Well, it’s almost Christmas Day, so I think it’s best if we don’t bombard you with information from all sides. Not least because the biggest election issue at the moment seems to be whether there is a subliminal crucifix in Mike Huckabee’s Christmas video message.

No, this is the time of year for cranking the central heating up and losing yourself in a ripping yarn. The one I’ve found will probably already be very familiar to Americans, but for those non-Americans among us, the tale of John McCain’s Vietnam is a remarkable one (it’s also a good decent length, so why not deepen your carbon footprint and print it out… before recycling it into an origami Christmas tree):

‘How The POW’s Fought Back’ by John S. McCain III, Lieut. Commander, U.S. Navy

The five and a half years John McCain spent as a POW are part of his life-story of course – not his 2008 election manifesto. But how much does a candidate’s past impinge on their present? Personal narrative and policy intentions ought to be kept separate, for the most part. (As an aside, are we about done wasting time asking politicians – in all countries – which drugs they took as teenagers? Please?).

Having said that, look at the gun-ho, gurgling enthusiasm of his Republican rivals in response to the question ‘How many guns do you own?’, and then compare McCain’s untrembling solemnity, as his sad, jowly face calls out ‘you don’t want to see what I’ve seen’.

I was going to quote an extract from the article above illustrating just how horrendous, just how painful, and just how life-changing McCain’s Vietnam must have been, but I wouldn’t know where to start – with the torture? The hunger? The boils? The broken limbs? So instead here is an intriguing statement from towards the end of the article:

I think America is a better country now because we have been through a sort of purging process, a re-evaluation of ourselves. Now I see more of an appreciation of our way of life. There is more patriotism. The flag is all over the place. I hear new values being stressed-the concern for environment is a case in point.

I had a lot of time to think over there, and came to the conclusion that one of the most important things in life-along with a man’s family-is to make some contribution to his country.

That was John McCain writing in May. 34 years ago.