I'm just going to say it and take the heat.

"When you sell your soul, you never really know the ultimate price at the time of the sinister bargain."

The Faustian bargain of which you speak may have been made further back than is commonly supposed. There is a ton of information on the Internet that suggests that John McCain was a traitor and not the heroic POW that is his public image. He said in his acceptance speech at the RNC that after they, as he humbly put it, "worked me over pretty good, I broke." This is a technique little understood by most people. It is telling a small truth to hide a much larger lie, in this case the small truth "I broke," implies that his coorperation with the Vietcong was caused by being tortured and obscures the truth that he gave targeting information and made propaganda tapes for the Vietcong. I had somebody on this website take umbrage with me for calling McCain a babykiller, but the targeting information that he revealed resulted in deaths of American pilots, but, in my mind more importantly, revealed that they were civilian target, hospitals, schools, temples, which was strictly against the stated U.S. policy at the time. Here is but one link of many that I have found:

http://www.eaglesnest-2.net/eagles/?q=node/10

I have tried to post on this and am always attacked that it can't be true because how would such a secret be kept. Well, it hasn't been kept. It's right out there if you're willing to do the digging. I believe it is, in fact, how the White House coerced McCain to drop his long-held opposition to torture, that they told him they would ruin his political reputation if he did not acquiesce.

The extent to which it is not commonly known, however, goes to a different truth. The POWs, from what I have read, made a pact not to talk about what individuals did to survive that experience, sort of the "band of brothers'" version of "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Thus you hear nothing from those surviving POWs, but, on the other hand, you do not see them supporting McCain. In fact, a POW named Butler is breaking the pact to the extent of making videos to explain why he would not support McCain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KjsEs46C70

The other reason McCain has been protected from being outed all these years is because he and Senator Kerry together worked for the normalization of relations with Vietnam after the war and the two of them had the unique cred to do so, by virtue of their service in that war. I do not know what political benefit Kerry got from that effort, but it is clear that by agreeing, over the heartfelt pleas of the POW/MIA families, to seal forever the records that would have allowed them to continue searching for their loved ones, McCain received the benefit of securing any paper trail from being released to the public which would mar his future political aspirations.

That he could be so close to being successful in his quest for the Presidency is the scariest prospect I can imagine because, whether he was tortured or not, and there are men who were prisoners at the same camp who say he was not, the other disturbing possibility is that he was subjected to mind control experiments. Follow the links and they will show you that there were many reports of such experiments under the "Manchurian Candidate" type of scenario. I have asked myself the question: What happens to a person who has been the subject of intensive brainwashing and mind control if his masters are no longer in the position of pulling his strings? What mental breakdown does that cause? Is this perhaps the source of the well-documented and legendary McCain temper that has caused even his fellow Republicas to make public statements that they would fear his impulsivity and rage should he ever have the ultimate power to make executive decisions?

Selling your soul implies that you have one.

Funny, I was just thinking about writing mccain-faustian bargain post, and then I found you beat me to it. Great minds...

Nice post. I might have called her Lady McDeath, just for consistency, but you were truer to the Shakespearean spelling. I enjoyed it.

Here's a site that's tracking Lady MacDeath's lies:

http://countemdown.blogspot.com/

And borrowing from a nearby post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMScm7zl3g&feature=related

Worth watching comic video!

Thanks

"Death and his Consort."

So true!!

Fab post!

For the record, my post is supported by this quote from mcShame via David Ignatius:

In May 2006, after McCain had courted the Rev. Jerry Falwell in an effort to win conservative support, I asked him if he was bending his principles for the sake of winning. "I don't want it that badly," McCain answered. "I will continue to do what is right. . . . If that means I can't get the Republican nomination, fine. I've had a happy life. The worst thing I can do is sell my soul to the devil."

He was right.

(emphasis in bold - mine)

Link for that quote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/12/AR2008091202594.html