J.D. Vance’s lack of true courage

 

 

 

“A coward's courage is in his tongue.”  Edmund Burke

In political campaigns, I’ve observed, when one Party has no real platform or tangible strengths to rally voters, their go-to approach is to disparage and undermine the character of their opponents in ways that suggest they are superior.  These often baseless assaults are small-minded, petty and insulting to people who want more than the hollow leadership that spreads fear and ignorance.

In J.D. Vance’s attempt to marginalize Tim Walz’s service to his country as a member of the National Guard, he has demeaned not only himself, but other service members, past and present, who’ve served faithfully in U.S. military. Vance has falsely accused Walz “of ducking service in Iraq when he left the Army National Guard and ran for Congress in 2005.” 

Not only does the factual record show the despicable fallacy of Vance’s maligned accusation it shines a light on his own own mediocre record as a war corespondent in Afghanistan for six months of his 4-year enlistment in the Marine Corps.  An accomplishment that deserves some respect for his enlistment, but is less distinguishable than Walz's 24-year tour of duty that included a deployment with “the Minnesota National Guard in August 2003 to Vicenza, Italy, as part of support for the US war in Afghanistan.”

As I’ve recently discovered, Vance served in the same aviation unit that I was trained by, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2ndMAW), in Cherry Point, N.C., making me just a little ashamed at this time that we share this distinction.  In 1967, I was deployed to Vietnam, where I served as a member of the 1st MAWs Light Anti-aircraft battalion, seeing combat action when the Tet offensive occurred, January of 1968

For Vance or any other veteran to demean another’s services to their country is callous and dishonorable.  Vance himself saw no combat action and is supporting a candidate for President who cowardly avoided military service during the Vietnam war where his wealthy status aided him in getting him a deferment based on an alleged bone spur condition in one of his feet, of which when asked later by a reporter which one, he said he couldn’t remember.

Vance’s Trump-like glorification of himself at the expense of others is further evidence of someone with low moral character.  Trump disparaged John McCain as a “loser” in June of 2015 as Trump considered running for President.  McCain, as most will recall, was shot down flying a combat mission over North Vietnam during that war and was held prisoner for 5 and 1/2 years where he was tortured, starved, and beaten to the brink of suicidal yearnings.  This “loser” was offered a chance to go home early because of his famous name, but refused to before those who had been held captive longer.

During his administration, Trump allowed himself to get caught up in the trial of Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher whose own team members turned him in for his ruthless and deadly behavior towards Iraqi civilians where he was deployed in 2017.  FOX news pundit Pete Hegseth encouraged Trump to weigh in on this, where some members of the military warned against such Executive intervention, fearing it undermine military justice.

While Walz has enriched many of his constituents in Minnesota with his political service since leaving the National Guard, Vance has enriched himself in the field of investment capital.  Declaring himself as a ‘never Trumper” in 2016 and calling the former President "reprehensible" and "America's Hitler”, Vance flipped this view to accommodate his desire to align himself with Trump’s ambitions to ban all abortions and alter our constitutional institutions to establish a Trump autocracy, via the 2025 Project.

Vance’s attempt to portray himself more of a patriot than his Democratic counterpart is itself a cowardly act to promote his own power interests along with Trump’s.  It insults the intelligence of voters and plays on less informed voter fears.  This is not leadership.  It most certainly does not make America great.

Keep Biden on 2024 ticket

Like many of those who want to see Biden defeat Trump in November but are now seriously concerned that his last debate performance will be an obstacle to that goal, let me suggest a few points that should negate such a notion.

In defense of a Biden candidacy is the fact that he has presided over one of the most successful administrations since FDR in terms of bringing the nation back to a stable state, economically and constitutionally sound, following the nightmare of the Trump administration.  Facts don’t dispute this.  Despite being hamstrung by the pandemic and it’s latent causations, Biden’s overall performance in the critical areas that include immigration, health, jobs and wages, household wealth and serious crimes have risen to and exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

But one could ask, will Biden be able to prevail in these and other areas like foreign policy in his next 4-year term.  A legitimate concern but when looking at all factors related to another term, there are reasons to believe that his poor showing in a single 90-minutes debate is not demonstrative that calamity and chaos will ensue.

Biden has always put this country and the constitution above his own self-interests, unlike the self-serving game show host that preceded him.  Right now, Biden and those closest to him feel that he is up to the challenge.  I’ve yet to see enough that would prevent him from achieving this.  The seemingly knee-jerk reaction by many to his poor debate performance last week has, I believe, been in part due to the low expectations tHat right-wing media pundits have wasted time on, declaring “BREAKING NEWS” every time Biden stuttered or stumbled, often ignoring Trump’s own miscalculations and incoherency and his ambulatory issues


Unlike Trump who inserts himself in all matters, foreign and domestic, often overriding more competent and experienced people, Biden relies on such support from his staff, Cabinet members and agency heads to perform at a level that ensures sound policies will be carried out to prevent any imagined calamities that Right-wing alarmists have wrongly presumed would happen under a Biden administration.

However, in the event Biden’s mental and/or physical health diminishes to a level that poses a threat to the governance of this nation, I am convinced that with the help of his wife Jill, he would acknowledge such a deficiency and step down, allowing his capable VP, Kamala Harris, to step in and keep our ship of state afloat trough 2028.

Then there is the reality that a Trump presidency will outshine his previous one with greater insanity and autocratic tendencies.  His hyperbolic claims and blatant lies he exposed on that debate awoke many to the threat his presidency would present to our democracy.  He has vowed to prosecute his political enemies without due process, will undermine our freedom of the press and now, through the complicity of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court and the guidance of the Heritage Foundation’s radical 2025 Plan that eviscerates constitutional safeguards, a Trump victory this November will reduce this country to a unhinged and despotic monarchy.

The disbelief by many who remain poorly informed of what a Trump presidency will look like and those who seem gleeful of such an autocratic regime, threatens to reduce the one last hope this nation has to defend itself against fascist totalitarianism  - our vote.

Without a Supreme Court who seems inclined to support Trump’s spurious claims to total immunity from all crimes committed as President and a feckless Republican Party that pays obeisance to a cult figure rather  than to the U.S. Constitution, our choices at the polls this November are all that separates us from the traditional core values the Founders fought and died for and those vicious attempts to wrest control from the electorate to satisfy the whims of a few who stand to gain financially, standing in judgement of all who don’t share their small-minded, self-serving convictions.

Don’t let  a single 90-minutes debate overrule the better judgement of our angels that has so fundamentally served as our guide to a life where freedom and equality are the cornerstones by which each and everyone of us are allowed to prosper and grow.

VOTE IN 2024 FOR DEMOCRACY.  NOT AUTOCRACY