Bipartisanship in these contentious primary days has come to mean only that Republicans can indeed cut each other up as expertly as Democrats. It's a fascinating spectacle of political sociology: the once-orderly party of heirs apparent devolving -- or evolving, depending on one's view -- into a kind of bloody, Klingon-style right of ascension.
The intraparty knifings took on a special appeal late last week as John McCain, self-admitted economus ignoramus, realized that the perfectly grisly domestic situation is now grossly overshadowing his pet project of Iraq, and therefore harming his future prospects as commander in chief. John simply had to find a way to redirect the spotlight on all things martial, so he plucked a dated, obscure Mitt Romney quote from the archives and reentered the primary jungle with "gotcha"-machete firmly in hand.
It was nearly a year ago when Mitt muttered something about the possible advisability of devising a "private" -- meaning secret -- timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. Pretty much everyone wanted out then, hence so did Mitt. That much was a given. When things in Iraq seemed to improve, many who had wanted out then wanted to stay, hence so did Mitt. His only consistency is extreme flexibility. But damn, he's good at it.
Anyway, John's crack oppo-research team finally discovered that little gem of militaristic apostasy, and John unleashed his consequent horror as a stunning flanking maneuver. "If we surrender and wave a white flag, like Senator Clinton wants to do, and withdraw, as Governor Romney wanted to do," charged John, "then there will be chaos, genocide, and the cost of American blood and treasure would be dramatically higher."
Mitt was incensed, or at least he dutifully played the role of a politician incensed: "That's dishonest, to say that I have a specific date. That's simply wrong.... I know he's trying desperately to change the topic from the economy and trying to get back to Iraq, but to say something that's not accurate is simply wrong, and he knows better."
Then the gauntlets of demanded apologies started flying. Mitt was the first to go, saying John's allegation was "simply wrong and ... dishonest, and he should apologize."
In response John was cool, serene and loaded for bear with manly fortitude, as of course a manly commander in chief should be. But in slapping back at Mitt he added something that raised my ire as much as it surely did Mitt's, only for far different reasons.
What John said was this: "[Romney's] apology is owed to the young men and women serving this nation in uniform, that we will not let them down in hard times or good. That is who the apology is owed to."
It so happened that when I read that I had just put down a marvelous new work on military history: Mark Perry's Partners in Command, an investigation into the working relationship between Generals George C. Marshall and Dwight D. Eisenhower. And the meticulously driven subtext of Perry's work is that both of these incisive military minds and, later, shapers of America's foreign policy, would have been appalled -- absolutely aghast -- at the United States' entry into Iraq.
Both would have left aside the question of apologies, because both, quite simply, would have found the intervention utterly inexcusable -- a betrayal of America's political culture, societal way of thinking, and even common sense.
Marshall and Eisenhower thought alike because in the 1920s they had both studied at the feet of a certain General Fox Conner, a military genius of unusual sociopolitical insight as well. And what Conner taught them -- what he hammered away at with singular emphasis -- was that, as Perry succinctly worded it, we were "Never [to] fight unless you have to, never fight alone, and never fight for long." (It was these lessons that Eisenhower had in mind, as president, when he pulled our sorry butts out of Korea's human meat-grinder.)
And Perry himself hammered the point, clearly with a certain contemporaneity in mind: "Conner's simple axioms were based on what he knew about the American people and what he believed about democracies. He knew that Americans didn't like war and that, in truth, they weren't very good at it. The solution for this was for America never to agree to fight unless there was no other choice ... and then to do so quickly, before people got tired of spilling their children's blood."
John McCain -- as that rare political creature, a Republican pol who actually served -- now presents himself as a thoughtful student of military history as well, and therefore as exceptionally qualified to be commander in chief. But Mr. McCain, in rooting for this idiotic war at the start and now advocating an interminable presence, understands nothing of what the true giants of yesteryear understood.
It is John McCain who owes an apology to "the young men and women serving this nation in uniform," for having helped, that is, to spearhead their voiceless entanglement in a lonely and endless war of choice -- one that would have appalled those far deeper thinkers of how and when military means should be used, and how they should not.
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to P.M. Carpenter's Commentary -- because your support is needed. I am not, as some readers have assumed, of the professorial class who lives off the fat of the ivory tower, though I do hold a doctorate in American political history. Rather, I am but a typically impoverished public scribe who relies on a substitute-teaching income as a too-meager base for this daily column. I therefore must also rely on you, the regular reader, to supplement the production of what you regularly enjoy -- or become enraged at. The purpose is merely to stimulate thought. So, if at all possible, please click above today. And enjoy. Thank you -- P.M.
McCain was a fighter pilot. All fighter pilots are crazy. Ergo it is unwise to put fighter pilots in command of anything other than their own aircraft. Weren't Rummy and Dubya sometime fighter pilots too?
