Beinart Assumes Too Much

What a surprise to discover from Peter Beinart in today's Washington Post that Democrats have been alienated from the military, that we don't respect them, that we don't share the same culture as the men and women who serve.

Democrats have been alienated from the military since Vietnam, almost as long as Republicans have been alienated from African Americans. They need a generational strategy to repair the rift. Criticizing the Bush administration for failing to provide current and former troops and their families the medical and other benefits they deserve is a start. So is developing a cadre of national Democrats with real defense expertise -- something the party has often lacked since Sam Nunn left the Senate and Les Aspin the House -- so Democrats can speak the military's language.

But the biggest problem is cultural. Democrats should acknowledge that at times the left's understandable anger over Vietnam degenerated into a lack of respect for the military.

[snip]

Genuine multiculturalism is not just about race, ethnicity and gender. It's about embracing people whose culture differs from yours, in hopes of finding core principles that you share. Over the past four years, Republicans have done that. Now Democrats must too. (emphasis mine)

Hogwash. The military culture is not foreign to Democrats. There are veterans, active duty personnel, and military family members in the Democratic party. The military culture of honor, respect for country, loyalty to fellow servicemen and women, duty, integrity, respect for chain of command and responding to the call of your country is NOT a foreign culture. I'm offended that it's assumed to be so, that it's presented as fact. Bullshit. I will not sit idly by and be accused of seeing the military culture as foreign. (Yeah, it's personal. My Dad is a retired Navy officer with a tour in Vietnam and my sister and step-brother are Navy vets as well.)

It's not just me. The members of my local Veterans for Kerry group would be surprised to find that the Democratic party views them as living in a different culture, that democrats lack respect for the military, that opposition to the "don't ask don't tell" policy is really an anti-military stance. Retired military officers who organized to protest Bush's policies would be surprised to learn that the Democrats don't respect them. The veterans who need VA assistance and see it being cut by the Republicans would be surprised to learn that the Democratic support for the programs they need doesn't actually mean they support the military.

Someone needs to tell Beinart to put down his pen and think about what he's writing before he writes it. He provides fodder to those who want to smear Democrats as anti-military while providing no real insight for the party. His only advice after establishing the "fact" that the Democrats don't embrace the military is for Howard Dean to reprimand universities that don't allow military recruiters on campus because they discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

Is this really the big answer to the alleged problem? Will veterans everywhere suddenly breathe a sigh of relief and feel at home in the Democratic party if we insist that military recruiters can target the ivy league? Please.

If the Democrats want to improve their image in regard to the military - and I do believe that if there's a problem it's primarily one of perception - then support for military recruiting of ivy leaguers isn't the way to do it. We need to utilize Wesley Clark and other retired military men and women. We need to highlight our efforts to support our troops by providing the hardware they need to fight and stay alive. We need to promote the veteran's programs the Democrats have tried to protect from being cut in the Bush budgets. We need to push for a strong exit strategy for Iraq, hold civilian leaders accountable for choices that put our men and women at risk unnecessarily. We need to target attention on how Republican policies hurt the military. We need to consider expanding the size of our forces to reduce our reliance on the National Guard. We need to ensure that those Guard members who risked their lives in Iraq and suffered permanent disabilities have the same benefits and support that active military receive.  There's real work that can be done that communicates our support and respect for the military. It's far more valuable than breaching the gates of the ivy league.

The bottom line is that if you're going to smear the Democrats by saying we don't respect or understand the military culture, then have the decency to make a worthwhile suggestion or two. Otherwise, stay off the pages of the Washington Post.

Comments

[tas]

Genuine multiculturalism is not just about race, ethnicity and gender. It's about embracing people whose culture differs from yours, in hopes of finding core principles that you share. Over the past four years, Republicans have done that. Now Democrats must too.

Excuse me, but Republicans have done what? The party that peddles bigotry and hatred against gays for their political advantage has suddenly embraced those very people? The party which does everything possible to make sure black people live in poverty and have trouble voting has suddnely embraced them?

Wow. Just wow. Why does Beinart even call himself a Democrat, anyways? After writing shit like this and co-signing letters sent on behalf of the PNAC, I really think he's in the wrong party.

[KathyF]

Thank you for pointing this out, and for doing it better than I did the other day at What Do I Know?. I'm tired of military votes going to the party that screws them, over and over, because idiots like Beinart continue the perception that Dems are soft on military issues. It's simply not true. I put some links up on my site that show just how the Republicans have been screwing the military members, even making them pay for the food they eat in the hospital while recovering from wounds suffered fighting their war. All the while, the defense budget has grown to its highest levels--higher than Vietnam--so that the defense contractors could be rewarded.

It makes me ill.

[zxzxzx]

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