Seinfeld politics
In one episode of the 90s hit comedy series Seinfeld, George Costanza defends his liking for for one of Jerry’s stand-up comic competitors, Kenny Bania, with the line “I like stuff you don’t have to think about”. Dana Milbank, columnist for the Washington Post endorses Hillary Clinton as George Costanza’s candidate;
Are you in it to win? Would you regard civil rights as the gift that keeps on giving? Do you believe in the American Dream, stupid?
If you answered yes to any of the above, you might consider supporting Hillary Clinton, the person to send to the White House when you care enough to send the very best. More than any other candidate, Clinton has brought the sensibility of Hallmark greeting cards to the 2008 presidential race.
Yesterday, the Democratic front-runner took a number of provocative stands as she spoke about soldiers and veterans at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank:
“If you serve your country, your country should serve you.”
“I’m here to say that the buck does stop with this president.”
“Let us work . . . to take care of those who are taking care of us.”
The controversy didn’t end there. She also offered her view that American soldiers are simultaneously “giving their all,” “holding their breath” and “stretched to the breaking point.” Candidate Cliche continued: “Who’s on their side? Who’s standing up for them? . . . We owe these young men and women the very best.”
We do not owe them the very best rhetoric, however. Abraham Lincoln gave the last full measure of devotion to support-the-troops language 142 years ago, when he called on the nation “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.” Yesterday, Clinton had this to say of the troops: “They don’t have the luxury of passing the buck to somebody else. They step forward and they step up.”
While I let Milbanks deal with Clinton’s sloganeering for the mindless, slobbering morons who salivate at the thought of another shallow, empty pantsuit-wearing Clinton occupying the White House, I’d prefer to deal with her “support” for the troops.
I guess that we should nevermind the walk of the Clintons, as opposed to the talk of the Clintons. Like when the Joint Operations Training Center in Fort Polk, Louisiana was converted from the premier warfighting simulation training to the “Meals-on-Wheels” training area for the various and sundry “nation-building” exercises that the Clinton Administration inflicted on our soldiers.
From Haiti to Kosova to East Timor, the rapid deployment forces that had been honed to a fine edge pre-Clinton, were relegated to handing out bags of rice and beans. The specially trained and motivated 10th Mountain Division could count on the deployment of half of their 10,000 troops at any given time either in “nationbuilding” exercises or in preparation for the deployment at the JOTC.
Troops and their families were stretched to their limits in the 90s, and for what? For a Clinton legacy. This was despite the fact that they all knew that their commander “disdained” them and their profession. They all knew that military liasons to their commander weren’t allowed to wear their uniforms, the distinctive symbol of their dedication and commitment to this nation, in his sight.
They all knew that Hillary Clinton had made up some story about attempting to join the Marines in the 60s and being turned down because she was (is?) a girl – an obvious attempt at demeaning recruiters, in particular, and military men, in general.
But, hey, as long as she can speak in empty platitudes about stuff we don’t have to think about too hard, she’s our candidate.
Category: Politics
