Whom Do You Think You’re Fooling?
Whom Do You Think You’re Fooling?
By: W Stovall Witte III
Democrats seeking nomination for the 2008 Presidential election must think the American people are pretty gullible. How else can one explain the location and the format they’ve chosen for their next national debate?
You see, on Monday, July 23rd, the South Carolina Democratic Party is hosting all the candidates at the Citadel. They arranged this knowing that an audience of uniformed cadets would attend, so as to offer the national television audience a tacit military endorsement for their leftist, anti-military positions.
What’s worse is my fellow students at the Citadel won’t even be allowed to ask questions of the candidates. They are to be seen but not heard, as all questions for the debate must be submitted in advance through the internet site YouTube. CNN is televising the debate and will have the prerogative to ignore tough questions, such as the candidates’ views on the military.
Liberals have a long history of undercutting our military recruiting efforts and scuttling every piece of legislation that gives our armed forces the necessary tools to defend America. They do not seem to understand that, regardless how one feels about the current war itself, complete support for the members of our armed forces AND their mission is needed so as not to dishonor anyone in the military. Or, if they do, debating at The Citadel seems distastefully ironic.
Citadel Cadets deserve to hear these candidates answer the questions that concern us, particularly since they are exploiting our school and our distinguished heritage of selfless national service for their own personal political gain.
These candidates all declare to “support the troops,” but we need to examine what they have done to see if these oft-heard words ring true.
While dodging the call to serve during Vietnam, Bill Clinton wrote that he “loathed” the military. Have any of these candidates, particularly Hillary, ever publicly condemned Bill’s statement or his draft-dodging actions?
What about the words of John Kerry, who has stated our armed forces are in the business of “terrorizing kids and children”?
In my opinion, these candidates must publicly condemn the words of their party’s last presidential contender and last president if they expect anyone to buy their supposed “support.” But, beyond their words, what have these candidates actually done to improve our nation’s defenses?
When was the last time they voted to fund modernizing battlefield equipment and increasing the availability of combat replacement parts and supplies?
When was the last time they voted to offer improved military pay and benefits or to reduce, or even eliminate, the taxes paid by members of the armed forces?
What initiatives, such as the Solomon amendment, have they sponsored to strengthen recruiting efforts for our all-volunteer force? Unlike The Citadel, many high schools and colleges nationwide restrict the access students have to meet with military recruiters on campus and refuse to host the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). What have these candidates done to expand our military, such as pushing for a military presence on campus at schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford?
If we can all agree that America is the best country in the world, then why can’t we agree that America should be readily protected by the strongest military in the world and that having the strongest military in the world means we need to encourage as many people from as many places as possible to serve voluntarily? Furthermore, can’t we all agree that members of the military should be treated with the utmost respect at all times through words and, much more importantly, deeds?
As America and the Western world continue the long-war throughout the world with radical jihadists, my peers and I are going to need more help, not less, if we expect to be victorious as we step into roles of military and civilian leadership.
If liberals continue to not support the mission, then they will inevitably not “support the troops” by not funding them. Going into armed conflict, knowing that you are not as strong as you could be because of unsupportive people and policies back home, will hopefully be a situation no soldier has to face. Either liberals do not understand how real this possibility is, or they are actively seeking to make it a reality.
My freshman year at The Citadel I learned many things. I was instructed how to shine shoes, how to march in formation, and even how to eat properly. But two of the most important lessons cadets at The Citadel learn are the importance of being completely honest and respecting those who serve in the armed forces. I, of course, hope the candidates in Monday’s debate will learn these lessons while here, but as Ronald Reagan once said, “If history teaches anything, it teaches that self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.”
I grew up in Charleston. I can sing The Citadel fight song, grudgingly. I am the daughter of a career Navy submariner and was married for more than 20 years to an AD/AF member. I understand respect for the military or more importantly the military member. I also understand the need for fiscal support.
While I agree with you – there IS a spin going on here with Cadets in the audience and unable to participate, I think you’re crying foul because you aren’t being used by the folks you enjoy being used by. Get used to it, that’s what military duty is like.
You and every Cadet who has ever attended or will attend The Citadel have always been used as propaganda. Once you leave school and enter the active forces, you will again be used as propaganda.
