Courage under fire
A comment (from frequent visitor "Senator PhilABuster") responding to Ace of Spades' convention round-up sums up Senator Kerry's speech well:
"Imagine we believe in science,And Ace himself is no slouch in his remarks:
and the wonders of discovery too,
Curing Aids and Alzheimers,
With stem cells isn't hard to do.Imagine there's no children,
unsafe after school.
Imagine that our leaders,
eliminated hatred too.You may say, I'm a dreamer.
But I'm not the only one.
I hope some day, you'll join us.
And John Edwards and I can live as one."
(W)hen New York is bombed - this time, bombed hard enough to shut down large sections of the city and leave me dead - I'll at least be comforted by the notion that John Kerry confronted my killers with principle.I still have hope. I think Kerry's self-congratulatory salute mocks his aborted service in Vietnam more than it exalts it. When I heard his line, "Reporting for duty," I thought it might sound persuasive. But when you see him do it, he looks like little John Jr. at JFK's funeral - an infant with no understanding of responsibility. I think it actually enhances the facts: that he left Vietnam early, movie camera in hand, with enough tape to support his political career, that he led the forces of surrender who spat on his fellow servicemen as they returned, and accused those brave men of unspeakable crimes they did not commit.
We've been saying, "We don't question Kerry's service. We question what came after." But let us add this caveat: we also don't applaud his service beyond the recognition it deserves. He may deserve some respect, but a true Hero would not have fled the field. And the truest heroes still lie buried underneath it.
The American people have yet to hear from the Commander-in-Chief in New York. As a boy, unlike Kerry, he did not step on that field. But as a man, unlike Kerry, he has stayed and fought, and not shirked from his duty, and he has invited personal sacrifice.
He returned to Washington when his advisors told him it was not safe.
He visited New York when it still burned and his advisors told him it was not safe.
He stood in an open stadium and resolutely tempted assassination when his advisors told him it was not safe.
He asked that he be the first to receive the smallpox vaccination when his troops feared it was not safe.
And when many in the world told him we did not have enough cause to topple a brutal dictator who murdered his own people, who consorted with terrorists - some of whom have and would again attack us, and his opposition said the whole world called him reckless and irresponsible and they would not support him, and they would rip his presidency apart, he did what was right for America and not what was safe for his political career.
He did not tire, he did not falter, and under his leadership, "We will not fail".
UPDATE: Al-Khaliq is thinking as I am.
Comments
I respect you for standing up for what you believe in... it is not easy being black and Catholic. But I think we need to be very careful of these Swift Boat Guys... we should not embrace them, without looking more carefully... and it seems that the author is a virulent anti-Catholic bigot. The particulars on Jerome Corsi, the author, can be found here:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200408060010
The site leans liberal, but the links are to Jerome Corsi (the author's) actual anti-
Catholic posts under "JRLC," so it seems credible.
It is very very important that we do not embrace the wicked in an attempt to do good. These folks, I think, are rotten... I am not sure if they are motivated by anti-Catholicism, but clearly there is a lot of hatred there.
Posted by: Timothy102 | August 7, 2004 08:41 AM
That the Swift Boat vets chose to get themselves vicious partisans to help them do their work is disappointing, because I seriously believe the underlying case doesn't require the assistance of such folk. But what John Kerry has been doing to hurt the faith is far more serious, due to the insidious nature of his heresy - when anti-Catholicism is blatant and irrational, it's easier to dismiss.
While plenty of Democrats play the rough-and-tumble game of politics without shame, I can imagine it would require going to guys like this to find Republicans willing to match their trash. Taking the guy's previous comments out of the setting they were in, and possibly out of context, is an attempt to divert your attention from FACTS, and elicit the exact response you give them. (Yes, I agree there's not much context that might excuse it, but all the same...)
The Democrats have been calling Republicans "Hitler" (and worse) long enough - the Swift Boaters are neither starting nor escalating, merely responding in kind. It was Kerry who decided to run on his status as a Vietnam vet, despite the fact that he worked to undermine his own service and his fellow veterans as soon as he got back to the States. So what exactly his record is becomes fair game. It's a terrible shame that politics devolves into this kind of slash-and-burn, but I'm not fond of showing up to a gunfight armed with a spoon. You've got to fight to win, or don't bother to fight at all.
Ironically, that's the lesson we learn from Vietnam.
BTW: I think you might be confused about something. More of an explanation here.
Posted by: Chris | August 8, 2004 03:07 AM