(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
For those who have followed my writings, you know that I am a veteran. That I was deployed to Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield in 1990. That I was deployed into northern Iraq for Operation Provide Comfort I, II, and III after Desert Storm. That I’ve walked the mine and battle fields of Iraq during two separate conflicts. You also know that after I left the military I served in law enforcement.
I tell people this, not to get thanks, but, so that people understand my experience and knowledge when I speak of war, ordnance, veteran, law enforcement or related issues. It is merely a qualifier that, yes, I do have the background to speak on these issues with a bit of authority.
Why do people feel they are obligated to “honor the service of…”?
So, as a veteran and an independent voter, let me ask you; why the hell are you so worried about honoring someone’s service?
Many who enlist do so because they had no better option. They couldn’t afford college. They wanted out of their little one-horse town. They saw the military as the best way to start their life and support a family. That they can be, and have been, called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country makes it no less admirable that it is for country than a police officer or firefighter who dies performing their duty for their community.
Really. What are we thanking them for? What are we trying to convey to the soldier, airman, marine or seaman? That we appreciate them because they made a decision to sacrifice when others wouldn’t? Because they would serve while others chose college? Are we honoring the courage these men and women have that others simply couldn’t find within ourselves? Are we honoring that these men and women are somehow more patriotic for serving?
We need to support our men and women in uniform. We need to acknowledge the sacrifices they make; the long deployments, even repeated deployments, that can destroy a family and the harsh conditions they are asked to endure. Yes, there are health issues that are normally associated with veterans such as PTSD, Agent Orange, or the Gulf War Syndrome. There is no doubt that our men and women in uniform deserve better than mold infested barracks, such as Fort Sill, or recovering in near condemned buildings such as Walter Reed. Most definitely we should honor the memory of those who died in service to their country.
Sure, it’s nice to hear sometimes. As a member of our armed forces, being told “thank you for your service” simply embarrassed me because so many thought they had to do it. The first thought I have when I hear it is, “for what…what did I do that was so special?” Now, as a law enforcement officer, it meant a lot to me to have a person smile and say “thank you.” It did because I heard it so rarely and it sure beat the hell out of what I usually heard which consisted of being called names normally reserved for use while on shore leave in a Singapore brothel.
During this campaign season, we see one line being repeated over and over; John McCain was a POW during Vietnam. This fact is brought up over and over in order to deflect any criticism by the press, any bad words, or any questioning of John McCain.
And. It is working.
John Aravosis at AmericaBlog writes:
Yes, at this point, the Dems themselves have to be careful with this particular story, since it involves John McCain’s “cross.”
Why? Why do Democrats have to “be careful”? Were the Republicans “careful” when Chambliss smeared Max Cleland? Was George Bush “careful” when he smeared John McCain and John Kerry? When the SwiftBoat Veterans smeared John Kerry, they weren’t “careful”. In fact, GOP supporters wore their purple heart band-aids with unabashed glee at the chance to demean John Kerry.
Not only were the Republicans not careful, they were, in fact, quite arrogant and non-apologetic about it.
When Wes Clark questioned John McCain’s ability to translate military experience to the Presidency, the media went into a tizzy about how dare he question John McCain. When MoveOn.org questioned Gen. Petreaus in the “Betray Us” ad, the media went into all out hysteria and the Democrats in Congress fell all over themselves trying to disavow MoveOn.
At this point, it should be clear to anyone above the age of 6 that the media is neck deep in league with the GOP and they will throw any tizzy that can be generated to force the Democrats to apologize for any made up slight. Yet, the Democrats fall all over themselves time and again not to “offend” lest the GOP and their media shills go into tizzy mode.
The only difference between the GOP and Democrats is that the GOP has stocked the media outlets with shills just waiting to spout the next talking point. They have surrogates on speed dial waiting to hit one talk show after another with faux outrage. They will smear, slight, and then wave it off with a shrug. It’s just politics.
When the Democrats get a surrogate who will call a spade a spade, the establishment Democrats hold their breath for the first sign of the tizzy and then run away from their surrogate as fast as they can. They did it to Wes Clark. They did it to MoveOn.
When a GOP politician gets caught in a sex scandal, they are given a standing ovation by their colleagues. When Edwards got caught in a sex scandal, the blogs were full of liberals opining about how Edwards was the scum of the earth for even daring to be a candidate with that skeleton in his closet.
Don’t you see the game? Don’t you see how, at every step, every turn, the GOP frames exactly how you should think, even if their position changes from black to white in a matter of days? And yet, the Democrats play that game time and time again.
The GOP has played the “who is more patriotic” game since 9/11. They’ve had shills on television attacking people for not wearing a flag lapel pin while they themselves didn’t wear it. When called out for it, the shill would just go into faux outrage mode.
When it comes to our troops, the GOP speak with forked-tongue. They will slime and smear anyone while throwing a hissy when someone so much as questions one of theirs. Get used to it.
When it comes to the veterans, the GOP has no problem voting against them, but, will have their shills all over the television crying when a veteran of theirs is put on the spot. Deal with it.
This came about because the GOP learned if you control the messenger you control the message. Understand that.
You want to change it? Good. Start by supporting the surrogates who are speaking the truth to power that needs to be spoken.
So, we should honor John McCain’s service? Here is what Wes Clark said:
“I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility,” said Clark, a former NATO commander who campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.
“He hasn’t been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn’t seen what it’s like when diplomats come in and say, I don’t know whether we’re going to be able to get this point through or not,” Clark said.
Schieffer noted that Obama did not have any of those experiences, nor had he “ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down.”
“Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president,” Clark said.
So, John McCain was a POW. He suffered. So did thousands of other Americans who were held in POW camps. At least John McCain wasn’t left behind by our government. So, McCain flew an airplane. So did George W. Bush and look how great of a President he’s been.
I can appreciate McCain’s service. I can sympathize with his ordeal as a POW for 5 years. But, his Vietnam experience was 35 years ago in another time and another war. If McCain is going to make his campaign about his Vietnam and military service, it is fair game. If he lies, call him a liar. If he exaggerates, point it out. If the shills try the “how dare you not honor the service of…”, ask them how “honored” Max Cleland and John Kerry were, not only by the GOP and their surrogates, but, by the GOP supporters as well.
Update:
If you think the ending of this essay was in anyway wrong, well, here is a GOP backed veterans group who said the exact same thing when attacking Sen. Hagel:
BELLAVIA: Sen. Hagel has never been shot at in Iraq, he’s never seen what an IED looks like or been detonated on. This is an individual that could embed himself instead of doing a two-day congressional delegation. Go out there, walk with the troops, see what’s going on on the ground. […]
Now, again, with Sen. Hagel – my problem with Sen. Hagel is, again, his experienced is based on what? The Mekong Delta. It’s based to Vietnam, a totally different fight, a totally different enemy, and by the way, it was 30 years ago.
Get it yet?
1 comments
Author