Our Sons, On The Front Lines

MoveOn.org has created a new controversial ad airing in select states and a few national cable channels in which a new mother recruits her toddler son into the anti-Iraq war fight.
"“Hi, John McCain. This is Alex. He’s my first," says the mom. “So far, his talents include trying any new food and chasing after our dog. That and making my heart pound every time I look at him.
"So, John McCain,” she concludes, “when you said you would stay in Iraq for 100 years, were you counting on Alex? Because if you were, you can’t have him.”

It is a powerful spot and worthy of debate, especially since MoveOn is the group responsible for the distasteful and pointless newspaper ad calling General John Petraeus "General Betray-Us." Insofar as their goal is to stir debate and keep the Iraq war on the national agenda, they are doing their job, although they do seem to succeed in more discussion about MoveOn than about Iraq. When your top goal is fundraising, maybe that's not a bad thing.
In Monday's Times, Nicholas Kristoff, in a rare, right-wing perspective to establish even handedness, slams the ad as an attack on military service in general. "The ad boldly embraces a vision of a selfish and infantilized America, suggesting that military service and sacrifice are unnecessary and deplorable relics of the past. And the sole responsibility of others."
This ending, while cute, makes no sense since the "others" he refers to are also American who obviously feel otherwise.
Kristoff quotes a soldier's mother as saying "someone has to stand between our society and danger. if not my son, then who?"
Both Kristoff and the mother are pretending the ad bashes military service in general when it plainly speaks specifically about the Iraq war. Alex's mother mentions McCain's quote, taken well out of context, that he'd be prepared to keep U.S. troops in Iran for 100 years if necessary. While the rest of McCain's quote qualifies that, saying that's assuming troops aren't being hurt or killed (a naive expectation for a military man) it is fair to scrutinize this view and object to the notion that unborn, future soldiers, and those who are Alex's age, may one day be sent (whether they volunteer or are conscripted in a future draft) to continue a war that has not made any sense to a majority of Americans, has not proven to have improved our national security, and appears to be a colossal strategic error. The loved ones of our troops serving in Iraq, particularly those who have been dealt the ultimate pain of loss, have to grapple with the painful question of exactly for what their loved one was sacrificed.
It is a well-worn tactic for supporters of a war to brand opponents as critics who would oppose any war, any time, and all forms of military intervention. To package this ad as doing so is to miss its point, and sidestep the debate.

Call The Yankees’ Bluff

The corporate heads of Yankee stadium are warning (perhaps threatening is the better word) that unless they get another $350-$400 million in tax-free city bonds for their over-budget stadium it may not open on schedule.
Betting types are probably safe laying odds the Bombers, who already scored $941 million in bonds, will get what they want. But it’s hard for objective people to see how the two sides are playing with even hands.
With the new stadium three quarters complete, the Yankees aren’t about to start making Dodger noises and threaten to move elsewhere. And if the new stadium isn’t ready so quick, they’ve still got a perfectly good one sitting next door.
The only possible, if unspoken threat, is that f they don’t get the help they need from the city, they’ll be forced to pass the cost along to patrons next season.
That’s a stretch, too. Die-hard fans would dig deeper into their pockets even if it means more credit-card debt. But with gas prices driving the cost of everything else up and a growing housing crisis, it’s not likely skyrocketing ticket and vending prices are going to put more money in the Yankees’ coffers. The average cost of a family outing to Yankee Stadium already exceeds $150, around the cost of a large bag of groceries, or three tanks of gas, or an average monthly electric bill.
At the same time as this, Gov. David Paterson is waging an honorable fight for a cap on property taxes, and finding substantial resistance from the teachers-union-cowed Legislature. It would be nothing short of an outrage if the Yankees get a bigger free pass at the public trough while struggling home-owners are told their tax dollars are too important and fund too many programs to be winnowed.
Under the stewardship of former deputy mayor Randy Levine, the Yankees know how to work the system, but the city’s Economic Development Corporation should play hardball.
Even if they have put seven lackluster seasons behind their last World Series Trophy, the Yankees are still the most successful sports franchise in history.
It’s a safe bet that without any more help from the city, they’ll come up with the money to finish their stadium.

