Don Bendell
Many years ago, one of the jobs I held as a starving writer was selling cars, new and used, at what was called a “Fast track” dealership. It was straight commission and dog-eat-dog. The top salesman there, Bill, made well over
$ 70,000 per year in the early seventies. That was a lot of income back then. It was simple: he smiled, turned on the charm, told every customer exactly what they wanted to hear, and then lied through his teeth.
I once overheard him respond to a customer who asked about a new Ford Pinto if it would get the EPA gas mileage listed on the sticker, and Bill answered with a question, “Is gas mileage what is really important to you?”
The man responded, “Yes, I have to drive many miles to work and back everyday.”
Bill laughed and put his hand on the man’s shoulder and said, “Man, did you come to the right place. The EPA ratings were done by the government, and you know how they screw things up. This car will actually get you at least 54 miles to the gallon between highway and city driving combined. Probably a lot more”
In actuality, the car would have gotten maybe 24 miles to the gallon. The man, like they all did, bought the car.
Another man’s biggest concern was rust. Ohio salted its roads in the winter, and he did not want his car eaten away. Bill immediately told him that the new Ford Mustangs were made out of recycled aluminum beer cans and would never rust, and he would throw in complete rust-proofing for only $ 285. The man bought the car. We were charged $ 8 by the dealership to rust proof a car, and any amount charged above that was profit, out of which we would get one fourth in commissions. The lies were so outlandish, I could not stand working there and never sold cars again.
John McCain
Bill could turn on the charm with a smile and a golden tongue, stare into your eyes and ad lib the most outlandish lies I ever heard, and worse yet, people believed it hook, line, and sinker, and he was richly rewarded for the deceit.
It has been over three decades, and I have finally seen another Bill, but on a much grander scale. His name is Barrack Obama. He named his best-selling book after a sermon by his self-proclaimed mentor Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who married him and wife Michelle and baptized their family. He knows that Wright gave an award to Louis Farrakhan, one of the most outlandish racial bigots in America, and the horrific statements from sermons by Wright which are played all day long on the news were taken from his DVD’s sold by Obama’s church where Obama has attended for over 20 years. Barrack Obama claims he never heard Wright make any of the outlandish racist statements. Right! And people believe him! Duh!
Then, we have Hillary Clinton braving sniper fire from the Bosnian tooth fairy. The only difference between the two is that she would not be a good crooked car salesman. She does not even lie well at all.
Which now brings me to John McCain. I could not stand him for years. I testified for the Senate Select Committee on MIA/POW Affairs. John McCain tried to shut the committee down and people started saying he had something to hide. I was one of those who said it and passed some of the rumors that started about him. So, when McCain got the presumptive Republican nod, I wrote former POW’s I knew who were POWs with McCain in the Hanoi Hilton, such as Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Bud Day and asked them.
Bud Day, MOH wrote me and said, in part: “Dear Don: I was JSM’s first room-mate and commander in the Hanoi Hilton. He is brilliant, patriotic, loyal, gregarious, independent, feisty, a good follower, a good leader, republican ..”
Bud finished with “He does not have to have everyone’s approval to act. There is a lot of Ronald Reagan..Teddy Roosevelt. . .Harry Truman in his genes. Example..telling Reagan to get out of Lebanon . Telling GW, the SecDef, and the world that Rumsfeld policies were a failure.. backing the surge (like from Vietnam ) as the only correct choice….and being right both times.
His combat experience and life experiences make him the solid choice for prez. John is clearly and unquestionably the best candidate in 2008 …of either party, Best regards. Col. Bud Day, MOH.”
Paul Galanti gave me very similar raves about him, and Jim Warner, John McCain’s longtime cellmate and still very close friend and advisor, not only wrote me but has spoken to me on the phone several times, and he said, “Don, if John had any hidden secrets from our time in the Hanoi Hilton or if any of the other rumors about him are true, simply tell me why are there 81 former Vietnam POW’s voluntarily working on his campaign?”
I learned that John McCain simply believed very strongly that there were no more live POW’s left behind, and he believed that as strongly as I believed that there were. But the important point is that he does not fold, and he does not lie to get someone’s vote.
John McCain stands his ground if he feels he is right. He also has faced down Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and other Republican pundits because he is willing to work with democrats and actually listen to their point of view. America clearly wants that in our President. If ever there was a time in US history we need such a person in the White House, it is right now. We need someone with credibility, a quiet strength, and a total determination to stay the course on our national defense, because our pampered nation that now has way too many quick-fix wimps will perish if we don’t. The mullahs and jihadists do not want to be our buddies no matter how much we might suck up to them. They want our heads. The only body parts John McCain will give them is our collective middle finger.
Don Bendell
DETACHMENT-DELTA: Don’s newest novel. Worldwide release winter 2008.
Visit our newly-re-structured website. Learn how to get your first book published!: http://www.donbendell.com
“Life is tough and for stupid people its even tougher.” John Wayne
Don Bendell, 61, is an author of 26 books including a number of military thrillers with over 1,500,000 copies in print worldwide and is a popular editorialist who has appeared on FOX NEWS LIVE, many national radio shows, and his editorials have been published all over the world. A 1995 inductee into the International Karate Hall of Fame, he and his wife also own karate schools in southern Colorado . A 60% disabled vet, Don served as an officer in 4 Special Forces Groups, including a 1968-1969 tour on an A-team in Vietnam as well as in the Top Secret Phoenix Program and has offspring serving in Special Forces now. He lives in Florence , Colorado . Write him at don@donbendell.com .
