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A “Good Soldier” or a “Good Leader?”
By Ali Elizabeth | September 2, 2008
The Democratic National Convention just wrapped up,the Republican Convention begins tonight and I am going to shock all of you with what I am about to say: we as Americans have much to celebrate. What?? You might be sorely tempted after a statement like that to ask if I have just tossed back a quart of Pollyanna-flavored Kool Aid. Pollyanna, as you might remember, changed a town by playing “The Glad Game,” a dogged committment to finding things to be glad about in the midst of distressing circumstances.
But really, we do. As I mentioned in a previous post, 50 years ago in my state of Alabama folks were in an uproar over where dark-skinned folks should sit on a city bus, and these days the proof of how far we’ve come is that if we don’t agree that Obama is the best choice for President, it’s a no-brainer that it is because of his politics and all the weaknesses as a leader that continue to unfold, and not his skin’s melanin content. I also have made it clear that I am not jumping up and down over the prospect of there being a President McCain. (Now Mrs. Sarah not-at-all-Planen and Tall, there is something to be jazzed about, and she’ll be the topic of my next post.)
That being said, there is a statement that was made by Joe Biden at the convention that I just can’t let go, and it stems from my experience living for three years in a combat zone. Mr. Biden will always be remembered as the VP choice who said that the guy who would be his boss is not ready for the job, and rightly so.
And, as a side note, Mrs. Clinton, who before her fascinating ”endorse Obama” speech is the one who was nearly shrewish a while back in confronting Mr. Obama over his relationship with “slum landlord” Tony Rezko. Can you imagine the prospects of a company’s success if this happened in the corporate world? I won’t go down that rabbit trail.
The statement made at the DNC (and between Joe B. and Bill Clinton there were several doozies-) that hacked me off enough to launch into therapeutic blogging was this: “These times require more than a good soldier, they require a good leader.”
I am forty years older since the DNC convention which I watched with much rebellious passion. In my book (which will be out in November,) I mention my response in ‘68 to the riots, and it is considerably different than how I feel now.
I never thought I’d say this, but for my money, I believe most soldiers would make better legislative leaders than most politicians. Why? Because of their training and experience. (John Murtha is the notable exception here. He does not deserve the distinction of being a former Marine, as there is little that is “always faithful” about him.)
I don’t know of any career track where en masse the power of leadership and the encouragement of exercising that power responsibly is what employees of all levels eat for breakfast lunch and dinner. It’s on the posters in the Dfac, it’s on the AFN TV spots, it is the continual reminder to do what’s right no matter the cost.
I have seen soldiers that I believe have no business leading themselves, let alone anyone else. Thankfully they are in the nearly non-existant minority. But truly, if there was one thing that three years in Baghdad demonstrated to me, it is this: the fact that we have soldiers who have been in Iraq and Afghanistan and may eventually run for office (as is former SSG David Bellavia, author of House to House, which is about the ‘04 Fallujah campaign,) gives me great hope. Why? Because danger both develops and displays leadership, and we are in greater danger than most folks realize.
Give me the ‘Nam vet geezer with the sharp and gorgeous NRA member guv-babe over the manchild and the Veep-geeze any day.
Topics: Ballad for Baghdad, the Book | No Comments »