Divinity And The Nazis

It’s hard to know where to begin in the matter of Rev. John Hagee, the fundamentalist whose endorsement of John McCain has now been rejected by the candidate because of his comments about a divine role in the Holocaust.
It is a valid argument to say that McCain’s relationship with Hagee is not the same as Democrat Barack Obama’s with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose sermons Obama attended for 20 years without dissent until he became a presidential candidate.
But that’s as far as I go in siding with supporters of Hagee.
The comment he made about Hitler being a “hunter” sent by God to send Jews out of Europe (or in much larger part, off this Earth) and to Israel is a repugnant affront to divinity and a disgraceful sanctification of Hitler. It is natural for theologians to search for the hand of God, which they believe to be attached to everything, in the most evil acts. But we must take greater care when using God and Hitler in the same sentence.
How are those who survived the Holocaust, religious, secular or atheist, to think and feel when someone tells them God was behind their suffering? More likely, they envisioned the devil guiding the hands of their oppressors.
If the hand of God was at work during the Holocaust, it was not guiding Hitler. It was behind the millions of Allied troops and their leaders who worked furiously and with great sacrifice to topple Hitler’s war machine. It was behind the Righteous Gentiles whose humanity overshadowed their fear and compelled them to stand up for the oppressed. It was with the millions of Nazi victims who saved themselves, through acts of defiance or wisdom; and it was in the numerous twists of fate, small miracles if you will, that allowed millions more to escape. The hand of God was also lifting the spirits of the martyred to their rightful place at His side.
The hand of God most certainly was not guiding the vile Hitler and his minions, who defiled everything Godlike or holy on the Earth. To suggest otherwise is not only to sanctify the purest form of evil in history (how can Hitler be vilified if he was only a servant of God?), but to embolden contemporary or future racists with the false notion of righteousness.
If Rev. Hagee believes God unleashed Hitler on the Jews for a Divine purpose, he must also see the Almighty’s blessing behind contemporary terrorists and thugs who want to wipe Israel off the map. If so, what separates his thinking from al Quaeda’s?
The only rational theology is that God grants free will to all mankind to choose good or evil paths. When he does interfere, we must believe that it is to limit or nullify the harming of innocents, not to contribute to it.

The Worst Of Hillary

After the White House years, Hillary Clinton had a chance to remake her public image and replace our memories of Whitewater, travelgate, filegate, vast-right-wing-conspiracy-gate, pardon-gate and every other minor or major scandal she foisted on us as first lady for eight years.
She succeeded in every possible way as a serious and hard-working, clearly ambitious senator who wasn't just hungry for publicity as a stepping stone to the presidency, but understood the issues she faced and how to best serve the people of her state, bringing home, according to today's NY Post, $2.2 billion in federal cash between 2002 and 2006. She also became a credible voice on foreign policy, notwithstanding her flop on the Iraq war, and a sensible critic of the Bush administration who could also be effectively bipartisan.
She started her campaign on solid footing, recovering from early losses and gaining momentum. But as her fortunes began to fade, we began to see the return of the 90s Hillary, stubborn rather than determined, petulant rather than graceful, and quick to cry conspiracy (sexist commentators, pro-Obama debate planners) to offset her own missteps.
We may never know what kept her in the race this long, but it's fair to question whether it was anything noble. In the speech that might have been her concession last night, but presented the bizarre notion that she still had options, Hillary gave out her Web site address and asked people to "help any way they can."
Anyone who donates to her now will prove the adage that a fool and his or her money are easily parted. But clearly she aims to use every last moment to pay down her campaign debt from other people's wallets rather than cut into the considerable fortune she and her husband have built.
Avarice and greed are not the characteristics of the senator we came to know in the past seven years. And so we wonder which Hillary stands to become our vice president, and how much oscillation between the two we will see as she continues what is sure to be a long career in public life.