From the WSJ Opinion Archives
|
Responding
to Rangel--II
Yesterday's compilation of emails from readers responding to Rep. Charles Rangel's
disparagement
of American servicemen was so well received that we thought we'd publish
another batch. We begin with Brian Boyd:
I am a 47-year-old meteorologist with a college degree. I have a good career and a family and lots of opportunities. On Sept. 12, 2001, I wrote the Air Force and volunteered to enlist and give up my job and all its benefits. I said I would serve anywhere they wanted me, whether in combat or at a weather station in Greenland.
Because of the volume of offers of enlistment from around the nation, the Air Force did not respond to me for several months, but they did respond. In that email, they thanked me for my offer, but unfortunately they had received so many such offers that they could not use me at that time.
My brother is an officer in the Air Force. He speaks four languages and has served in dangerous places around the world, including Bosnia and Baghdad. Our father was in the Navy and was in several Korean War battles. His brother served in World War II, in European battles. Both gave up opportunities for college in order to serve. They received their education later.
If the Air Force calls me today, I will walk away from my career and go where they tell me to go. I would consider it a privilege to be considered stupid and worthless by the likes of Rangel and Kerry.
Jack Sides is a member of what is sometimes called the "Greatest Generation":
I have no tip for you, but I offer my heartfelt thanks for the quotes from the serving military and family today. I am exceedingly tired of politicians who denigrate the military.
For the record I am an 83-year-old Air Force retiree who was a P-38 fighter pilot flying out of Italy in World War II. I have two master's degrees, I am a certified financial planner, and I am still actively working. And by the way, I qualified for and once belonged to Mensa.
I, too, wish that I could serve again.
Brian Patton has served more recently:
I am an Army sergeant who just returned from Iraq this past week. I myself enlisted within weeks of 9/11 and shipped out within days of graduating from the University of Texas four long years ago. In the time since, I've served in the infantry in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and spent many a patrol or mountain climb alongside some of the greatest men our country has to offer. Better men, I may add, than any of the ones I spent my carefree college years with. And in many ways, smarter too.
Charlie Rangel may think us too stupid to shine his shoes, but he wouldn't last five minutes in our chosen profession, physically or intellectually.
Patrick Shearin weighs in on the importance of strong political leadership:
I'm brought to tears reading the testimonials from the best and brightest that are currently serving in harm's way. As I read, I was viewing the film "Rocky," an all-time American classic, and for some reason the power and optimism of American youth overwhelmed me. I got my degree and I served and I chose combat arms (mechanized infantry--HUAH), but I did so in what was to be known as the Clinton years. Now I will grant you that I am a marked partisan, nonetheless, the impact of that C-in-C cannot be underestimated.
Myself, I conducted a recon-in-force and once I saw that the Clinton administration was going to leave matters like the Mog (the battle of Mogadishu) alone, I figured I was done. They were far more concerned about gay rights, Waco and Elian Gonzalez than us grunts. Just see what the Mog generals asked for and what they got! Les Aspin, RIP, shot them down, right before they were shot down. Not that the U.S. press cared. Funny how U.S. servicemen and our enemies pay the most attention to our suffering. I don't remember the barometer of Clinton's non-policies' effects on re-enlistment when I bailed! That was when nothing mattered (pre 9/11), but a lack of support and understanding from the home crowd.
I think that is a fundamental disconnect between those who serve and those who never will--what is the mission and what is the home mood. Most of us serve regardless, it is a matter of how long. The mission affects that--if it is worthy, so many will stick to it, some may not. But it is a strong beacon when there is a leader that will lead the home, when there is a president who will stand up and stand strong against what needs to be done. A serviceman is used to being ignored and misunderstood, but when his president stays with him, well, he never, ever forgets that.
I hope that President Bush knows that.
John Griffin describes some of the young servicemen-to-be he's encountered:
I am a professor of finance at Old Dominion University. ODU has a very active and large military science program (ROTC). The program has freshmen who wish to join the military after college and active military who have been selected to further their education. In the seven years that I have been at ODU, I have had a large number of students in my classes who are in the program. Let me say that these are some of the brightest, most polite and hardest-working students that I have had. It has been an honor to teach them. They make being their professor an honor. Knowing that these men and women will be running our military and our country someday makes me feel at peace with the future of our country.
However, the thought of Mr. Rangel and Mr. Kerry running the country scares me. Furthermore, these two should be ashamed of themselves for looking down on these fine young men and women. I will match my students' scholastic abilities with either one of these so called men any day. I would also like to say, thank you for standing up for our troops.
Andrew Macfadyen has a pithy message for the congressman:
I am a former Navy pediatrician. I went to medical school on a Navy scholarship and was on active duty for five years. I served stateside during Gulf War I. I did my internship and residency at Bethesda Naval Hospital and was taught by many very fine doctors, all active duty. I was stationed at three different Navy hospitals and met hundreds and hundreds of military personnel, most of them enlisted.
All I can say is: Mr. Rangel, you're an idiot.
