Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

Veterans’ Day, 2007

Today is, of course, Veterans Day. I have a piece on the topic in today’s National Review Online. In it, I make the point that the recent Scott Thomas Beauchamp affair at The New Republic is only the latest illustration of the undeniable predisposition on the part of the press to believe the worst about American troops. This is something that began with Vietnam.

Thanks to Peter for reminding everyone that Saturday was the 232nd birthday of the United States Marine Corps. I always receive a birthday greeting from one of my old colleagues, Jack Higgins. When I do, I am reminded that Jack and the other Marines with whom I served in Vietnam were the best men I have ever known. I will never forget them, or the ones who didn’t make it back.

Our Marine birthday ball on Saturday in Newport was spectacular. BTW, so was my date. What can I say? The heavenly Doreen always makes me look awfully good. Semper Fi, Marines.

Discussions - 7 Comments

Beautifully said, Mac. I sent it out to my list today. Though I am not worthy to say it, I'll say it anyway: Semper Fi, old friend.

I am not worthy to say it.

What IS the Semper Fi etiquette? My cousin, a retired Lt Col and Vietnam vet, once told me (when I hesitated saying it) that a Marine is happy to hear it from one he respects, even if a non-Marine. Do other Marines share this view?

Mac,

I would like to thank you for your service to our country and Constitution.

It really is a shame that the media feels the need to dehumanize those who were in Vietnam, as well as those fighting abroad today. The very belittlement of the war itself serves as a blatant condemnation of the warriors who so bravely fight (and sometimes die) for the cause. Our boys need to keep trucking on and doing what they do best, though.

I hope I have the fortitude to do what those before me have done (and continue to do).

Semper Fi

John

It's not merely belittling the war, the war-effort, the stakes. It's an out and out attack upon martial virtue and the warrior ethos. It began when they forced women into the Academies. That was what they were intending, and they're quite open about it. Conservatives are reluctant to broach that subject, {not this Conservative however...}. It was just another outrage following the election of "the Watergate babies," {some of the most radical and irresponsible elected officials in American history}. That was one of their many responses to th Vietnam war, along with the War Powers Act, and other things, well documented of course in Steve Hayward's tour de force, THE AGE OF REAGAN, THE FALL OF THE OLD LIBERAL ORDER, 1964 - 1980.

Many are infected with moral and cultural relativism, but also pacifism, as toxic, and dangerous a brew as there ever was.

"That was what they were intending, and they're quite open about it. Conservatives are reluctant to broach that subject, {not this Conservative however...}."

Of course not, Dan. You're bravely fighting the good fight here at NLT. I'm sure it's not easy to state such controversial opinions on a site like this, so God bless you for having the testicular fortitude to do so! Semper Fi, keyboard warrior!

So one has to be a veteran to have an opinion on the current state of the American military, Coach Dawson? More likely, I suspect, one has to have been a veteran in order to have a point of view different from yours. Very sporting attitude, coach.

Viet Nam War Memorial Defaced

I just became aware today of the defacement of the Viet Nam War memorial in Washington courtesy of my blogger colleague, Lew Waters. It appears that the incident happened sometime around September 7. The perpetrators are as yet unknown. It appears that someone sprayed an oily substance onto parts of the wall which have caused damage to the marble surface and affected the legibility of many of the names. Aside from the outrage this is causing many of us, I am asking- Why didn't the mainstream news media cover this story?


Let's talk first about the outrage we feel toward the perpetrators. That some segment of our society is so twisted with hate for our country and its military to commit this kind of act sickens me to my stomach. Yet, it doesn't surprise me. We indeed have a segment of our population, almost exclusively on the far-left, that hates America. They want us to lose in Iraq, and they want this country to collapse into the mire, so that people like them can reshape it into their own preferred model. Lew, in his blog, was seething with rage-to the point of using profanities to describe his contempt for the perpetrators. I don't blame him one bit. I myself knew and grew up with two men whose names are on that wall. While I served in Germany during the Viet Nam War, they went to Viet Nam and died, not yet 21, one receiving a Silver Star in the process.


As Lew so eloquently points out, our Viet Nam veterans were despised by the far-left, largely on our university campuses during that conflict. Many were shunned, even spat upon when they returned home, never receiving the respect and gratitude they deserved. They watched while one of their own, John Kerry, savaged them and called them murderers, parlaying his fame with Viet Nam Veterans Against the War into a US Senate seat. Is it any wonder that many of them are still walking around with psychological scars, in some cases, drug-addicted and homeless? They were betrayed by counter-culture bums of their own age who did everything they could to evade military service-most notably, Bill Clinton.


Today, we have the children of that mixed generation (my generation) pulling the same antics, disrespecting our soldiers, past and present. We have a political party that runs Congress, many of whose leaders have called our soldiers Nazis, operators of Soviet gulags who terrorize Iraqi women and children in the middle of night, bomb villages and commit cold-blooded murder and torture. Want some names? How about John Kerry, Dick Durban, John Murtha and Barack Obama?


Our Viet Nam vets were also betrayed by the liberal elite in our country. It is commonly said by many on the left that Viet Nam was a military defeat for America. It wasn't. Our soldiers were never defeated in a single battle by the enemy. It was a political defeat because the country and its leadership at home lost the will to continue.


Speaking of the liberal elite, have you noticed how many liberal blogs marked Veterans Day? Very few. The only thing I found on Daily Kos was an article whose theme was Veterans as homeless people-no tribute to the noble job they did while in service. In contrast, the overwhelming majority of conservative blogs posted tributes to our veterans and current military to mark Veterans Day. Shouldn't that tell you something about which side is right?


My next issue is why are we now just hearing about this defacement that apparently occurred on or about September 7. Doing a Google search on "Viet Nam Wall Defaced", it seems that the only sector reporting on this incident is the conservative blogosphere. What about the Mainstream Media? Missing in action, folks, as usual. Why? Because to report this story just might awaken some patriotic outrage on the part of the public-the last thing the MSM wants to do. This only reinforces the obvious fact that the MSM selectively reports stories that further their leftist agenda while ignoring or downplaying those that run counter to that agenda.


Make no mistake about it, we are engaged in battle for the direction this country will go. If the elements that would deface the Viet Nam War Memorial-probably the most moving memorial in our land- prevail in this battle, then America will go right down the drain and suddenly, like the Soviet Union, collapse like house of cards.

gary fouse
fousesquawk

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