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Senator Released after Mysterious Abduction
LYNCHBURG, Va. – American military hero and Arizona Senator John McCain’s three-month hostage ordeal ended Thursday when he was left on a Lynchburg street in front of the Thomas Road Baptist Church. He appeared composed and eager to talk about his 82 days held captive in a tiny room.
“It’s important people know that I was not harmed,” he said. “A strong mutual respect developed between myself and my captors. They called me ‘Maverick.’â€?
McCain with unidentified captors
Wearing an ill-fitting “Gary Bauer for President� T-shirt and a sheepish expression, the Republican senator was dropped off at midday near Liberty University. He walked inside and was then driven 20 minutes to a local Republican Party headquarters, where he called his family and gave an interview to Fox News.
The 69-year-old Navy veteran said his kidnappers confined him to a small, soundproof room with frosted windows but treated him well. Although his captors issued televised threats to kill McCain if Moderate Republican lawmakers did not back some Bush administration policies, the Senator said, “They never said they would hit me, never threatened me in any way. Sometimes they gave me Snickers bars and let me watch ‘The 700 Club.’”
McCain said he did not know who his kidnappers were, where he was held or why he was set free. Shortly before he was released, the senator said, “They just came to me and said, ‘OK, we’re letting you go now,’ and gave me a deck of playing cards. That’s all. They didn’t say anything about donating money to my presidential campaign, but I would hope the relationship we developed might encourage some of them to support my presidential campaign, instead of that two-faced Bill Frist, or Rick Santorum, who reminds me of the Grand Canyon filled with dillweed.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said there was no ransom paid by the GOP, but his remarks left open the question of whether “arrangements” were made by others. None of the kidnappers has yet been identified, police say.
McCain said that he was eager to get back to normal life. “I’ll be playing a lot of solitaire,” McCain said. “Something about the game fascinates me.”
dAVE said,
March 31, 2006 at 22:01
Genius. pure genius.
Gary Ruppert said,
March 31, 2006 at 22:07
Ha.
Although nobody in the media has reported this quote from Carroll praising the Iraqi terrorists:
Carroll: “I think the mujahedeen are very smart and even with all the technology and all the people that the American army has here, they still are better at knowing how to live and work here, more clever”
Man: “Does this mean something to you?”
Carroll: “It makes very clear that the mujahedeen are the ones that will win in the end”
This is the sort of thing which makes people think that Carroll has aligned herself with the terrorists.
RETARDO said,
March 31, 2006 at 22:15
Awesome, Travis.
Though I see our very special troll Gary Ruprecht is still “using the bathroom” in every comment thread.
Sorry about the smell, people.
Ken Houghton said,
March 31, 2006 at 22:42
Gary - You mean the same way the Americans used the trees and forests to hide behind while the Brits kept marching in the open? Or like the Afghanis did against the Soviets for nine or ten years, before the latter Had Enough? (No need to mention the Vietnamese against either the French or the Americans, is there?)
You fight on the terrain you’re given, not as if all places are the same. (I think it was Rumsfeld who said that, or at least intended to.) Rivers, mountains, and especially caves are not just for sightseeing, no matter how many clusterfuckbombs are dropped on them (op. cit. napalm did not neutralize the lushness of Southeast Asia).
Rotwang said,
March 31, 2006 at 22:48
Ruppert!
When did you stop haunting Think Progress?
If you thought TP was tough, SN will DEVOUR you.
tg said,
March 31, 2006 at 22:49
Is this the Gary Ruppert who commented re: the Valerie Plame affair
I am so convinced that I am right that if ANY indictments are issued regarding this matter… I will place the barrel of flare gun up my ass and pull the trigger…
Posted by: Gary Ruppert on October 15, 2005 at 6:38 PM | PERMALINK
here?
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=7344
That smell does have a black-powder edge to it.
D.F. Manno said,
March 31, 2006 at 22:54
This is the sort of thing which makes people think that Carroll has aligned herself with the terrorists.
Not “people,” you. You’ve established that you–like most wingnuts–are not to be counted among “people.”
Gary Ruppert said,
March 31, 2006 at 22:54
You see, the people who stalk me like to post fake comments like that.
n.o.l.t.f. said,
March 31, 2006 at 23:25
Hey, toolio,
She said that on video while being held captive. You spout propaganda by choice.
