldn't be happier with Sarah Palin. And she's going back to be a great governor and I think she will play a big role in the future of our country."

Mentioning Palin, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, McCain said, "There's a group of young Republican governors and -- mainly governors, but also some in the Senate -- that I think are the next generation of leadership in our party. ... Our party has a lot of work to do. We just got back from the woodshed."

McCain said he was eager to return to work in the Senate.

Leno noted that in 2012 McCain would be a young 76, and would he give it another go? "I wouldn't think so, my friend," McCain said. "It's been a great experience, and you know we're going to have another generation of leaders come along, and I'll hope that I can continue to contribute. That's all."

There was a special ending to the program, since it was Veteran's Day. Leno asked McCain if he had a veterans story to share. And McCain talked about a POW cellmate named Mike Christian, from near Selma, Ala.

We won't try to summarize McCain's moving story. We'll just publish the whole thing verbatim after the jump. Click on the "Read more" line to see it. And there's a video highlight clip down there too.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credit: Mary Altafer / Associated Press

Sen. John McCain: "Just about every day, but especially on Veterans Day, I think of a guy I was in prison with a long time ago. For a few years we were in Hanoi and prison camps in North Vietnam. They kept  us in solitary confinement, two or three to a cell.

"They finally moved us into large cells, 20 or 25 prisoners in each cell.  The guy that moved in with me was a guy named Mike Christian. Mike was from a small town near Selma, Ala.

"Very poor family. Enlisted in the Navy at age 17. Later became an A6 bombardier/navigator. Was shot down and captured. 

"He loved this country. I moved in the same room with him. The uniform we wore in prison was blue, like, short-sleeved shirt, like, pajama trousers, and shoes -- sandals that were cut out of automobile tires.

"I recommend them highly. One pair lasted me five and a half years.

(Laughter.)

"Part of this change in treatment, they let us have some packages from home in which were small items -- some of us -- like a handkerchief or a scarf. He took his blue shirt, fashioned himself a bamboo needle, got a piece of white cloth, piece of red cloth, and sewed the American flag on the inside of his shirt. 

"Every evening before we would have our bowl of soup, we would put his flag -- his shirt -- on the wall of the cell and pledge our allegiance to the country. 

"It was an important part of our day.

"One day the Vietnamese came, searched the cell, found his shirt, removed it, came back that night -- and I'm telling it fast -- opened the door of the cell, called for him to come out, closed the door of the cell, and beat him very badly for a couple hours. 

"Then they threw him back into the cell. The cell in which we slept had a concrete slab, light bulbs in all four corners, naked light bulbs. We cleaned Mike up as well as we could.

"I went over to lie down on the concrete and go to sleep. And I happened to look over in the corner of the cell, and underneath the lightbulb, with a piece of white cloth and a piece of red cloth and his bamboo needle, was Mike, with his eyes almost shut from the beating that he had received, sewing another American flag. 

"He wasn't doing that for us. He was doing it for his country. He wasn't doing it for himself. He was doing it for his country and our ability to pledge our allegiance to our flag and country. 

"I'll never forget Mike Christian."

(Applause.)

Comments

[Joe the Joe]

That Mike Christian is one hard-core individual.

[Mike Adamle]

Is there some underlying reason why there is ":-))" next to this story, LA Times?

[Michael Frisbee]

Thank you John, for serving our country, both in the military and in Congress.

I also want to thank my father who served as a Marine in Vietnam, and all the men and women that put their lives on the line for our country.

We pray that there will be a country left in 2012 to pass on to a new generation of Patriots.

[Pam]

Another Objective Headline from the LA Times :-))
You have every right and every reason to be completely ashamed of yourselves.

[robby10001]

McCain has lied about so many things that I don't believe this war story for a minute. He ruined any reputation he had during his two-faced campaign for president. Good riddance, to old news!

[angry american]

That story was genuinely moving. It was so passionately descriptive..as expected to be engrained in his memory forever. Here I am taking life for granted while our warriors risk everything for the country that betrayed the principles we embody.

