Thought for Food

Dear Megan,

While I appreciate the kind word, I’m not enlightened.  I have a lot to learn.  I know this: I hate war, especially shitty wars, and I don’t have respect for the people behind them.  The people I admire, the people I have learned a great deal from and who have helped shape my worldview, were against the war (Vietnam, but we could also be talking about illegal wars in Central America and Iraq.)   I believe they took a more heroic stance than the hard-partying legacy Navy man who requested a combat assignment at a time when the war was already being denounced by its veterans.

But perhaps we have different views of what constitutes a hero.  Most Americans seem to believe that merely serving in a war is enough to garner the title.  But then, most Americans believe in God.  I never have, and one of my first memories is fighting with my Christian cousins about it.   I am more radical than I may let on — especially on this blog, a public space — but when my frustration gets the better of me, I try to only offend those who deserve it.

I think my comment might have been a lot of things — rash, angry, pointless — but it’s not ignorant.   I’ll tell you what is ignorant.  McCain still insists the Vietnam War was winnable. 

Thanks for reading,

Nora

On more thought, I would like to amend my statement.  McCain’s insistence that the Vietnam War was winnable, and its corollary, that the Iraq War is yet winnable, is not ignorant.  It is politically expedient, cynical, and irresponsible.