Dan Someone said,
April 1, 2006 at 0:15
Although nobody in the media has reported this quote from Carroll praising the Iraqi terrorists:
Yes, nobody in the media. Certainly not The New York Times.
Registration is probably required, so here’s the relevant portion of the piece from today’s edition:
In a videotape posted Thursday on the Internet, made before her release, Ms. Carroll denounced the American presence in Iraq and praised the insurgents fighting here. In the video, Ms. Carroll smiled, laughed once and gestured in a seemingly relaxed manner, saying she felt guilty about being released while so many Iraqis were still suffering.
Ms. Carroll, apparently knowing she would be released, denounced what she described as the “lies” told by the American government and predicted that the insurgents would defeat the Americans in Iraq. “I feel guilty. I also feel that it just shows that the mujahedeen are good people fighting an honorable fight, a good fight. While the Americans are here, the occupying forces, you know, treating the people in a very, very bad way. So I can’t be happy totally for my freedom because there are people still suffering in prisons, in very difficult situations.”
Also:
These kind words for her captors were a sharp contrast to her demeanor on the videotapes made shortly after her kidnapping, in which she appeared distraught, weeping and terrified. Ms. Carroll’s seeming sympathy for her captors suggested either that she was pretending in hopes of gaining her release or that, after suffering weeks of extreme duress, she had fallen under the sway of her kidnappers.
Dan Someone said,
April 1, 2006 at 0:16
Dammit, that second long paragraph should be in italics also. Curse you, HTML Gods!
tigrismus said,
April 1, 2006 at 0:32
Gary may not be the best at what he does, but he tries harder.
annieangel said,
April 1, 2006 at 0:38
Well she should feel happy in the knowledge that her translator is no longer suffering.
Gavin M. said,
April 1, 2006 at 0:54
Yes, nobody in the media. Certainly not The New York Times.
Oho. See? The liberal media is enthusiastically reporting the quote from Carroll praising the Iraqi terrorists. That proves they’ve sided with the enemy.
uppity kitty said,
April 1, 2006 at 2:41
Mmmm, frosted windows, yum.
D.F. Manno said,
April 1, 2006 at 3:37
You see, the people who stalk me like to post fake comments like that.
This is the sort of thing which makes people think that Ruppert is a lying asshole. That was the first time I’ve ever responded to one of your posts.
“Stalking”? Don’t flatter yourself.
Marq said,
April 1, 2006 at 6:01
Say, if same-sex marriage were legal in Florida, and if Gary Ruppert were to marry Doug Giles, and if Gary were the “woman” in that relationship (a bit of a stretch, I know) and thus relegated Ruppert to his middle name since it’s his “maiden” name, then he’d be…
…wait for it…!
Gary Ruppert Giles.
Ok, now I’m sorry I did that.
Pinko Punko said,
April 1, 2006 at 10:15
I think the new boys are hitting their stride, just as Gary is shitting his.
Sean Coulter O'Reilly said,
April 1, 2006 at 14:00
Deer Garree,
U giv these libralz hell, buddy!!!
Gol’ durn u libralz wif’n yur libral ways uv thinking and behavin’!!!! Gol’ durn u wif’n your books an’ facts n stuff!!!!
Gol’ durn thet ‘Russian’ Finegold an’ hizz sinecure resolution!!!
Gol’ durn thet there Hollweird and thet great Gazoogle always cawling me a dum dum coz I don’t kno stuff!!! (Ah wuzz home-skooled u no!!!) I’d like ta kik thet little green footbawl beck over the border!!!! Heh…
U libralz think u gott ‘rights’ butt u don’t got ‘rights’!!! Sho mee where they lied !!! Sho mee!!!
Shut up!!!
Garree, I see u over at Sean Hannity’s place. Ah updatin’ my Hannidate profile!!!
Sean Coulter O’Reilly
Christopher Walker said,
April 1, 2006 at 14:43
Travis, I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks.That was the best thing I’ve read on the Net for months, maybe years. And what’s more, I read it out loud to my housemate, whose politics are the opposite of mine, and he laughed, too.
Good job. Thank you.
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