Lessons to be learned

I sit here early on the morning of the Wednesday after Election Day - various pundits chatting about the surprises - who no longer has a job, how many lawyers will be dispatched to which counties, and where the balance of power will ultimately fall. Several years ago, I would have been crushed at the results - a lifelong Republican, and devoted follower of the conservative agenda, it would seem as if the Iraq war and the animosity towards further involvement in the middle east had turned the tide against the Republicans.
For some reason, I am not that bothered by it. First of all, after having controlled the Senate, Congress and Executive branch for lo these many years, what do we have to show for it on the domestic front? Many bills of massive spending and a departure from the Conservative plank of limited and small government. Maybe a little more gridlock is good. Secondly, it seems as if those elected and the Democratic gains are not of the Barney Frank / Hillary Clinton ilk - Heath Shuler is a perfect example - conservative, evangelical christian democrat. I would be interested in seeing the conservative / liberal balance of power in congress....
But probably the best reason that I am not that worried about the direction this country is headed is exactly this change of power. Many influential, powerful, key members of the former "ruling" party no longer have jobs. Many new members of congress will be reporting for work with their own agendas. Yet, this transition will occur without rioting in the streets, looting, bombs going off, or death squads roaming the streets. I think that many of us fail to realize how lucky we have it here. The very separation of Church and State provided by the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, which has been such a pain in the A@# to us over the last few years in the ACLU's attempts to remove the Ten Commandments are removed from every last public forum also prevent planks of our parties from declaring party affiliation to a particular religious figurehead.
Right now in Iraq, there is a political party affiliated with Moqtada Al-Sadr, the radical Shiite Religious leader with a stronghold in southeastern Baghdad. Legislative debates must include a religious viewpoint as well as political necessities....and you thought the debate in the House was politically charged? When one draws battle lines across religious divisions as well as political beliefs, it is a recipe for much animosity, and little agreement. Death Squads roam the street right now in an obscene twist on our version of "get out the vote" drives......Get out the vote or else....
As we awake to a new political environment, the many millions of us will continue on to work, bring our kids to football practice, and run to the store to pick up groceries for dinner. We may grumble, adjust our stock portfolios, or even begin to lobby for changes in future legislation if we are so actively inclined. I guarantee, none of you will be buying body armor or an AK-47 to protect your families. None of you will be staying up until 5AM every night to make sure that a death squad doesn't invade your home. There will not be a single person in the United States that arranges an escape of them and their family to Canada or Mexico to avoid the political fallout of a change of power (hell, it wasn't even bad enough for Alec Baldwin to leave many years ago, even though he promised!!!!)
And still with all of our political stability and the miracle of Democracy proving its worth once again here, I am amazed at the sheer tenacity and determination of the Iraqi people as they quite literally risk their lives and security to make their fledgling democracy work. If we learn nothing else from this election, it should be to appreciate what we have here in the US, and to continue to support those young democracies trying to carve out their own version of the same. Yes, we will change our stance in Iraq over the next few years - maybe not "cut and run" as some had postulated should the control of the Congress changed, and maybe not "stay the course" as some had predicted if the Congress remained in Republican hands. I believe however that whatever comes of this change in political winds, we should make sure that we support those in Iraq trying so desperately to obtain the same luxury of participating in the political process as we do - in peace.

John Kerry's Apology

(Photo copied from the Drudge Report 11/2/06, courtesy of the 1/34th Brigade Combat team currently serving in Iraq. http://www.minnesotanationalguard.org/units/unit_template.php?unit=134bc )

A man meets a gorgeous woman in a bar. They hit if off, and end up leaving together. They get back to her place, and as she shows him around her apartment, he notices that her bedroom is littered with teddy bears.
Hundreds of small bears sit on a shelf near the floor, Medium sized bears are on the next shelf up, and huge bears line the top shelf. The man is kind of surprised that this woman would have so prolific a collection of teddy bears, but he opts not to make mention of it.

After a night of passion, as they are lying together in the afterglow, the man rolls over and asks, smiling, “Well, how was it?” The woman says, “You can have any prize from the bottom shelf.”

(yeah, I know that I am unoriginal, but I will be damned if anyone accuses me of plagiarism!!! Joke courtesy of Maxim online at http://www.maximonline.com/jokes/index.aspx?joke_id=899 )

That, my friends is humor. Unlike our sour puss Senator from Massachusetts. Earlier in the week, Senator Kerry tried his hand at standup by telling the crowd to which he was speaking "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," http://washingtontimes.com/national/20061101-122223-6901r.htm.

