Question: what is nobility? One may well ask now that America has lowered itself to the status of some despotic third-world nation from the Middle Ages with our elected officials passing a bill that gives our President the power to decide whom and how to torture.
I write this because there’s an election coming up, an essential occasion in our noble project of democracy, and I want to remind all of us of our lost quality of nobility—and of two Americans who actually exemplify it.
I’m not going to mention anyone famous, if only because our media are bellyfull of them. Like boy-stalker Mark Foley, whose superiors covered for him because they wanted power (i.e. his safe seat) more than they wanted to protect youngsters from dirty old men like them. (Talk about making us feel safe: our pols can’t even make parents who send their page-kids to Congress feel safe.)
One noble American was a young man of 22 in the Vietnam War by the name of Dan Fernandez. A grenade landed amongst the platoon he led, and Fernandez flung himself upon it, smothering the impact of the grenade with his body to protect his fellow soldiers. The grenade went off and, as Fernandez lay dying, he spoke to his comrades whose lives he’d just saved. "Sorry guys,” he said, “you won't have Danny to look after you now. You'll have to do it yourselves, because old Danny just has to go." With his last breath, this dying man was still thinking of the welfare of his men and worrying about how they’d make out without his leadership.
The other noble American was a 13-year-old Amish girl. When the deranged killer at their school told the Amish girls he was tying up that he was angry with God, and that they should pray for him, this 13-year-old said, "Shoot me and leave the others alone."
When I think of how the Republicans are finger-pointing over who should've intervened in Mark Foley's page-stalking, and how the Democrats are happy because now they’ve got something to run on, being too spineless to actually stand for anything themselves, I see not a shred of nobility.
And this makes me immensely sad. Our leaders aren't noble. It could be our fault: we don't seem to pick them for their nobility, and in return, they don't ever think of appealing to our nobility either—only to what is most base in our natures. It is, for example, a policy of the Republican Party to appeal to the gay-hating proclivities of their socially uptight base. They have an actual policy that appeals to hatred.
Yet I'm still immensely proud of being part of the human race, and of its American sample, because of a young Amish girl who was willing to offer up her life so her friends may live. Her name, by the way, was Marian Fisher. Hallowed be her memory.
Now let’s get down to some politicians’ names. There’s our president, Dick Cheney, and his lackey Veep, George Bush. What noble thing do they stand for? If I hear them right, they’re saying you should vote for their lot because the GOP will make you feel safe, but only if you let them torture people and lock 'em up for years without charging them with anything.
What a noble idea. They don’t seem to stand for much else, besides not being Democrats, which to them means those people who “cut and run” and don’t want to “take the fight to the enemy” but prefer waiting for the enemy to do something first before they do anything. Sure, Bush/Cheney took the fight to the enemy, Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but now they’ve disbanded the unit appointed to go after him, and they took the fight to Saddam Hussein, who had nothing to do with 9/11.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Mark Schannon
Incredible article. I'm not sure how happy I am with your characterization of Israel, but, what the hell, nothing else has worked. The problem is that the Arabs don't want peace...but the brilliance of supporting the anti-Semetic Mel Gibson against all the available pols is so wonderfully bizarre that I won't even make an issue of it.
I think except for the extremists, you probably captured the mood of most Americans more than you know. Think Readers Digest would reprint this, LOL.
In Decaf Veritas
2 - Baronius
There is probably no more noble person in politics today than Dick Cheney. Vice president is a thankless job, and I'm sure he wasn't expecting to be treated well. But the level of abuse heaped on the man is unbelievable.
At first it was jokes about his heart condition. Because, you know, that's funny. He might die. Then after Ashcroft stepped down, the left needed a new demon, and they chose Cheney. It's not an exaggeration to say that Cheney was demonized; he's literally been called the devil. He's been blamed for the war; he's been accused of torture and profiteering.
In 2004, Kerry and Edwards tried to tarnish his image by broadcasting his daughter's sexual preference.
Dick Cheney has endured the Vice presidency for eight years with no intention of higher office. That's like training as poop boy and turning down the chance to be jockey. He has served nobly, only once tearing into Senator Leahy (and it's difficult to blame him). He was a strong hand on 9/11. He's been loyal to his president even in disagreement.
I don't know if I'll live to see Cheney get the recognition he deserves, but he should be remembered as a man of the caliber of Clay or Marshall.