[Darren Nissen]

Yeah, nice story except everyone since Kennedy always gets it backward. It's not the people who exist for the privilege of swearing an oath of allegiance to the state, it's the state that exists to serve "we the people". Big government types (McCain included) always seem to get that part wrong.

[Alan Keyser]

I have visited that cell in Hanoi and I can view in my mind this moment in time taking place. To those men that this moment in time played on for years lying on cold dirty concrete.

God Bless Them.

[pajesseson]

nice story, Mr. McCain, about Mr. Christian. No one doubts his or our sincerity there in the camp. I wish you had stayed with that story as your guide during the campaign, but sadly you lost your way. You said 'country first' but you did not act with the integrity, depth, insight, believability, that would make America trust you with the nation in this dire time. You put yourself under suspicion, sadly, beginning with your choice of an unqualified, far right wing, pro-theorcracy loony tune. I wish you would now back off from continuing to be proud of her because it insults you and the rest of the nation who saw your mistake for what it was: blind ambition.

Happy Veterans Day. You deserve that, with our gratitude. There are many ways to love our country; voting for Obama was one of them for many of us patriots who want the country back from the right wing theocratic fringe.

[Craig Maxim]

The smiley face at the end of the article's title is tremendously insulting. Shame on you. How transparent does a politician need to be, before you could accept what a great American he is? When McCain shares these stories of his great sacrifice in a prison camp for 5 1/2 years, his sincerity is patently obvious, as is his character, and his love for country and willingness to sacrifice anything for her. Election or no election, a man like that deserves nothing less, than our most sincere respect and appreciation. I was tremendously proud, of how our country moved past race in this election, even though I voted for the candidate who was far easier to "trust". America instead, spoke up in favor of "hope", and now we can all side with "hope" and do our best to work together for the sake of the nation. But when a gentleman, a true gentleman, is the object of your story, you could at least respond in kind, with the same character.

Sadly, you chose not to. How does that benefit journalism? Let alone a divided nation, needing to be pulled together, rather than apart.

[Alex de la Paz, Manila]

Senator John McCain is a true American Hero and a living legend. He inspires not only Americans but people from all over the globe as well, who loves freedom and democracy.

I salute you, Sir!

[Fred]

Thank God that John McCain has enough sense not to run again.

It was too painful to watch his campaign this year, to see an essentially decent, honorable man have to compromise his integrity in a quest for Washington power, egged on to new depths by the worst of the GOP, in a year when he never really stood a chance of winning.

Once was more than enough.

He began to reclaim his honor with his gracious concession speech. With a little luck, he and President Obama can now work together to make this country great again.

[douche-bag]

McCain never bothers to ask himself the very important question of why was the U.S. there in the first place? You can't attack a country for no reason and claim you are doing it for the preservation of American liberties. Completely illogical, racist, elitist mentality.

Imagine if i came to rob your house, but you overpowered me, beat me up and held me captive until the cops arrived. Then I claim I was defending freedom aka American Liberties by resisting my captors. This is simply turning the aggressor into the victim.

Senator, give it a rest.

[Jack Z]

Folks, this is a BLOG. Getting worked up over that smiley face really shows your ignorance.

Regarding all the blowhards ranting about "defending our country" -- oh really? Explain to me how I'm safer today because we went into Vietnam. Sorry, but aggressive, unnecessary war has only weakened our security.

People, it is NOT patriotic to drool over every single military action we take. War is not inherently good. A REAL patriot weighs situations, criticizes leaders, and follows the path that best preserves our country's future. Vietnam was not one of those decisions.

-- Desert Storm vet

[dk]

This is the most biased, unprofessional, news organization in the U.S.

[JadedDemocrat]

The smiley face should be self-explanatory and seems entirely appropriate, if not necessary, to me. Having just been witness to yet another GOP sleaze ball campaign, it always struck me as two-faced and reprehensible when the GOP candidates (imagine!) then claim it was all "politics as usual" the morning after. McCain's campaign was doubly insulting due to the sheer stupidity and obvious innaccuracies of many their attacks. Run again in 2012? I'm surprised anyone had the nerve to pose such a ridiculous question.

