Along with other prisoners, he worked in the fields day after day, in rain and sun, during summer and winter. His life appeared to be nothing more than backbreaking labor and slow starvation. The intense suffering reduced him to a state of despair.Here's the awkward part: I thought it was incredibly manipulative, though undoubtedly moving, for McCain to tell that story in the interview. I find discussions of religion to be fascinating, but something that shouldn't be exploited for political gain. I also thought McCain shouldn't be leaning on the POW stories for sympathy.On one particular day, the hopelessness of his situation became too much for him. He saw no reason to continue his struggle, no reason to keep on living. His life made no difference in the world. So he gave up.
Leaving his shovel on the ground, he slowly walked to a crude bench and sat down. He knew that at any moment a guard would order him to stand up, and when he failed to respond, the guard would beat him to death, probably with his own shovel. He had seen it happen to other prisoners.
As he waited, head down, he felt a presence. Slowly he looked up and saw a skinny old prisoner squat down beside him. The man said nothing. Instead, he used a stick to trace in the dirt the sign of the Cross. The man then got back up and returned to his work.
As Solzhenitsyn stared at the Cross drawn in the dirt his entire perspective changed. He knew he was only one man against the all-powerful Soviet empire. Yet he knew there was something greater than the evil he saw in the prison camp, something greater than the Soviet Union. He knew that hope for all people was represented by that simple Cross. Through the power of the Cross, anything was possible.
Solzhenitsyn slowly rose to his feet, picked up his shovel, and went back to work. Outwardly, nothing had changed. Inside, he had received hope.
I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness in this — a certain audacity — to this announcementNo kidding. Effing - audacious! Audacity or blind stupid courageous conviction? Should be a new swear word--fauckdacity! (fukdacity?!) This man can take it. He's been Barack Hussein Obama his entire life, through the first Gulf War, through 9-11, he knows. He learned to trash talk in basketball for a reason. This man uses these ridiculously big cajones to elevate the national dialog. He knew, and he's doing this anyway. He knew his life would be threatened, he knew, and I think this man has his eyes completely wide open to the facts and still -- still -- still talks of hope.