3 - JR
Baronius: There is probably no more noble person in politics today than Dick Cheney... I don't know if I'll live to see Cheney get the recognition he deserves, but he should be remembered as a man of the caliber of Clay or Marshall.
Wow.
Just... Wow.
4 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Adam,
From your safe haven in America, you can lecture all you want on how we Israelis should be good steers and make peace with Arab butchers, the PLO and Hamas, and now HizbAllah. Let's hear what song you sing when you hear Arabs snickering how they are going to rape you before they kill you as you walk along the road from Ma'aleh Levona to 'Eli.
Our weakness is not that we're willing to make peace. That was what Oslo (Aslá in Hebrew - toilet) was all about. But do you want to know that? Of course not! Those genocidal Israelis want to harm the poor innocent Arabs! You buy thir lies like you buy a Mars Bar, sweet bullshit that tastes good but is worthless.
I want to see the day when our government deals with Arab terror and the way it should be dealt with. Killing off all the Arab prisoners in Israeli jails - so the bastards don't ever get the idea that we will feed them if they go to jail here; by castrating the mukhtar of the village that commits a terror act against us - that will be needed only once; no Arab will want to lose his balls; by exiling the family of the terrorist to a different village - where the different clan will feel free to rape the women and terrorize the men. That will end Arab terror here.
Finally, I want to see an Israeli government that will give your government and all the governments of the EU the middle finger they deserve and tell them to get the fuck out of our business before we use our nukes on their oil supply. That will be the day we tell the Americans to take their money, their soldiers, their fleet, and their interfering CFR, and get the hell out of here before we kill them and destroy their embassy, ambassador and embassy workers included.
The day I see such a government take power here will be the day I tear up my American passport and happily renounce my US citizenship. For such a government, I'd gladly learn how to use any weapon they gave me to use, and gladly fight any battle they send me into.
Sorry Adam, what you write about Israel disgusts me and balances out any intelligent ideas you may have expressed in the article elsewhere.
5 - zingzing
i think most sensible people in the world hope that all the militant arabs and all the arab-hating jews kill each other off.
it's only when there is no one left who is willing to kill someone for a chunk of dirt that this thing will be over.
6 - Donnie Marler
You have an extremely deranged view of Israeli-Arab problems Adam.
The arabs tried that 'second holocaust' bullshit a long time ago and got their heads handed to them.
Sorry, pal. I'm kind of tired of arab apologists.
7 - zingzing
the israeli-arab problems themselves are extremely deranged, so an extremely deranged view is completely compatable.
these religious things... so crazy, so crazy.
8 - Donnie Marler
LOL, if you say so, Zing. I still think it was just a bit harsh and extremely arab biased.
Good line though!
9 - zingzing
well, you have to admit that if we cut israel loose to take care of their own problems with the arabs, the arabs would probably have less of a problem with us.
i mean, shit, it's totally our (u.s. and wwII allies) fault that all this shit is going on, but fuck, they've had 60 years to find some way of co-existing, and i'm just tired of their complaints.
arab: "the jews stole our lands!"
jew: "it was ours to begin with!"
arab: "but i had a house, and a nice picket fence and a little tree..."
jew: "too bad, mine now! god says so!"
arab: "fuck you! i kill you!
jew: "god is on my side!"
arab: "allah is on mine!"
jew: "we shall compare our gods through nasty cycles of violence!"
arab: "agreed!"
jew: "hmm, i see your god compares to mine..."
arab: "i know! uncanny, isn't it?!"
jew: "yes... wait! fuck you! mine!"
arab: "mine!"
jew: "we agree again... we are so similar... and yet, fuck you!"
arab: "fuck me? fuck you!"
jew: "... we're just going around in circles here."
arab: "how do we get out of this circle?"
jew: "escalation!"
arab: "yes, escalation!"
jew: "i kill you twice!"
arab: "bring it on!"
10 - Christopher Rose
zingzing: you almost made me laugh and cry simultaneously then! Good work.
11 - Clavos
zing,
it's only when there is no one left who is willing to kill someone for a chunk of dirt that this thing will be over.
Isn't that pretty much what all wars have been about?
It'll be a pretty frigid day you-know-where if (not when) that happens...
12 - MCH
Re Baronius, #2;
You left out chickenhawk Cheney's draft-dodging during the Vietnam War...five deferments due to "other priorities." But he sure doesn't seem to have any problem these days sending those braver than he overseas to pay the ultimate sacrifice.
13 - Clavos
Oh, hell. Some damn fool let emmy out of the rubber room again...