You might also stop and remember that there are Cadets sitting beside you just might be liberal Democrats – gasp! Clinton, Obama, Edwards supporters will be serving beside you. How dare they!
Citadellllll Bulldogssssss, bah.
Denise
July 23, 2007 at 7:53 am
Hand-picking the crowd, backdrop, topics, and questions for a “debate”? Turning what could be a valuable and informative occasion into a photo op and sound-bite extravaganza? Sounds like the Democrats have finally taken a page out of the Republican playbook. Or do you not know what goes into the “town meetings” and such we see around election times?
Blaming an underfunded military that does not even have all the armor it needs solely on an age-old generalization of liberals? Nice. Rumsfeld didn’t sound concerned with the troops who had to raid scrap heaps to add armor to the Hummers a couple years ago. Having to go to war with less than best-case numbers of troops and such? Problems disregarded by the Republican administration even after being warned of the situation by leading generals before the Iraq invasion.
I appreciate that you learned many things during your freshman year at The Citadel. Unfortunately, one thing that the military has to teach is also blind trust in your leaders. That’s a big reason we are in the current mess; everybody wanted to trust the current leadership. Most of America bought their sales pitch for invading Iraq hook, line, and sinker. And your quote from Reagan is quite accurate. What you didn’t mention is that it applies perfectly to the current administration, who got our fine military into the mess it’s now in. The Democrats, and actually more than 70% of America right now, are in the unenviable position of having to say they support the troops even though they are completely against what the White House is having the troops do. It’s a distinctly difficult situation to be put in.
Thomas
July 23, 2007 at 11:07 am
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July 23, 2007 at 7:01 pm
“They arranged this knowing that an audience of uniformed cadets would attend, so as to offer the national television audience a tacit military endorsement for their leftist, anti-military positions.”
I am sorry, but the fact of the matter is Bush, when he doesn’t want to have to face civilian crowds and in constant attempts to make sure people think the military supports his efforts props up as many and as much of military back drop as he can. Now I would never suggest that his military service during Vietnam was corageous, but the ability of one party of another to attempt to foster an environment of military support is nothing new – and what must these military persons who are commissioned yet disagree with the mission think of themselves??? Are they demoralizing themselves and disrespecting themselves and their fellow officers and enlisted soldiers? Probably not. I appreciate the venemous bile that went into this piece, we all get angry about things (I for one think the U-tube format is pretty stupid – I will e-mail them at their website if that is all I wanted and it this stupid gimmick ensures no probing follow ups), but I feel like the emotion did an unfortunate, but readily apparent, number on the writer’s ability to do more than spew frustration aimed at a philisophical “straw-man” who is the perfectly blammable democrat who is everything you want him to be, namely at fault for all of Bush’s incompetent misstep and real disrespect for the troops by not providing them with an articulable/definable mission other than “leaving equals defeat, well let the troops on the ground take from there.” When you are allocating the lives of several U.S. troops and billions of government dollars a week to mission you can’t even define youself and put less planning into than most people do a back yard BBQ for 5 guests, a little haughty disgust might be well deserved – So forgive us who still have brains and think.
Who do you think you are fooling?
July 23, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Hmmmm…I take you objected to Rudy and graduation as well?
As the mother of a 2007 graduate, let me tell you how a Republican candidate used my son’s graduation to get himself in the news. Please, it is politics and it is not restricted to either party.
BTW…to Rudy….the 2007 graduating class at the Citadel were JUNIORS…not SENIORS in High School on 09/11/2001. I guess that should be directed to his speech writers since that’s who runs politics these days.
Beth
July 24, 2007 at 12:04 pm
I’m so glad that you learned many things your freshman year at The Citadel. It’s apparent, however, that you didn’t take a basic survey course in American history. If you had, perhaps you would not subject us to such a diarrhea of words and such a constipation of ideas. To say that “liberals have a long history of undercutting military our military recruiting efforts and scuttling every piece of legislation that gives our military the necessary tools to defend America” is really pathetic. Ever hear about liberals Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman and their actions regarding World War One, World War Two, and the Korean War? I guess you would even be critical of Republican Richard Nixon for finally ending the tragedy of Vietnam?(or maybe you think that he was a liberal too) If you’re going to write such partisan drivel, at least get your facts right.
Gillon
July 24, 2007 at 7:46 pm