As to the POW story? Sounds another "Joe the Plumber" concoction on first read to me. Last name "Christian" and he seemingly existed only to sew American flags and recite the Pledge Alegiance, while in captivity valiantly defending God and Country against the Asian communist hordes? Hey LA Times? Might wanna run a fact check on this one and see if we don't have yet another case of McCain's demonstrated proclivity for self-serving, senile dementia enhanced, story telling run amuck.

[Patriot]

No one doubts his service to our country, or the horrors he endured as a POW. That said, I grow tired of some of the other comments that imply only Republicans can be patriots or that only Republicans serve our country. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all have served our country in many ways. Stop the division, stop your partisan bickering. Unite, before our country finishes going down the drain!

[Steve Anderson]

To Darren Nissen:

You lazy minded liberals forget that "we the people" are the state. There shouldn't be a distinction between state and citizen. Enjoy your government handouts and losing your freedom to the state that you so adamantly feel should be taking care of you and regulating your life. There's a cost to that greater than you're considering. 1984. Brave New World. Animal Farm. Read a book and think for yourself.

[Mr. T]

Did we expect anything different from the L.A. Times? What a bunch of extreme left wing bastards. You can't even have the respect on Veterans Day to say or do something nice for a man that put his country first while serving for our Freedom in Vietnam? We can only hope that with all the newspapers slowing going away to the internet, they will be next in line.

[Wallace Hoffman]

Congratulations to Senator McCain, Mike Christian, and other patriots who love and support our country in good times and bad. I remember also one of my fellow USAF members who did not survive his beating at the Hanoi Hilton. As a veteran of the Korean War and the war in Vietnam, look at the difference between the two wars: a South Korea that is vibrant, democratic, and free, contrasted with a North Korea that is represssive, dictatorial, and stricken in poverty. Because of anti-war protesters and those who lacked the valor to fight for freedom, the war in Vietnam was lost from within the United States, at the cost of millions of innocent South Vietnamese lives when the North Vietnamese took control. Later I had the honor and privilege of teaching in Nichols Middle School (Biloxi, Mississippi) children of the Boat People who fled South Vietnam in order to save their lives. Some of the children remembered family members and friends who did not survive the North Vietnamese invasion.

[Ted Kenney]

I was a Naval Aviator who made two combat cruises to Vietmnam in the mid sixties. Although I was never shot down, my best friend , Al Stafford was. Upon his release I helped in his rehabilitation. He had great admiration for John McCain and how he conducted himself in the Hanoi Hilton. This is documented in his book, "Bouncing Back". His story about Mike Christian is not made up.

[illuminaut]

To everybody feeling insulted by the smiley in the headline: chill out, you're not reading it right. It's there because the "news" he announced is so obvious that it isn't really news. Everybody knew he wouldn't run again, so the headline becomes a joke.

[ray]

"There are many ways to love our country; voting for Obama was one of them for many of us patriots who want the country back from the right wing theocratic fringe" and so we turned it over to the godless commie fringe.
You're welcome for my finishing your sentence...!

[Jon - TX]

People can say what they want about the politics but McCain and the other POWs are true American heroes. A lot of you want to pretend that the Republicans ran a dirty campaign but the truth is, both party's did. Everybody just wanted something to believe in and the media definitely was biased in that regard. If you let the media make your choice for you without researching the issues, then shame on you.

Douche-bag: As for the Vietnam war, I doubt McCain WANTED to go to war...nobody does. YOU need to give it a rest friend. Racist, elitist mentality had nothing to do with Vietnam. Keep repeating that rhetoric. Idiotic is what you sound like.

soameshaley@gmail.com

[Rod]

Thank God. The Republican Party doesn't need any more Neoconservatives running off the electoral cliff. Nobody wants to line up around the corner to vote for an implied campaign slogan that says "Big Government, Endless War, but vote for us 'cause were not Democrats." This year, the party should have changed it's logo from an elephant to a lemming.