McCain's Fabled Temper

The best personality traits for a President is that he or she is calm, assertive, and balanced. Cesar Milan would call it "being the pack leader." All the best presidents displayed these traits - George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt. The ability to stay calm and assertive under stress is vital. There is a big difference between staying calm in a crisis (John Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis) and having detached disinterest (George Bush during Katrina).

The worst personality trait for a President is to be unable to control his emotions. It is dangerous to the world to have a United States President governed by fear and anger. Consider the consequences of having a man who responds to stressful situations with anger having at his command a massive army and countless nuclear weapons.

McCain's History of Rage

He would disagree about something and then explode. It was incidents of irrational behavior. We've all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I've never seen anyone act like that. ~ Former Senator Bob Smith (R-NH)

John McCain gets angry. Not just pissed but red-faced, veins popping, apoplectic. His outbursts are both legion and legend. His rage attacks are so frequent compiling a comprehensive list is impossible. The College Conservative Movement has their Top Ten list. The AP did an edited listing of his most recent uses of obscenities. Arizona News has yet a different list.

He reserves his most violent fits for friends and family. He has called his wife a "cunt" in public. His BFF, Lindsay Graham, is a "little jerk." In 1995 he physically assaulted then 92 year-old Strom Thurmond, it was called a "scuffle" in the press. Like an abusive husband (oh, wait, he is an abusive husband) he apologizes so frequently his missive have acquired the nickname McCaingrams, but he doesn't regret. He'll fly off the handle just as readily next week.

McCain Is Irrational
I was surprised how many people who have worked with and know John McCain call him irrational. Sen. Smith (above) said it. Paul Johnson (Dem), the former mayor of Phoenix, said, "his volatility borders in the area of being unstable." Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) in 2000 said, "I didn't want this guy anywhere near a trigger," following a McCain outburst. Former Congressman John LeBoutillier (R-NY), "I think he is mentally unstable and not fit to be president."

The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me. ~ Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
In McCain's world, there aren't legitimate differences of opinions. There is his way and there is evil. That is how he approaches issues. That is one of the reasons for conservative nervousness about him. ~ David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union

Even the more circumspect observations are damning.

I think it is a little scary. I think this guy's first reactions are not necessarily the best reactions. I believe that he acts on impulse. ~ Maj. Gen Paul Eaton
McCain has got a reputation for being a little volatile. ~ Gen. Merrill McPeak

Stephen Wayne, a political science professor at Georgetown who is studying the personalities of the presidential candidates, agrees McCain's temperament is of real concern. "The anger is there," Wayne said. If McCain is the one to answer the phone at 3 a.m., he said, "you worry about an initial emotive, less rational response." ~ Source for all of the above Mark Benjamin, Salon.com

Nothing McCain has faced in his 26 years in Congress was as stressful as being President. If he cannot control his anger when faced with the minor challenges of daily life how will he react when faced with a international crisis that demands a calm and rational mind? PTSD that went untreated when he returned from Vietnam, he received no psychological treatment for the years of torture he endured, has been festering in his mind for decades. His irrational retreat into fear and anger is the natural result.

What worries me most is the chances of a psychotic episode. He has displayed an underlining imbalance and certainly has the history that would make him suspect. The Presidency carries the needed stress to trigger an episode. McCain lacks the balanced rationality of Barack Obama and the blithe indifference of George Bush. He has no defenses to draw upon. Unfortunately, we will not know if John McCain has had a psychotic episode until after the missiles have started flying and he incoherently explains why he has triggered a holocaust.