With all due respect, sir, you need to stop railing against John McCain. It's beneath the office to which the American people elected you. And, quite frankly, it's beneath every measure of common decency.
Let's put aside, for a moment, that the man is dead and can't fight back. Let's put aside that he is, without question, a war hero. Let's even put aside the fact that his family -- and this nation you are supposed to be leading -- still mourns his passing.
John McCain served his country. And I mean, really served it -- in and out of uniform. He flew fighter jets. He endured unspeakable agony as a prisoner of war. He represented the people of Arizona for 35 years. And, yes, he ran twice for the office you now hold.
He didn't have to do any of that. He could have refused to join the military, just like you did. He could have attended a civilian university, just like you did. He could have gone into business for himself, just like you did.
Or, on the heels of serving in Vietnam, he could have said, "Hey, you know what, I've done my bit. It's time to focus on me. Time to put my family first. Time to make a little money."
A lot of veterans did exactly that. And good for them. Through their leadership and entrepreneurship, they've improved their communities and our country in the process. Of course, some Vietnam veterans weren't able to prosper after the war, so menacing and, in many cases, invisible were the wounds they suffered.
Sen. McCain never forgot those vets. He labored hard and heroically on their behalf, making sure they received the care and the credit they deserved for fighting a war no one wanted to think about anymore. He did the same for subsequent generations of troops, including mine. That's why recent VA reforms are named, in part, in his honor.
John McCain chose continued public service. He eschewed private opportunity for the life of a politician.
I've always marveled at how we denigrate that word: Politician. I suppose there have always been people of low character in elected office -- charlatans who prey on our fears and feed on their own sense of personal grievance or glory -- but in that malevolent effort they cast aspersions on the vast majority of elected officials who truly just want to do right by their country.
Let's be honest. Some of our greatest national heroes are politicians, men and women who -- however flawed they may have been -- devoted the bulk of their lives to representing and improving the lives of their fellow citizens. That includes John McCain.
I doubt you appreciate all the ways in which he did that. You're still angry that he didn't vote with you to repeal Obamacare. You blame him -- wrongly, I might add -- for what you call "endless wars" in the Middle East. (It's actually a bit more complicated than that, sir.)
Perhaps you resent the way he has been lionized since his passing. And maybe you still nurse a grudge over some of the things he said about you. You've got to get over it.
The senator once called me an idiot.
He didn't like the way I answered a question about ISIS from the Pentagon podium and unloaded on me. I was a serving flag officer at the time, a two-star admiral, so I wasn't at liberty to respond.
Friends and colleagues urged me not to take it personally. "He says that about everybody," they told me, "You're in great company!"
But it didn't feel that way at all. It hurt. And not because I bristled at being called an idiot. I've been called a helluva lot worse than that. Take a look at my Twitter feed or, better yet, ask any of my four brothers how they would describe growing up with me.
It hurt because it came from the likes of John McCain. It felt like I was falling short of the expectations of someone I deeply admired.
A man like McCain comes along only once in a generation or so. Right or wrong -- and by his own admission, he was plenty of both -- he casts a long shadow. I imagine it's a bit chilly for you sitting in that shadow.
My advice, Mr. President, such as you might accept it, is to start casting your own long shadow. Stop denigrating yourself by trying to denigrate John McCain. Admit, as I did, that it hurts to fall short of his example and then move on. Focus on your own accomplishments.
You seem to admire Andrew Jackson, another flawed but famous politician. If you don't want to listen to me, maybe you should listen to him:
"Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right," Jackson once said, "but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error."
You've been terribly in error, Mr. President. Embarrassingly so. Acknowledge that, please, and be a slightly better man.
Very respectfully,
John F. Kirby
Rear Admiral, US Navy (ret)
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Dear Mr. President, stop railing against John McCain"
Post a Comment