Heroes

His final moments were a testimonial to all that he represented in life when he demonstrated his heroism by saving the lives of 16 fellow comrades.

**

During the military conflict which Vietnamese high school students are taught--reasonably--to call 'the American War', Sen. John McCain flew bombing missions in Operation Rolling Thunder.  In 1968, the CIA estimated that 72,000 Vietnamese civilians were killed during the failed campaign.  If (as seems reasonable) 850 American pilots died during the offensive, then approximately eighty-five Vietnamese civilians died for every one US flier.  Operation Rolling Thunder accomplished little if anything, militarily.

'They're all heroes,' we occasionally hear, from people with a story line to sell.  But if you're a soldier whose death occurs during an unjust and unsuccessful operation or in a non-combat accident, you're not a hero.  Such a death is a tragedy, but no responsible parent would hope for her son to risk death in such a fiasco.

To die a military hero should require having served honorably taking it to the enemy or participating in some militarily worthwhile, just activity.

If you're serving in Iraq and you die in a non-combat-related automobile accident, frankness requires us to refrain from labelling your death heroic.  If you crash an airplane in Afghanistan and the accident is attributed to 'pilot error', your claim to 'hero' status is much undermined.

So much rides on the still-unreleased report on the Osprey accident in which Eden Prairie's Randall Voas--presumed pilot-in-command--died. 

To be clear, I take no position on what that result should be--though I want it to be truthful.

Questioning Civility

We are not questioning your authority, sir, but if manners
prevent our speaking the truth, we will be without manners.

Ianto Morgan - How Green Was My Valley

I attended the lecture and dinner--advertised above--at St. Patrick's this evening.  It's enjoyable socializing with fellow parishioners, but if our padre has anything of interest to say on civility his rhetorical fusillade remains battle-ready.  Here are some questions I'd hoped to see addressed:

How can we define the boundary between civility and incivility, in various contexts?  How ought our allegiance to civility be prioritized, among other values?  Under what circumstances might a reasonable person dispense with civility?  Can incivility be expressed silently?

Is incivility actually becoming worse--as this evening's title maintains?  How can we know for sure, living in the awareness that old people have always made this claim?

How should we handle disputes; where should the line be drawn?  How should infractions against civility be addressed?  (Once someone has behaved uncivilly, what are we then authorized to do?)

Within the group assembled here, are there any obvious barriers to honest dialogue?  Where among these problems ought incivility be ranked? 

Are all politicians equally responsible for the current level of incivility in public discourse?  Do any public figures who enjoy drawing attention to their 'exemplary civility' do so in error?  Why do we let them get away with it?

I suspect we're discussing civility at St. Patrick's not because it's an especially important problem, now--among parishioners or in society--but due to its being an easy, inoffensive 'issue' with which we can pretend to engage, without the messiness attendant genuine controversy.

The perennial popularity of 'the call for a return to civility' satisfies our Minnesotan yen to see mush production and sanctimony rewarded.

We Are Blessed

Attending a recent Meffert for Congress event, I noted the candidate's public-speaking repertoire includes we are blessed statements, which introduce some Minnesota marvel.  Erik Paulsen also sticks we are blessed into many a public statement.

We are blessed pretends to be an assertion of upper middle class gentility, but in reality the formulation is popular among the socially-aspiring because it announces mainstream Christian religious belief.  (The phrase amounts to a subconscious order:  Perceive me as being tame!)

When a politician announces his devotion to his mainline sect, he's flattering those who feel prejudice against non-believers, against adherents of minority faiths and against those with exotic or self-authored superstitions.  He's signaling he shares the popular view that--for example--non-belief ought to require apology, groveling and permanent second-class citizenship.

Fuck We Are Blessed.

Say No to Flags

A long-lost person just sent me a recommended event related to Flags For Fallen Military which is to be hosted by local TV master-of-the-universe (and fellow Cougar) Tom Hauser.

No, I can't really get behind this group--and indeed oppose it. 

I don't like private groups to enter into a role government ought to play.  Our tribute to fallen soldiers shouldn't be a privately-organized activity. 

Nor do I like media figures playing People's Representative.

When a private entity seeks to take on this role--as in the present instance--it attempts to gain general respectability by asserting a chilling blandness and corporatism.

Fuck Flags for Fallen Military.