Posted on 10/19/2004 1:59:44 PM PDT by hipaatwo
As for Anne-drew S. He is a woman, so he thinks like a woman. He reserves the right to change his mind, as that is a woman's prerogative.
I'm very surprised that Andrew Sullivan posted this e-mail. Perhaps he took some of it to heart.
Kerry keeps attacking President Bush for the 30% mistakes, but the American people are seeing the 70% victory in Iraq. That's why Kerry will lose this election. If he had JUST ONCE in the debates acknowledged any sense of what this soldier says, he might have had a chance. But he couldn't. Not because he doesn't get it; he does. But he doesn't think WE get it.
Wow. His 2 + 2 example is about the best and clearest explanation I have seen of the problems with a lot of the second guessing.
Give Sullivan credit where due. He is not a Bush-hater or a Dem shill, but the problems in post war Iraq (plus his gay white whale) have turned him into a Kerry apologist. That's why this letter is so perfect for him.
AMEN - Do something, even if wrong, and keep on doing something - that the way we learn and not to repeat mistakes!!!
HOLY COW THAT IS AWESOME.
Indeed.
I have read Mr. Sullivan on and off, and one thing sticks with me - he's a guy who thinks. Seriously. It is rare for someone who posts their opinions in public to approach their own opinions critically. Sure, he doesn't do it every day. Sure, he's wrong. But he's one of the very few public personalities who I know will examine himself and his conclusions - and who will, no matter the embarassment, admit mistakes.
If a man is a thinking man, he looks at himself often and critically. If a man has guts, he can admit he's been wrong.
I hold hope that Mr. Sullivan gets a spark from this letter and starts re-evaluating his positions.
Never happen. I used to donate to Sullivan's blog. When W expressed support for the marriage amendment his queer gene took over. W hasn't done anything right since. Sullivan has gone the Brock route.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat.
-Teddy Roosevelt
April 23, 1910
Very nice. The support of the military was never in doubt, but I always wondered why considering, like this soldier says, that they are the ones suffering for the Presidents actions. It was a very insightful email, answered a question for me, and further shows just what outstanding men and women make up our military.
Sullivan is thinker -- except where homosexuality is concerned. Then the mind stops. Unfortunately ever since the President came out for the Marriage Amendment this election has been about one issue and one issue only for Sullivan. All his tortured explanations of why Kerry would be just as good for the war on terror are purely transparent rationalizations. He's supporting Kerry because he knows that Kerry won't lift a finger to stop court-imposed "gay marriage," period. It's sad to see a smart man so tied in knots.
If I wasn't in pretty good shape, this would have given me a heart attack. This was a letter from a young Marine, not a soldier. As fine an Army General as Patton was, Marines didn't need to learn a damn thing from him. We had then and have now our own heroes and combat leaders.
Can't help the rather visceral reaction...its sort of in the blood.
No, he didn't post the name.
Bump.
For Sullivan the equation is thus:
Bush's profligate spending + trouble in post-war Iraq + Bush support for FMA = middling support for Kerry despite innumerable faults.
He's one of the most tortured guys out there, that's for sure.
That is just the impression I have gotten since Bush proposes that marriage amendment. The cheap shots he has taken at Bush and convincing himself that Bush could do a better job with lame logic or saying Kerry slam dunked the debates because a CNN poll says so shows he is clearly angry at Bush even if he does not hate him outright.
I'm not sure what that is, but I think I agree. You sift through heaps of dull verbage on the web, then you come across something as crisply argued as this letter, and it stands out.
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