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Over five days of mid-western exposure, Sarah Palin has pointed out no less than three times in her public addresses that her older son (Salty, Mooselip, Fungo, Artic Weasel . . . ah heck I can't remember which quirky name it is right now) enlisted on 9/11 last year and will be leaving next week for Iraq on 9/11. God speed him home safely. My issue is that she dances this baby out for public oohing and aaahing with the frequency of Farty McSnerd allusions de jour re: the years he spent in a 4 X 6 cage as a POW. Last night's speech was a daily double getting both in the same screed.
As a Vietnam era vet, I love and support our men and women serving in our military and I certainly respect the sacrifice and heroism of Farty McSnerd, too, but this isn't the VFW hall, we aren't in a July 4th parade, etc. What happened to humility? Do you think that those others imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton trot that out every time two or more gather together? The RNC made a point of singling them out on Day Two (officially it was day one)I seriously doubt these guys are using that experience as an ice breaker or even when pressed about it do they willingly share it. Of course, those surviving heroes aren't trying to pander for public office either. No those equally heroic individuals are like so many VETs of a quieter, more to themselves nature. Humility!
The coincidence of Gov. Palin's son's enlistment date and departure date for Iraq and the events of 9/11/01 strike me as contrived and even manipulative especially in their context. It may have been Mooselip's idea as "kinda cool" at the time or it may have been just something quite innocent and coincidental. Nevertheless, the more times that oily haired hocky Mom trots this anecdote out, the more I feel like the time I sat in a polite stupor as my neighbor showed me the 6,846 slides taken while visiting the home of Brian Plummer in London who caught the world's largest Norway rat -- 2.4 pounds.
I have a friend at work whose son enlisted on October 12th; it wasn't because he loved Columbus. Is that any less significant for his father, mother or the young man who enlisted? I am confident the parents and loved ones of many of those serving associate a particular date with a certain ambiguity of love, pride, fear, and anxiety. I also doubt they use it to introduce themselves to strangers.
9-11 conjures a spectrum of responses. A few months after 9/11/01 I read about how people actually went to court to change the date of birth of their child to something besides September 11th. There is a couple in our HOA that changed their anniversary date to the 12th for the same reason. My church is part of an Interfaith Council Memorial that started on 9/12/01 and continued every 9/11 since. And I wouldn't be surprised if some people have simply absorbed it as just another day in the year.
The point is please don't trivialize such an emotionally laden date, don't use it to adorn your political acceptance nor to deflect any criticism like John has done more frequently this campaign.
