Catherine
“But he perceives that the Swift Boat campaign has grown out of the agony that was Vietnam, and that some way, somehow, some day we as a country are going to have to come to terms with that event.”
and
“The Swifties are attacking the very heart and soul of Kerry’s campaign, and are directly confronting an old and open and still-bleeding wound.”
and
“Vietnam wasn’t just a trauma for baby boomers. It was a trauma for at least some of their children, too.”
Man, Catherine, you know how to get to the core.
The debate over this trauma is beginning because we are at war. Who are we fighting and why? Do we fight to win or only to contain? The war/anti-war dynamic that defined the Vietnam era must be put into perspective before we as a nation can deal with that very same dynamic today. The lessons of Vietnam demonstrate that there are serious consequences whether we teeter or totter. A pro or anti-war stance does not stand in isolation but instead causes ripples that go far beyond one’s ability to immediately comprehend.
Vietnam is recent enough to be an open sore yet long enough ago to be history. We know how it ended and why and who was devastated by the decisions we made. We need an open-minded comparison.
And bringing up Korea is relevant as well. If the memories of Korea affected the decisions and attitudes of the Vietnam era, isn’t it reasonable to assume Vietnam will affect us when we’re at war now? I can’t answer the Korea question myself because all it meant to me when I was a very very young girl was that the next door neighbor’s dog went to Korea for a couple of years and it was just so nice to see Frankie again when he returned. But it meant much more than a returning dog to those older than I.
penwil
“Kerry’s picture as a young man when he was giving the testimony…reminded me of every whiny, wimpy mama’s boy I ever met in college and couldn’t stand. Ugh! Tough on terror–I don’t think so. ”
Yes!
Add to that the snotty snooty turned-up-nose I-know-better attitude in his debate with O’Neill in ’71.
Contrast with a hooded al Qaeda thug with a knife to an abductee’s throat.
My gut female instincts say our Cambodian Hero does not have what it takes to fight this war.