And Cliff Woodhall, though apparently not a doctor, wants to give Rangel a taste of his own medicine:
Both you and your readers have been pretty hard on Rangel over the past couple of days. A closer reading of his remarks suggests that he deserves our compassion, not our contempt. Rangel's words clearly reflect his act of lashing out. Most of us realize, from personal experience, that attacking the life choices made by others is quite often a way of expressing disappointment in one's own choices regarding life and career.
Mr. Rangel is, after all, a congressman, a job held in scorn, disparaged and disrespected by the general population, a constantly recurring punch line in the comic monologue of our late-night talk-show hosts. Most of a congressman's life between elections is spent "raising money" for his next election, "raising money" now being a phrase generally accepted in Washington as selling one's ability to write legislation to lobbyists, a procedure that involves, at best, compromising one's own most deeply held beliefs and, at worst, the acceptance of outright bribery. In short, it is not the sort of life that one dreams of when growing up.
It is generally acknowledged that an industrious person can earn more money working in the private sector than the public one. Sadly, however, it is a fact that America is a ruthless meritocracy, with the best and highest-paying jobs awarded to those who have the most talent or ability to perform them. Members of society who lack the skill to produce a product or provide a service for which others will pay money are forced to take whatever may be available in those jobs left over.
We don't know what sad circumstances, many perhaps not of his own choosing, have forced Mr. Rangel into his position as a congressman, but we can say with some certainty:
If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career or selling himself out to the highest paying lobbyist so as to become a member of Congress, you can bet your life that he would not be in Congress. If there's anyone who believes these youngsters want to spend their life arguing with each other and viciously maligning anyone with whom they disagree, you can just forget about it. No bright young individual wants to fight just to seize public funds for himself and his friends. And most of them come from backgrounds of very, very questionable ethical and moral circumstances, making it harder to get real jobs.
Indeed, the biography page on Rangel's Web site says that "he has spent his entire career in public service," the poor man. It turns out, moreover, that Rangel himself was in the military:
Congressman Rangel served in the U.S. Army from 1948-52, during which time he fought in Korea and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
So maybe his contempt for American servicemen is actually a manifestation of his own self-loathing--that is, perhaps he is seeking to scapegoat the military for his own disappointments in life.
But this is unfair. Many people who serve in the military go on to be quite successful. "There seems to be more than a modicum of truth in the belief that military leaders make good corporate executives," IAfrica.com reported in July. According to a study by Korn/Ferry International, "companies led by CEOs with military experience have outperformed the S&P 500 index over the past three, five and ten-year periods by as much as 20 percentage points."
They Call This 'Projection'
Garry Trudeau, who draws the Doonesbury comic strip, is an excellent representative
of baby-boomer liberalism. In a series of strips last week, he addressed the
Kerry/Rangel attitude toward the military--only he imagines it is conservatives
who hold this attitude. This is the dialogue from Monday's
strip:
Hippie college professor: You know, B.D., I'm a pacifist. I don't think anyone should join the military. But you should hear the fine young patriots taking my ethics class. War-supporters all, but quick to explain why they're not enlisting!
Conservative-looking student: "And I truly believe that I can better serve my country at a hedge fund."
Another student (not shown): Hear, hear!
Then Tuesday's:
Conservative-looking student: Look, Dr. Sloan, all I'm saying is that it'd be a waste to send the best and brightest to Iraq. The military is for volunteers, you know, people with limited options in life who don't have a future or whatever. Although I support them, of course.
Another student (not shown): Me too! Totally!
B.D.: This is an ethics class?
Hippie college professor: In its final week. I'm beyond despair.
And Wednesday's:
Hippie college professor: This past week, we've been discussing the disconnect between supporting the war but being unwilling to serve. Today's guest would like to speak to that. You all know coach B.D. But what you may not know is that he volunteered for three of our nation's conflicts!
Student (not shown): Is that right, coach? You volunteered for three wars?
B.D.: Yes.
Student (not shown): No offense, but isn't that, like, retarded?
B.D.: Offense taken.
Now, we'll admit we don't spend that much time on campus, and we suppose it's possible that pro-war students talk exactly like Charles Rangel or John Kerry*. But we are skeptical.
* "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, uh, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Alcee
Ya Later
Speaker of the future Nancy Pelosi wisely decided against elevating Rep. Alcee
Hastings of Florida to the Intelligence Committee chairmanship. Before his election
to Congress in 1992, Hastings was a federal judge, but in 1989 the House impeached
him and the Senate convicted him for bribery. (Pelosi voted for his impeachment.)
In response to being passed over, Hastings put out a hilariously self-pitying statement, which ended: "Sorry, haters, God is not finished with me yet."
Of course, knowing the haters, they're not finished yet either. Sorry, God.
It's
My Party and I'll Die if I Want To
"Fidel Castro's 80th birthday celebration kicked off on Tuesday with the
ailing Cuban leader nowhere in sight but hundreds of admirers from around the
world were on hand to pay homage," Reuters reports from Havana:
Castro has not been out in public since undergoing emergency surgery for an undisclosed illness that forced him to temporarily hand over power to his brother Raul on July 31.