While I can't find another quote his campaign said was what was written, I believe what his speechwriter meant to say was something to the effect of - Make the most of your education, for if you are intellectually lazy, fail to do your homework, don't study, or are just plain stupid, you are bound to get us stuck in a war in Iraq - just ask President Bush.

While I disagree with his point, I can see some humor behind his statement. Mildly amusing as are most political jokes, but ineffective and forgettable....until the good Senator "botched" it. He has spent the next several days backpedalling, first refusing to apologize - standing up to the echoes of the swiftboat campaign, and finally after members of his own party registered their disgust, responded with the following: "As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop. I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended." http://www.johnkerry.com/news/releases/release.html?id=37

And in typical thought provoking, tongue in cheek response, our Vice President responded - "Vice President Dick Cheney devoted much of his speech at a campaign event in Montana to Kerry, capped with an unbotched joke: ``He was for the joke before he was against it.'' - http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_carlson&sid=a5KJC9v8VErE

So where does this sit with the folks in the desert? A majority of us feel much the same as the 1/34th pictured above. There is an old saying - you don't have to respect the man, but you must respect the rank. We are professionals, and should I meet Senator Kerry while in uniform, I would not hesitate to salute the rank. But much like the "botched" joke he told, we feel his support is "botched". Aside from the poor little rich kid attitude, who is upset because he can't have his way and be president after all, there is something unbecoming of a competitor that fails to lose gracefully. For someone with aspirations in 2008, it is even more unbecoming. Botched joke or not, it brings into focus the entire thought process and failing logic of the anti-war left - war is evil, and we must only use our military as a last resort, and only in limited means. Thank God these people weren't more popular sixty five years ago - of course, back then they were called Communists.

Bottom line is that there are many opposed to the war - even here in the desert (I know this from personal research having spent some time reading the bathroom stall walls). Then again, anyone who has spent time in a HMMWV hoping that an IED won't turn you into a bloody mist is generally against any action that could prolong your stay in the "cradle of civilization". But even still, the point is that we are here. One could go back through the annals of history and find fault with nearly every conflict we have ever engaged in - Gulf of Tonkin...did they really fire upon us?, Pearl Harbor - we court martialed Admiral Kimmel because he did not "anticipate" the surprise attack, How many generals did Lincoln go through in the Civil War?

The reality of course is that nearly three years later, and almost 3000 gone, we can never go back and change things. To continue to harp upon "faulty intelligence" and "irresponsible aggression" is stupid, disingenuous, and wrong headed - and it does absolutely nothing for the men and women on the ground, but make us feel like what we are doing is not worthwhile. And in the middle of a war, that is the worst possible thing you can do. Regardless of why or how we got here, there is a gunner in a Bradley, a driver in a HMMWV, and a Truck Commander in a Styker right now, driving through the streets of a place that doesn't really want them there. They are sharp, attentive and motivated. Working as a team, these kids HAVE to believe in what they are doing - any other choice would be suicide.

How many of you, driving to work in stop and go traffic every day hate your job, hate your boss, and want nothing more than to run away? How difficult is that drive? How tough is it to even get out of bed? Now imagine that on your way to work, you must be 1000% attentive, because there are snipers, roadside bombs and angry mobs that will kill you, torture you, and mutilate your body if you happen to lose focus for one second. Makes that drive a little more interesting, doesn't it?

Now imagine that same scenario, only the drive to work never changes - eight hours on the road, seven days a week, 365 days a year (longer in the case of some brigades that got extended), to include even Christmas Day. Imagine that you are anywhere from a boot 19 year old gunner, to a "hardened experienced" 26 year old staff sergeant in command of the patrol. In your kevlar, you have a picture of your girlfriend, wife, kids, whatever. You spend downtime playing PSP, computer games, or chatting online. You carry your M16 with you 24/7/365, cleaning it daily as a reminder of when you may have to use it. Now imagine how much harder this would be, knowing that a growing minority of people out there think that what you are doing is wrong, misguided, and that you should stop,......but you are supported!

The myth that we can support the troops, but that we can be against the war is faulty logic and wrong. Botched joke or not, I call it botched support. It gets down to ground truth out here in the sandbox when the bullets are flying - you either support, or you do not support. You are for the troops or against them. You believe, or you go home a wreck, angry, or in a body bag.

Personally, I don't think that Senator Kerry's performance even rated a prize from the lowest shelf - try again next time chump!