14 - Donnie Marler
jew: "we shall compare our gods through nasty cycles of violence!"
Damn, ok, I admit it, I laughed.
15 - Franco
Ruvy in Jerusalem
Ruvy,
I am sure you know some Arabs living in Israel. Is there any "common ground" found between you on anything, and if so, what is it?
16 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Franco, the common ground is that we want to make money, live in peace and stop paying bribes to thieves; and one other thing that you guys always like to dismiss: WE BOTH BELIEVE IN G-D, AND IN A REDEMPTION, AND THAT A DESCENDENT OF KING DAVID WILL RULE HERE!
17 - Dave Nalle
Where's good old Jeshua bin David when you need him?
Dave
18 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Where's good old Jeshua bin David when you need him?
Poor guy is dead and gone. Been that way for a couple of thousand years now. Don't get me wrong - we Jews are all family. But its just bad form to worship your relatives. G-d frowns on that kind of stuff.
Just have a little patience. Descendants of Khalif Daoud el Nebi are around, and when the right time comes, he'll make himself known.
We've only waited for 2,500 years... We're patient.
19 - Adam Ash
Ruvy:
How does public opinion in Israel break down these days?
How many still back Olmert?
How many think the Lebanon War was a good thing?
How many still want to start peace talks with Palestine?
Are there any Israelis who think Hamas is worth talking to?
How has the Lebanon War changed opinion in Israel?
What is the outlook for peace?
Not that I wanted this thread to develop into an Israeli discussion. I was hoping for people to at last vent about those two US fuckups we call the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Adam
20 - Mike
I want to see the day when our government deals with Arab terror and the way it should be dealt with. Killing off all the Arab prisoners in Israeli jails
Ruvy you claim to be a devout Jew, and yet you neglect a commandment that came straight from God's mouth. What you propose, the murder of all Arabs in Israeli prisons, is really not that different then the genocide you suffered in the Holocaust.
As far as i am concerned, anyone who propogates violence in the name of religion is a terrorist.
You are so convinced that your religion is the one true religion, and you base that on what? A manuscript written and edited by people of your own faith? Anyone can call themselves a "chosen race," and attribute it to God. I believe the Germans did that with the Ayrian race.
Now, this isn't a religious debate, but I am gonna let you into a little insight. God's salvation and grace is open to all of his creation, which, is everybody. Not one group over another.
21 - Nancy
Baronius, I'd be happy to give Cheney the recognition he so richly deserves: first by torturing him according to his own rules, and then at the end of a rope. And he can take Junior with him.
Adam, you're SO dead on about the characterization of both parties, except you left out the utter lack of ethics, morality, or anything except the total mindless, unending greed & arrogance of all of them, starting at the top. I do wish someone or something would wipe out every single one of them, every one.
22 - Baronius
MCH, I left out a couple of things, like how hard he hit the bottle as a kid. I find that much more disturbing than the legal deferments he received. I also didn't mention his years of government service, his humble beginnings, his management of the Gulf War, or his 42-year marriage.
Nancy, I really expected to win you over.
23 - Scott
"I left out a couple of things, like how hard he hit the bottle as a kid"
In my understanding, he still does hit the bottle. At least before hunting expeditions.
24 - JR
Baronius: Dick Cheney has endured the Vice presidency for eight years with no intention of higher office. That's like training as poop boy and turning down the chance to be jockey.
I could "endure" a personal fortune of $94 million, more influence on U.S. policy than the president himself, and not being the guy who takes the bullet when it all goes bad. Though I must admit, I'm at a loss as to how to run up $186,000 in electricity bills in my own home, even if someone else is paying for it. That kind of self-sacrifice is beyond my abilities.
25 - Baronius
Nancy, I've been thinking about your comment about torture. It's a perfect example of what I admire about Dick Cheney.
Many people aren't interested in distinctions. The use of duress under strict guidelines is labelled torture. The criminal activities of Abu Ghraib guards are confused with administration policy. A legitimate reading of the Geneva Accords is called a treaty violation.
Most politicians would avoid the topic of torture, or use it for grandstanding. The lowest type of politician would put himself first, play to the cameras, and remind everyone that he was held in a Vietnamese prison. Cheney dared to tackle the issue. He spoke out in favor of a defined US policy, knowing full well the political cost.
The Kennedy Library gives out "Profiles in Courage" awards to politicians who do the right thing for the country in spite of the prevailing wind. Dick Cheney deserves such an award.