Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Heroism and Shame
Yesterday I wrote about the President's desk, and how the buck doesn't stop there anymore.
What also doesn't stop there is any regard for US service men and women. Dover AFB is still off-limits. Bush has yet to attend an Iraq-casualty funeral. Our soldiers do a dirty, dangerous job, with no clear mission, which pays little (and even less under Bush than it used to). Some of them are, indeed, heroes - and out of Iraq, none more heroic than Joe Darby, who not only risked his life but sacrificed so much more, when he told his commanding officers what was going on at Abu Ghraib. Joe Darby seems to have a much more visceral understanding of what service to America means - "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" than George W Bush has, or will ever have. That Bush continues to ignore Darby's heroism is as shameful as anything else he has done.
What also doesn't stop there is any regard for US service men and women. Dover AFB is still off-limits. Bush has yet to attend an Iraq-casualty funeral. Our soldiers do a dirty, dangerous job, with no clear mission, which pays little (and even less under Bush than it used to). Some of them are, indeed, heroes - and out of Iraq, none more heroic than Joe Darby, who not only risked his life but sacrificed so much more, when he told his commanding officers what was going on at Abu Ghraib. Joe Darby seems to have a much more visceral understanding of what service to America means - "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" than George W Bush has, or will ever have. That Bush continues to ignore Darby's heroism is as shameful as anything else he has done.
