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A rant by our own Veritas Omnia Vincit that I have been slow to get to. Doesn’t matter if I agree or not, I’ll post, but I’ve been swamped with guest links and posts of late. This is a very good thing, if a bit annoying to to those submitting and waiting. Please be patient and I’ll get to you in turn. Anyway, here’s VoV:<\/p>\n
Veritas Omnia Vincit
\nPrior Honorable Service Versus Today\u2019s Reality, or Should Veterans Honorable Prior Service Give Them A Pass For Life?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve read some headlines lately and a few memes as well on the Book of Faces whereby we are led to believe because McCain and Mueller served honorably and perhaps heroically that they are better men today than Trump who was medically disqualified from serving.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s interesting to me because it\u2019s largely written by people who in the recent past hated both of these men for different reasons while enjoying Trump\u2019s largesse as a donor to Democratic candidates. Is it another sign of the hypocrisy in the media so readily on display today, or just another sign that the politics of division are willing to use any methods to keep the base fired up and in-line? Or some of both?<\/p>\n
It raises an interesting question, what does it mean to be honorable and to have integrity in terms of being a veteran and in terms of being a decent civilian citizen of this great nation. Honorable military service, even heroic military service is simply a reflection of what you did at that moment while serving. Quite often it\u2019s reflective of that individual\u2019s inner nature, someone who will step up and go beyond what\u2019s needed and someone who can be relied on to do what is right in a moment of extreme difficulty and personal danger. It\u2019s not always a perfect indicator though.<\/p>\n
John McCain is a great example of someone who did something extraordinary during his service, he was given an opportunity to get out of captivity and come home long before many others would be afforded such an opportunity. He refused that opportunity and had the shit beaten out of him regularly until such time as he was no longer able to raise his arms above his shoulders. That\u2019s a helluva of a tough choice to make in that moment and I\u2019m not certain how many others would make the same choice to stay and take a beating or go home and hope those left behind get their chance. I\u2019ve always had a great deal of respect for McCain\u2019s fortitude in that moment and the courage he showed in making that choice. However, McCain revealed more of his nature when caught up in the Keating five scandal in my opinion. That moment showed a far less courageous spirit and a far more selfish, greedy bastard willing to skirt or break the law to further his own wealth and take advantage of his position. His subsequent exoneration in the Senate was largely a pass given to him for his prior service and a simple recognition by his peers that he did get caught with his hand in the cookie jar but censuring him would open the door to censuring many, many others who were doing similar un-ethical conduct in their financial and legislative affairs.<\/p>\n
There are also many other reasons why McCain was not all that popular, but the simple point is that regardless of how honorable or heroic his service was his civilian life was infinitely less so.<\/p>\n
We all know Mueller\u2019s Vietnam record, or we should, Bronze Star for Valor in action shot through the thigh and airlifted out for medical treatment. No doubt honorable, commendable, and heroic service. His post service career as both a civilian litigator and federal prosecutor is both honorable and distinguished. He\u2019s maybe not a choir boy, but there\u2019s not much in the way of dirty laundry to find in his career prior to serving as special counsel. Since that time there have been dozens of leaks from that office, along with multiple arrests and prosecutions of Trump associates. There\u2019s been a fair amount of FBI \u201cappearance of bias\u201d in some of what was leaked, whether actual or not that sort of bias places a tainted aroma on that investigation and the motivation behind the initiation of the entire special counsel process.<\/p>\n
How history will remember him after 2016 remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to Trump, is he a lesser man for not having chosen military service as the memes and subsequent headlines imply? Are we to make less of our fellow Americans for their lack of military service? Trump, for me, is exactly what he appears to be which is a rich, entitled white guy who has managed to live his life in service to himself.<\/p>\n
Am I supposed to consider he\u2019s not a decent man because he didn\u2019t serve like McCain and Mueller? Am I supposed to infer he\u2019s a shit bag as a consequence of that lack of service?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m extremely uncomfortable making those kinds of judgments, there is no requirement to serve these days. There is no obligation to serve and the government doesn\u2019t even truly promote service as an admirable action by citizens.<\/p>\n
Most of you know I was not, and to a large extent am still not, a fan of Trump.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t like when men like Trump, who\u2019ve never served a day in their lives (Ted Nugent this means you as well you asshole) try and tell me today what a great soldier they would have been back in the day. Easy statement to make without repercussion at an age when no one wants you to serve. You did what you did, shut the fuck about it and move on.<\/p>\n
But I don\u2019t think Trump is inherently a bad guy because he didn\u2019t serve, that he is to be looked down upon for his lack of service. He\u2019s an American who has paid more in taxes over the years than Mueller and McCain combined. He\u2019s an American who has contributed to the GDP of this nation in more substantial ways than thousands of small business owners. He\u2019s an American who acts differently, thinks differently and behaves differently than I do but has chosen to serve the nation as its chief executive.<\/p>\n
The positive aspects of his presidency go largely unreported while the slightest gaff is given hundreds of hours of airplay. Can you imagine the reporting if Trump mis-spoke and said we have 57 states? It would be non-stop repeated until the day Trump died. Obama did that very thing and it was reported quietly and dismissed.<\/p>\n
Once again we see the media\u2019s hypocrisy and motivation to prove the Orange Man Bad as accurate in any way possible.<\/p>\n
Prior service that is honorable and distinguished is no guarantee of decency in perpetuity, lack of service is no indicator of lesser character today. Your actions today make you who you are now, regardless of what you did, or didn\u2019t do in the military previously. Unremarkable service men and women go on to do great things later in life, remarkable service men and women sometimes do nothing positive after their service.<\/p>\n
In closing, your service is a part of what you are, but it isn\u2019t all that defines you nor should it be all of what you are or are not. What you do each and every day during and after your service continually redefines and exposes your character and integrity.<\/p>\n
We can discuss how Trump\u2019s actions today define his character, but enough with the nonsensical comparisons of past service by others. Stick to what matters today and what you can prove and stuff the other bunk where it belongs.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it for my rant.<\/p>\n
VoV<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Thanks VoV, for your thoughts and patience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"