July 28, 2004

"I enacted the combat before I re-enacted it.."*

kerryatwar.jpg
John Kerry starring in "The Man Who Would Be King" -- Handheld Director's Cut

KERRY'S STAFF HAS STATED THAT THE MAIN THRUST of the convention is to "Reintroduce John Kerry to the American people. Too many people don't know him." Well, if things like this continue to surface, the American people are about to know Kerry all too well.

"Kerry would revisit ambush locations for reenacting combat scenes where he would portray the hero, catching it all on film.  Kerry would take movies of himself walking around in combat gear, sometimes dressed as an infantryman walking resolutely through the terrain.  He even filmed mock interviews of himself narrating his exploits.  A joke circulated among Swiftees was that Kerry left Vietnam early not because he received three Purple Hearts, but because he had recorded enough film of himself to take home for his planned political campaigns." -- DRUDGE REPORT 2004®
Sigh. There are times when the mind finally reaches the outer limits of boggle.

I don't expect politicians to be without ambition. Indeed, I expect them to have ambition by the barrel. It is the profession in which ambition's debt soars with

the National Debt and people are always dropping by your office looking for your soul's mortgage payment. Ambition is, in itself, not at all a bad thing. It is the driving force behind all that is good in the world. But as we have seen in the blood painted history of the 20th Century and this one so far, ambition is also the source of all that is evil in the world.

When I read this item, I thought of Martin Sheen. Not the Martin Sheen of the West Wing, the President that everyone dreams about, but of Martin Sheen the candidate in The Dead Zone. The film tells the tale of a man with the ability to see the future and when he touches Stillson (Martin Sheen) he sees the defining moment of the Stillson presidency to come:

Greg Stillson: Put your hand on the scanning screen, and you'll go down in history with me!
Five Star General: As what? The world's greatest mass murderers?
Greg Stillson: You cowardly bastard! You're not the voice of the people, I am the voice of the people! The people speak through me, not you!
Greg Stillson: You put your god damn hand on that scanning screen, or I'll hack it off and put it on for you!
In the film, we have a happy ending in that Stillson's career and himself are ended. But it still remains a cautionary tale of political ambition gone mad.

For a politician to be trusted with command, most sensible people would agree that ambition is not enough. Ambition needs to be tempered by a quality that is all too infrequently found in today's politicians, honor.

Honor is an old-fashioned concept that has faded from the public arena and even vast segments of the private arena in the last few decades. You probably saw it begin to leave during the Nixon years with the trend increasing in momentum through the Carter years. Honor had a brief comeback during the Reagan administration and limped along through the Bush I years before being utterly eradicated by Bill Clinton.


GWB has, to his credit, restored honor to some degree in the White House and it can perhaps be persuaded to take up permanent residence in a second term.

But all that is the political sphere, and honor among politicians like that among theives is a fungible quality, something that can always be sold in bits and pieces if the reward to ambition is sufficient.

The one real citadel on honor in American Institutions remains the armed forces.

Which is why this Kerry move from long ago made cynically made for this shining is so deeply offensive. By knowingly "reinacting" battle scenes for his own personal political ambitions, Kerry exposes himself as a man who would sacrifice honor itself for advancement.

In Civilization and Its Enemies : The Next Stage of History , Lee Harris strongly underlines how, while honor may be dispensable in politics and private life, the one place it is not dispensable is within the military. Indeed, the very foundation of our military depends upon a deeply embedded sense of honor. Honor is the only thing that stands between the city and the legions. Once that Rubicon is crossed any safety for the Republic is fatally compromised. Actions that are dishonorable within the military are actions that threaten the security of the nation at its foundations. Knowing this, the Armed Forces are one of the few institutions where honor codes are taken seriously, as well they should be. It is an honorable thing to perform acts in battle that advance victory and save lives because it is the right thing to do at the time. To do so mainly in the hope that these actions will result in personal glory and decoration is the mark of man with no honor. Heroes do not seek glory and medals, they are only the tokens of actions taken out of altruism and courage, not from ambition and venality.

Shakespeare is clear about honor, as are the great military and political figures from our past and present. To choose to go and fight for your country is, without dispute, a thing of honor and should be respected by all. To choose to go and fight for your country in order to acquire footage to further your mean and low political ambitions, is shameful and dishonorable. It cannot be seen as anything else. he who would do it is without shame, without honor and unworthy of any elected position.

When the sort of man who would 'reinact his combat feats' for his own gain is paired with a man whose work as a trial lawyer was to use the poor and the injured to build up his own fortune you have, at last, an offering to the American people that has neither honor, nor shame, but only blind and destructive ambition. You have, finally, a slate that is not even worthy of trust much less high office.

It is, I suppose, not surprising, but still deeply depressing that so many of my fellow citizens think so little of themselves that they would support such a choice. The only thing to say to them now seems to be:"Have you no shame? At long last, have you no shame?"

===

Title coined by Beezlebubba

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Posted by Vanderleun at July 28, 2004 11:30 AM | TrackBack
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AMERICAN DIGEST HOME
"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

If anyone wants to see the facts about Kerry, go
to:
Kerrylied.com
wintersoldier.com
Swiftvets.com
It is all there on these websites, and they should be read before thinking this grand show
of his is real. The vets are trying to get the truth
about Kerry to the people as they do not in any
way want Kerry to be president. They are also
fighting for their reputation that he destroyed
when he returned home.

Posted by: Carole at July 28, 2004 12:31 PM

I wouldn't vote for Kerry in a million years, but I have to say that I don't think we should be ridiculing his military service. Perhaps he did have ulterior motives in going to Vietnam, but he went, and by doing so he put his life on the line. Yes, I know, Bush flew jets in the National Guard, which is risky too, but it's simply not the same kind of risk that Kerry willingly took. Again, I am a confirmed Bush voter, but it just seems silly to me to be making fun of Kerry's military service.

Posted by: Steve at July 28, 2004 12:43 PM

I'm not ridiculing his service. I am merely pointing out that it was without honor.

Posted by: Gerard Van der Leun at July 28, 2004 12:56 PM

I will be interested to see what comes out once Kerry is the official nominee with no turning back.

Posted by: Oscar at July 28, 2004 3:23 PM

Re. the Swiftvets link. Does that come down to near zero. I would conclude, taking the site at face value, his reviews in the harshest reading amount to, you don't have a very high career ladder in the navy.

Re. Gerard's "To choose to go and fight for your country in order to acquire footage to further your mean and low political ambitions, is shameful and dishonorable." Is a conclusion supported by undisclosed evidence still lurking in some corner of your fevered mind.

Posted by: Charles Croninger at July 28, 2004 9:24 PM

It isn't ridiculing to point out that Kerry has admitted to war crimes in Cambodia. And it isn't ridiculing to point out how he turned his back on his country by becoming an anti-war traitor. Opposing your country at a time of war gives comfort to the enemy. And that's treason, my friend.

Posted by: Floyd Jackson at September 19, 2004 9:14 PM
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