Former senator and presidental candidate George McGovern. (File photo)
Posted on 11/14/2005 4:58:17 PM PST by SJackson
Former senator and presidental candidate George McGovern. (File photo)
The man whose candidacy for the presidency this newspaper enthusiastically championed in 1971 and 1972 returns to Madison today to deliver a distinguished lecture, and it is with great pride and pleasure that we welcome George McGovern back to the city that had the wisdom to want him - as opposed to Richard Nixon - as its president.
McGovern will deliver the University of Wisconsin Law School's Robert W. Kastenmeier Lecture at 7:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Union Theater, 800 Langdon St. And he has chosen an appropriate theme: "The Iraq War: Lessons From the Past."
McGovern's 1972 presidential candidacy held out the promise of a rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from the quagmire that was Vietnam. As a decorated World War II veteran - a bomber pilot - and a historian who served in both the U.S. House and the Senate for the better part of two decades, McGovern knew that ending the war and getting this country's troops out of harm's way was not merely wise but also patriotic.
Unfortunately, the 1972 campaign saw the beginning of a politics of personal destruction that warped the electoral process beyond recognition. McGovern's wisdom and patriotism were attacked by Nixon's dirty tricksters and media that portrayed the heroic World War II veteran as a wide-eyed pacifist.
McGovern lost badly. As a result, thousands of additional American soldiers and tens of thousands of additional Vietnamese civilians died needlessly.
More than 30 years later, the American political process has degenerated to an even more troubling place than it was in 1972.
In the 2004 campaign, a Vietnam War veteran, John Kerry, was portrayed as soft on national defense and unpatriotic, while a man whose family used its political connections to ensure that he would not serve in Vietnam, George Bush, was presented as the great defender of America's security in a troubled world.
A year later, the United States is sinking deeper into the quagmire that is Iraq. And there are still too few wise voices calling for the only appropriate action: the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Indeed, as McGovern arrives in Madison, President Bush is once more attempting to "sell" the case for a war that was founded on lies about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that never posed a threat.
McGovern, who from the start has been a wise and consistent critic of the Bush administration's misguided policies regarding the Middle East, has much to offer the current debate. He is a military veteran who knows the horrors of war, and who recognizes well that there are times when Americans must fight. He is, as well, a political veteran who recognizes that when an unnecessary war is spinning out of control, it is right to open a debate about how to end it.
His wisdom is needed now more than ever.
It has been a long time since we were privileged to endorse his candidacy for the presidency. But we are not inclined to withdraw it quite yet.
Indeed, were it left to this newspaper, we would gladly replace George Bush, a man who avoided serving his country in a time of war but has few qualms about sending others to die for it, with George McGovern, a man who proudly served when his country called but who has always recognized that the call must be made only when it is absolutely necessary.
So we issue our endorsement once more: McGovern for president.
Nice to see a map that gets the colors RIGHT. Red is for Commie 'RATS. Blue is for Republicans.
Man now that is a WHOLE new level of Stuck on Stupid!!!
A donkey is just a donkey but a Democrat is a Jacka$$
LOL!
That is the first thing I thought when I took a look at the campaign button.
Ain't no way that'll work!
Blessings, Bobo
Most politicians are charming people; that's how they are able to succeed as politicians. Not many are miserable sonofabitches.
That said, McGovern was totally deluded in 72 and the people who write this newspaper are barking mad.
Many of our troubles in the last quarter of the Bloody Twentieth (century) and many of our troubles today stem from not following through with JFK's insight, "We need to make our power credible... and it looks like Vietnam is the place."
McGovern would have surrendered; and indeed, in the Senate, he took part in decisions that were tantamount to surrender. Appeasement, surrender and collaboration have been the hallmark of his party ever since. George McGovern and Gene McCarthy destroyed the Democratic party, starting the decline that has driven the party's patriots out, leaving only peace-at-any-price appeaseniks and I'll-give-you-my-neighbour-if-you-eat-me-last cowards.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
I met him a couple of times, he is a good guy. McGovern was working in Rome a few years ago on the issue of world hunger (not sure of his current gig), very informed and quite sincere. Don't know if he would or would not have made a good president, but he is an honorable man who served his country very well in WWll.
I'd vote for Maureen McGovern first.
Sen. McGovern conducted himself with dignity, and spoke about his convictions in words that would be far too mild, for today's screaming democrat liars.
Of course McGovern was and is wrong on most issues, but I respect the man. Sadly that cannot be said about the majority of democrats today.
You're right, of course. Although I was too young to vote in '72 I knew even then that McGovern would have been a disasterous president, as did the country as a whole. Still, it was interesting having dinner with him.
BTW, the only other prominent politician I ever spent any time with was Jimmy Carter in '75. He was a surprisingly charismatic, compelling and intelligent-seeming person one-on-one, which allowed him to win the Dem nomination. I had very high hopes for him and was stunned at how dreadful he was as President.
Geez, at least somebody gets it right about McGovern.
Congrats!
Charming. Yeah. But did you ever notice, when he smiles and shows his teeth (like when somebody disagrees with him)?
That's not a smile, it's an enraged snarl. SCREW HIM!
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