Posted on 05/26/2006 3:23:30 PM PDT by RWR8189
JOHN McCAIN IS, without a doubt, heroic.
Disagree with his politics, mistrust his shifting political alliances, but no one who's benefited from the tortured sacrifices he made at the Hanoi Hilton should question his integrity. How can we, whole in body and strangers to the hell he experienced, challenge this patriot? To do so indicates a fundamental inhumanity.
That aptly describes the young woman who stood up last week and ridiculed the senator from Arizona. Jean Sara Rohe, a graduating senior at the New School in New York, introduced McCain before he delivered his commencement address.
Ms. Rohe took the opportunity to attack McCain because he supports the war in Iraq, making him a proxy for the president she and her ilk so obviously detest. Her words, dripping with the elite disdain perfected by liberals, is an example of how the pampered progeny of the boomers are always demanding rights without acknowledging prior debts.
The righteous Ms. Rohe was only able to give voice to her beliefs because of McCain and others like him who sacrificed their youth (and, in some cases, their lives) to secure the freedom of strangers. You wonder what sacrifices this young woman has ever made for her country, or if she even thinks it merits the effort.
The disrespect didn't stop there. At one point, the school's president, Bob Kerrey, admonished the crowd to let McCain speak, dryly noting that it takes courage to stand at a lectern but none to scream from the crowd.
The response? Kerrey, who left part of his own leg on a battlefield in Vietnam and who received the Medal of Honor, was called a "war criminal." Given the caliber of the accuser, this is actually high praise.
To hear these things makes my blood boil. What type of people are we, so mired in our partisan anger, that we dare attack the few and singular examples of valor in our midst?
McCain, Kerrey and their comrades deserve respect and gratitude. If we disagree with their politics, the remedy is at the ballot box. But to label as "criminals" men who withstood physical assaults that make Abu Ghraib look tame? Citizenship is wasted on such as these.
Like Vietnam, Iraq is a lightning rod for controversy. Many Americans genuinely feel that we should never have invaded a country that (they say) posed no strategic threat. Many others believe that the threat existed, and provide salient arguments to counter the tired claim of "the president lied." Still others believe that even though the invasion was flawed in its execution, it was a necessary exercise of executive authority. Our country is divided, and the rhetorical battles are as fierce as the real ones.
But regardless of our personal convictions, there is no place in public discourse for the rantings of spoiled children who have never risked life or limb for the greater good. The First Amendment protects their right to protest, even though it is defiled by the content of their thoughts. Unfortunately, it doesn't endow them with courage or character.
Of course, some would disagree. Arianna Huffington has called Ms. Rohe fearless, or words to that effect. Others have praised Jodie Foster, who graced our local Penn graduates with a nice rap song and some ruminations on how we squandered the good will of the world's people.
Still others think that Mumia Abu-Jamal has something of value to impart from his seat on death row. Cop-killers, actresses and clueless little girls. Our graduates are truly blessed.
What most upsets me is that hardly anyone in the liberal community has criticized the attack on McCain. Remember the outrage at "swift-boating" and the indignant defense of Jack Murtha?
Those who were rightly upset at the mud thrown in John Kerry's direction are conveniently silent when it comes from their own side. Those who said we should listen to Murtha's call for an immediate withdrawal of troops because of his war record turn their backs on McCain and stigmatize Kerrey. Their hypocrisy is limitless.
My wish for Ms. Rohe is that, away from the admiring cameras and accompanied only by her conscience, she make as great a mark on society as John McCain and his brothers-in-arms. But I doubt it. The only Hilton she'll ever occupy belongs to Paris' daddy.
I guess this is when we all get on the "George Allen" bandwagon...
:-)
I can always find something to argue about.
Seriously, does anyone know how Allen voted today on the Shamnesty?
If memory serves, Benedict Arnold was once considered a war hero and a true patriot. That is not why he is remembered today.
Lest anyone miss my point, I am not saying that John McCain is another traitor like Benedict Arnold. What I am saying is that prior service, even heroic service, does not automatically make a man into a saint, above criticism. We can appreciate John McCain's sacrifices for his country and yet oppose him when he is wrong. And yes, we have the right to question his integrity, especially when he is aspiring to be president.
We did not lose! By we I mean all of the US military personnel that served in Vietnam. The NVA did not defeat us. The hostilities ended when US public opinion convinced politicians to withdraw the troops. If you don't remember this action, stay tuned as a rerun is in progress.
Allen voted "NO" the other senator from Virginia (Liz Taylor's former husband) Warner voted "YES"
This is because Allen knows the American people are not with the Senate on this terrible bill. Warner is not running for President.
GO Allen!!!!
Yeah, like when does one's military service render one's political views as being completely immune to disagreement or criticism, now and forever?
McCain's politics suck. sKerry's politics suck. Kerrey's politics suck. Murtha's politics REALLY suck. And George McGovern's politics cannot possibly suck enough!
Come and get me, coppers!
He deserves respect for his service. He deserves a huge amount of disrespect for his authoritarian and self-serving policies as a politician. It's a net loss as far as I'm concerned.
Well, we can say with considerable justification that McCaine is the Manchurian candidate in the flesh. The probability of being under the influence of some aging soviet is higher than a nuclear device in a shipping container.
Nope, I make two.
I agree we should be civil to McCain, but I believe this bashing from the left is all part of the triangulation to make McCain look more conservative and thereby gain a "veteran hero" sympathy vote. It will make some conservatives lean towards McCain because the "Dems" supposedly don't like him. We should be respectful but he is still a frigin nut case, dishonest like Cunningham and sure as hell is not conservative.
LOL. Short and to the point...and I agree entirely.
Allen voted against.
guess she thinks illegals are more qualified to be citizens as does her hero?
??
??
John McCain has courted the left for so long that they think he's one of them (see recent Kingley piece), and the conservatives know he's not one of them.
So...for some lib to castigate him for his rightward turns as we approach election time is not surprising to me at all.
The man is not to be trusted.
LOL
Excuse me .. while I'm willing to honor his service .. his cowardice in daily dealings in the Senate and against President Bush .. make me wonder just how "heroic" he was when he was in prison ..??
I don't trust this guy .. and even if by some freak of nature, he ends up as the repub nominee .. I will have a very difficult time voting for him - even against Hillary.
In that case, it's hard for me not to believe all this was just a planned publicity stunt for Mr. McCain.
For too many on this thread, this is about McCain's politics, so it's OK for him to be dissed by a snot-nosed little twerp who probably cries when she breaks a nail.
Sinkspur, I don't like her politics, but she did not interrupt McCain.
It very clearly says she was the one chosen to introduce him.
She did him a favor, though. Now he gets to look conservative for a weekend news cycle.
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