Questions about whether he will be well enough to put in an appearance this week have dominated the run up to the event and overshadowed its celebratory intent. . . .
After the release on October 28 of a video that showed a gaunt, shuffling Castro, many Cubans believe he is too old and too ill to resume governing.
"More than a birthday celebration, what we will see on December 2 will be a farewell," Ramon, a 55-year-old retired soldier, said in the eastern Cuban city of Santiago.
So Cubans have something to celebrate after all.
An
Amazing Discovery
Thanks to vigorous recruiting and pressure from corporate clients, black lawyers
are well represented now among new associates at the nation's most prestigious
law firms," the New York Times reports. "But they remain far less
likely to stay at the firms or to make partner than their white counterparts."
Why might that be? The paper offers a surprising theory:
A recent study says grades help explain the gap. To ensure diversity among new associates, the study found, elite law firms hire minority lawyers with, on average, much lower grades than white ones. That may, the study says, set them up to fail. . . .
"If everyone in the law firms knows you're hiring according to a double standard, you actually may end up compromising the confidence that partners and others have in the ability of people hired on the basis of preference," [Roger] Clegg added. "It actually reinforces stereotypes."
In other words, by lowering standards on the basis of race, firms end up with a work force in which black lawyers are less qualified than their nonblack colleagues, and therefore they have a hard time advancing--a "mismatch," if you will. The logic seems so impeccable, we're surprised no one has ever thought of this before.
Life Imitates 'South Park'
"Herbert Garrison, voiced by Trey Parker, is a fictional character in the South Park cartoon series. For the first eight seasons of the series, the character was known as Mr. Garrison but in season 9 underwent sex reassignment surgery. The character is thereafter known as Mrs. Garrison, despite being unmarried."--Wikipedia.org
"For nine years, he was Mr. McBeth, a substitute teacher who kept things moving along in the classroom and filled in ably when the regular teacher was out sick. And then one September, he was Miss McBeth."--Associated Press, Nov. 27
'Man
Bites Doghood' Would Be News
"Harare Man Sues After Dog Bites Off Manhood"--NewZimbabwe.com, Nov. 23
What
Would We Do Without Experts?
"A series of sea-lion attacks on people in recent months has led experts
to warn that the animals are not as cute and cuddly as they appear."--Associated
Press, Nov. 28
Let's
Hope the New Coordinator Is More Gracious
"Raiders Replace Offensive Coordinator"--headline, Associated Press,
Nov. 28
News
You Can Use
"Sheriff: Don't Let Your Guard Down"--headline, Dalton (Ga.) Daily
Citizen, Nov. 28
How
He Got Into Superman Pajamas, Superman Will Never Know
"X-Men Illustrator Dies in Superman Pajamas"--headline, Associated
Press, Nov. 28
Bottom Stories of the Day
- "Pigeon Enthusiasts Gather for N.M. Show"--headline, Associated
Press, Nov. 27
- "Frist Will Not Seek Presidency in 2008"--headline, Associated
Press, Nov. 29
- "Reports: The Wiggles' Lead Singer May Quit"--headline, Associated
Press, Nov. 29
- "Environment Not Top of Belgian Priority List"--headline, Expatica.com, Nov. 29
Blind
Man's Bucks?
"The government discriminates against blind people by printing money that
all looks and feels the same, a federal judge said Tuesday in a ruling that
could change the face of American currency," the Associated Press reports
from Washington.
Was that a misprint? The government discriminates against blind people by printing money that looks the same? Sure enough, that's what Judge James Robertson said:
"Of the more than 180 countries that issue paper currency, only the United States prints bills that are identical in size and color in all their denominations," Robertson wrote. "More than 100 of the other issuers vary their bills in size according to denomination, and every other issuer includes at least some features that help the visually impaired."
Now we can see why it might be helpful to the blind if, say, $10 and $20 bills were a different size. But why does Robertson mention color? Blind people can't tell what color something is, because they can't see!
Isn't it obvious that Robertson--a Clinton appointee, in case you were wondering--is just engaging in a little fashionable America-bashing, claiming other countries are better because, of all things, their money looks more like it comes from a Monopoly set?
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to David Shapero, Clayton Cosby, Alan Lustiger, John Williamson, Kyle Kyllan, C.E. Dobkin, James Meyer, Ed Lasky, Ethel Fenig, Brian O'Rourke, Jacob Lybbert, Joseph Tully, Dan O'Shea, Brendan Schulman, Don Hubschman, W. Harwood Runner, Tom Dziubek, Paul Joseph, Ron Finch, Ilona Dever, Rod Pennington, Ron Ackert, Bruce Goldman, Michael Segal and Matthew Noonan. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Today on OpinionJournal:
- Review & Outlook: The real enemy in Iraq is not a "civil war."
- Victor Davis Hanson (from the Claremont Institute): A civilization that has lost confidence in itself cannot confront the Islamists.
- Mark Yost: The Great War gets an official museum of its own.