Posted by: quousque | January 28, 2008 at 09:15 AM
Yes, but W was part of the Texas Air National Guard in the 60's, and those guys were seriously crazy.
Their problem with Iraq is that they have forgotten that sometimes you just have to eject.
H.W. Bush was also a fighter pilot and not quite so crazy.
Posted by: BAM | January 28, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Poppy flew a torpedo bomber in WWII - lost his crew doing so.
Posted by: noreagle | January 28, 2008 at 11:26 AM
McCain was an airplane driver who managed to get himself shot down and taken prisoner. He's a hero?
How many fighter pilots were shot down in Nam? Also,he ranked very low academically in his class at the USNA.
Posted by: old brat | January 28, 2008 at 11:49 AM
He ranked 894th out of 899 students in ability at the Naval Academy. While a big improvement over the abilities of our current leader, it's not up to Dwight and George Marshall's standards!
Posted by: Will | January 28, 2008 at 02:19 PM
McCain was not (primarily) a fighter pilot. He flew A-4 bombers. However, he was an ace, but a backwards one: he lost 5 aircraft (3 in training, 1 shot up in the Forrestal fire, and 1 shot down over Vietnam. [Pappy Boyington (of Black Sheep fame in WWII) lost even more.]
Posted by: RichP | January 28, 2008 at 10:39 PM
Great commentary, PM.
I don't know how the hell the American public - much less the professional commentariat class, got this stupid idea that Reagan really meant it when he said "The 11'th Commandment is thou shalt not speak ill of thy fellow Republican."
HELLO? REAGAN FOUGHT A BITTER PRIMARY BATTLE vs... INCUMBENT Republican President Gerald R. Ford in 1976! He also fought a bitter primary battle vs George Bush (Sr.) in 1980. Reagan's battle vs Ford in the '76 primary was no doubt in some way partly responsible for Ford losing the close election to Carter... and I have read that, after the bitter '80 primary battle, Reagan and Bush couldn't stand each other, either. Bush Sr. would only serve one term as president, during which rock star Neil Young would write a song with the line, "A kinder, gentler machine gun hand." Amazingly, the otherwise astute Mr. Young would fall for the younger Bush's (George W's) "compassionate conservative" PR (horseshit) in 2000, Neil Young supporting W. in that election. Neil has since reversed his endorsement, performing full-length concerts around the theme "Let's Impeach the President", and has even written a song with that title and chorus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4kTnP5VJ1k
or NeilYoung.com and
http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideos/letsimpeach_qt.html
Posted by: Lj | January 28, 2008 at 11:10 PM
HW Bush wasn't a fighter pilot , he was a bomber pilot . Calling W a fighter pilot is kind of like refering to someone who goes to the local go cart track as a race car driver . Most military pilots want to see action , Bush went into it to run from the fight , big difference .
Posted by: Jim C | January 29, 2008 at 07:32 AM
If memory serves me, George Dubya washed out as a fighter pilot, he couldn't make the transition from prop jobs to jets. I think this was around the same time he avoided his mandatory service medical to prevent the discovery of his cocaine habit.
Posted by: truenorth | January 29, 2008 at 08:00 AM
Fascinating to read above about McCain's screw-ups as an airplane driver. If McCain gets the Re-pub nomination, then perhaps some wealthy patriot could step forward and finance a Swift Boat operation. You know, like what the Gops did to hapless Kerry in 2004. Only this time, instead of a string of lies, this operation could work around the corporate media to get the Truth About McCain to the American people.
Posted by: Dan Van Riper | January 29, 2008 at 08:23 AM
Truenorth , Chimpy flew F102s , an obsolete attack jet that I believe carried one large heat seeking missile . It is a single engine jet that was known to ocassionally flame out at inopportune times ( landing and takeoff ) . I have heard flight trainers who have seen records of how bush suddenly stopped flying altogether comment that was a pattern they had seen before . Sometimes when a pilot had a close call in a plane they would lose their nerve and stop flying . The F102 was notorious for such incidents . Bushes flight records show just such a pattern . He was logging lots of hours and suddenly just stopped flying . When he stopped he never got into the cockpit again . It was fun until captian chickenhawk realized it could be dangerous , then he ran away , just like the spoiled coward that he really is .
Posted by: Jim C | January 29, 2008 at 10:17 AM
I'm fascinated, RichP, by these details:
"McCain was not (primarily) a fighter pilot. He flew A-4 bombers. However, he was an ace, but a backwards one: he lost 5 aircraft (3 in training, 1 shot up in the Forrestal fire, and 1 shot down over Vietnam."
Can I get your references, to support my future `discussions' on this issue?
Posted by: NC in LB CA | April 22, 2008 at 01:12 PM