No one can deny that John McCain very honorably and very valiantly served his nation in the military.  And one would think that his military service would make him one of our nation’s most ardent veteran supporters.  But unfortunately, despite his political rhetoric that he always supports veterans, his political voting record tells a much different story.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) just released its Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress, and awarded Senator McCain a ‘D’ for his votes against veterans’ priorities.

This grade marks McCain as one of only four Senators to fall on IAVA’s ‘D’ list — and it marks a repeat performance for him, after receiving a ‘D’ for his 109th congressional voting record as well.

IAVA hammered McCain for refusing to co-sponsor Senator Jim Webb’s 21st Century G.I. Bill. In fact, the IAVA highlighted the weaker alternative proposed by Senator Lindsey Graham — and endorsed by McCain — as “an effort to derail the popular and bipartisan” GI Bill proposed by Webb. “Thankfully,” the IAVA writes, “the Senate voted forcefully, 55-42, to kill” the Graham-McCain proposal.

And after the new G. I. Bill was passed and became law, Senator McCain even tried to take credit for it, even though he never even showed up in the Senate to vote for or against it.

And IAVA’s recent ‘D’ score adds to other veteran groups who have criticized Senator McCain’s abysmal record on veterans’ issues. McCain has received a 20 percent vote rating from the Disabled Veterans of America, while the Vietnam Veterans of America noted McCain had “voted against us” in 15 “key votes.”

And now, Senator McCain’s wife has suddenly become some sort of self proclaimed ‘expert’ on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

In a recently published magazine article, Cindy McCain responded to whether her husband feels the lingering effects of Vietnam.  And her response might be somewhat acceptable if it came from a young child who was barely familiar with PTSD.  But for the spouse of a presidential nominee, it is downright insulting to America’s veterans.

The pertinent questions and answers from her recent magazine interview:

Question:  “You met your husband after his POW days.  To what extent is that still with you – or is it a part of history?”

Cindy McCain’s Answer:  “My husband will be the first one to tell you that that’s in the past.  Certainly it’s a part of who he is, but he doesn’t dwell on it.  It’s not part of a daily experience that we experience or anything like that.  But it has shaped him.  It has made him the leader that he is.”

Question:  “But no cold sweats in the middle of the night?”

Her Answer:  “Oh, no, no, no, no, no.  My husband, he’d be the first one to tell you that he was trained to do what he was doing.  The guys who had the trouble were the 18-year olds who were drafted.  He was trained, he went to the Naval Academy, he was a trained United States naval officer, and so he knew what he was doing.”

To Enlighten Mrs. McCain:

PTSD is a terrible and debilitating result of severe trauma, and it has affected our veterans of all ages, ranks, and conflicts that we as a nation have been involved in, and it has absolutely nothing at all to do with a veteran’s age, draft or enlistment status, branch of service, or whether or not they were an enlisted man or an officer, or whether or not they attended the Naval Academy.

What a truly absurd statement to make, and what a truly abysmal insult to all of America’s valiant veterans now suffering with PTSD.

Senator McCain won’t be getting this veteran’s vote; that’s for sure.  And if his wife wants to become an expert on veteran issues, she might want to do a little homework first.