The Sun Also Lies

The way that the right uses the military, distorting at will the meaning of patriotism and service to one's country, is pretty despicable in my eyes, and how anyone proud of their service can support them baffles me.

Take for example the recent column by David Broder, attacking Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. The N.Y Sun, a newspaper that they'll deliver daily to your door for free, if you'll let them, has an editorial supporting Broder's piece today.  Its title, "Mr. Broder Goes to Washington, should give you a real heads up as to the level of intelligence driving the editorial. Borrowing from the Capra  movie involving a Mr. Smith, the title implies naive innocence. Actually, 'Mr. Broder Went to Washington' in 1955, when he started writing for the Congressional Quarterly: hardly a rube.

In response to reports that Sen. Reid declared the war in Iraq lost, Broder asserts that there is "a long list of senators of both parties" who would like Reid's reign to come to an end. But in fact all fifty Democratic senators sent an immediate reply to Broder, saying that his assertion was absolutely untrue. Even though it was unequivocably demonstrated to be false by the Democratic caucus of the United States Senate, Broder's piece was praised in today's Sun, which went on to condemn Frank Rich for characterizing  Reid's assessment as obvious. Forgetting the fact that the same assessment was made by leftists like William F. Buckley and Henry Kissinger, the Sun's assertion that the "episode illuminates how thin-skinned and intolerant the left is in this country" can only be considered a crock.

Borrowing from Capra is not enough for the Sun, it also must borrow from Pastor Niemolloer's homily about Nazis and the Holocaust.

"First they came for Fox News Channel, then they came for David Broder."

Holocaust survivors around the world must be delighted to have their suffering compared to Rupert Murdoch's.

Still worse is the closing paragraph in The Sun editorial:

One starts to get the feeling here that some of the divides in the rift between Mr. Broder and the Democratic caucus are not so much political but cultural. The chairman of the Washington Post Company, Donald Graham, served in Vietnam, and Mr. Broder himself is an army veteran. The notion of a Washington politician declaring a war lost even as American GIs are appearing in arms on the field of battle in the cause of freedom abroad, well it has a way of grating on those who have worn the uniform, a fact that many of Mr. Broder's readers, if not the 50 senators, understand.

Wow.  Even though almost 20% * of those senators are also vets;  even though Donald Graham's service in Viet Nam was honorable - and virtually identical to Al Gore's, both  as journalists; and even though David Broder's service during the Korean War was to endure  being stationed in Europe; the Sun impugns a guy like Sen Jim Webb**.

If I'm going to have a smear delivered to my doorstep each morning, I'd much rather it be enveloped in a bagel; Hold The New York Sun.

* Carper, Webb, Kerry, Kennedy, Reed, Harkin, Inouye, Lautenber, Akaka
** Webb: rifle platoon and company commander with the Fifth Marine Regiment in the An Hoa Basin west of Danang; was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts.  If you need to disagree with Webb's assessment of Reid's comments, OK;  but do you  have to suggest cultural  issues between him and 'Vets' like Broder and Graham?

(A salt bagel would be just fine. Thank you.)

Comments

[Rick]

Webb is the ‘real deal’. He is as heroic as they come. Kerry (I am assuming you are not referring to Bob Kerry who was also the real deal) is not. He is a fraud. He gamed the system. He made himself to appear to have been heroic. To borrow your favorite word; he lied.
He has you “baffled”.

[bbbustard]

I was not arguing as to whether or not John Kerry's service in Viet Nam was heroic or not. I was comparing it to being stationed in Europe during the Korean conflict, and to acting as a journalist in Viet Nam.

John Kerry seems a real "hot button" issue to you -
And yes, much human behavior baffles me

[Rick]

Kerry and I are contemporaries. In a sense, all who served over there are related. But with Kerry, there are common threads running through our service. I have some personal knowledge of some events.