Let's Party!

Last week's election of ultra-partisan Howard Dean to the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Congress, has shown me that the Democrats intend to continue their steady descent into partisan hell. There is little doubt that the Democrats will lose more credibility as they move farther away from the soul of the American voter. I heard Dean and his surrogates talk about what they were going to do to reverse this trend. It is obvious that they have seriously misinterpreted the results of the last election.

The Democrats did not fail to get their message across to the voters of the country, as they all said, to a person. Nor did the voters reject the messenger, John Kerry. The message was delivered loud and clear, and the voters rejected the message, not the messenger.

The sad part of this is that the one who suffers the most is the American people. Our political system is based on multiple points of view being freely offered, vigorous debate, and the best compromise being hammered out. I think all Americans agree that we would not benefit from a one party system. The majority of us believe that other points of view should be represented. Two parties are better than one, but still not the optimal solution. Big parties are big tents, so issues become lost or distorted. Abortion is just such an issue and forces party decisions on small matters. It is as difficult to be a pro-abortion Republican as it is to be an anti-abortion Democrat. There are examples of exceptions to this, but they are rare indeed.

If two parties are better than one, then wouldn't three be better than two? In fact, the Founding Fathers did not address the issue of political parties in the Constitution, by design. Some wanted to ban them entirely, but in the end they decided the cost to freedom of banning political parties was more than the cost of the damage they could cause.

Sometimes I wonder.

True Colors

I am addicted to the Sunday morning news and talk shows. It is spontaneous discussion, not subject to the careful vetting of other forms of communications. There are more insights into the evils of partisanship than you could get by spending an entire week reading magazines and newspapers.

There was a remarkable exchange this morning between Chuck Grassley, a Republican Senator from Iowa and Charles Rangel, a Democratic Representative from New York.

Here is the final exchange over the Iraq war:

Grassley:The natural goal of people all over the world is simply to be free. It's natural.

Rangel: By American troops?

Grassley: It is in man's basic nature, going back to John Locke, that people want to be free and that they are born free.

Rangel: They don't want their children to die for other people's freedom.

What could Rep. Rangel possibly have been thinking? Taken at its surface, it negates all wars, revolutions and civil actions leading to freedom, including the Revolutionary War which established this country. People's children died in that war establishing the freedoms for the rest of the country. Even if you presume that he meant to indicate that Americans don't want to fight the freedom of people in other countries, it still negates World War I, World War II, Korea, the Spanish American War, Grenada, Panama, Haiti, and dozens of other US military actions.

And, what about the actions of his hero, Bill Clinton, in Kosovo, Bosnia and Somalia?

As a veteran, Rangel must surely realize the cost of freedom is dear. But, his selfish and hopefully, disingenuous, declaration that no American should ever die protecting the freedom of someone else, is an indication of what we all suspect; Rangel and other foolish partisans are not to be trusted with the future of our country.

My Latest Hero

I have never been much for hero worship. The site of rabid fans going agog over a particular quarterback, a rock star, or an author, appears silly to me. I have appreciated or admired certain people, but I have rarely elevated them to the status of a hero. It is a very special honor that I have only conferred on a handful of people.

I have added a new name to the slim roll of my personal heroes. His name is Cpl. David P. Retske of the US Army. And, yes, he is related to me. In fact, he is my youngest son. He departed today to an undisclosed location (really) in Iraq. as part of the 19,000 other soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division, who are rotating back to that nascent democracy. Iraq is a troubled country, full of danger and death. I would be lying if I said that I was not worried. In fact, I am as scared as I can remember being. But, I am immensely proud of him. Proud to the point of hero worship.

To understand why his bravery has moved me so, let's go back the day it started – September 11, 2001. There is no need to rehash the horror and anger of that day, but, as it happens, the greatness in men is often born of tragedy. Late in the afternoon of that fateful day, David and several of his closest friends were watching the wall to wall coverage. At that point, we still did not know the enormity of the attack, or what would come out of it. Rescuers were heavily involved in what turned out to be a largely futile search for survivors. They believed that hundreds, or thousands, of survivors might be pulled from the wreckage. The sad truth was that not even many remains would be recovered.

Stunned and outraged by the heartless and unwarranted killing and destruction, David and a couple of his companions swore to become part of the solution, and to join the volunteer army. David scored high on pre-entrance tests, and had his choice, not only of which branch of the service he wanted to join, but what job he wanted. He could have played safe, relatively so, and joined the Air Force or Navy, whose recruiter wanted him so bad, he jokingly offered me a decommissioned battleship if I could convince David to become a sailor.

But David knew what he wanted and chose the Army. He wanted to be close to the action and directly engaged. The Army offered this, and he became a UAV – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or drone, pilot. After a year long tour in Korea, he is a crew chief with the fabulous flying model planes team. These incredible machines are taking an ever increasing role in the prosecution of the effort in Iraq, and elsewhere.

Even though David will probably not be clearing the streets of some Iraqi terrorist stronghold, being in Iraq is dangerous enough.

Whatever you may think about the advisability of US involvement in Iraq in the first place, we are there, and we must win. It is important for the US, the people of Iraq, the world, and the future of democracy. With heroes like David, I am confident we will win, although I may not sleep much for the next twelve months.