I don't usually comment on national politics on this blog since I have no special knowledge worth sharing. But I wonder whether others were disturbed by an aspect of Senator McCain's speech as I was.
In his address he told a dramatic story of his captivity as a prisoner of war in Viet Nam. It was truly affecting, and made me feel that I could never really understand the depth of the feelings he must have felt during those years. He went on to say, and I accept, that he came out of that experience with a far deeper patriotism and ambition to serve his country and its people. He then implied that that was the motivation for his seeking the presidency. I can see that his candidacy offers his party and the nation an important alternative -- one that will move the country in directions that he feels are beneficial and important.
On the other hand, I think Senator McCain is a complex person, motivated by private ambition as well as a desire to serve. That is as it should be, but by denying that his run for the presidency is in part to fulfill that personal ambition, I thought he demeaned his valid patriotic response to his terrible ordeal in Viet Nam. Indeed, it seemed to me that he might have allowed his speech writer and handlers to put him in the invidious position of exploiting his real patriotism to move a crowd, in order to satisfy his worldly ambitions.
Friday, September 05, 2008
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1 comment:
I missed the speech, but they have been talking non-stop about McCain's hero status. I think he is exploiting it. It may backfire. Although Kerry in 2004 was hurt by the Swiftboaters, I think many people were turned off by the Democrat's convention that year, where they played up his heroic deeds in Vietnam....Unfortunately the campaign has turned into a personality contest. I cannot believe we are not talking about the real issues. Hopefully we will have decent debates....
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