AS AN OLD GROUCH

The Rev. Dana Prom Smith, S.T.D., Ph.D. (8/01/08)

As a fellow old grouch, I understand John McCain and sympathize with him. History is passing him by while younger men are taking over, particularly Barack Obama. Painful it is for him to see himself as a has-been after having done so much with his life.

Old people want to tidy up their histories, tying up the loose ends. A big loose end for John McCain is the Vietnam War which ended in our ignominious withdrawal. He invested over 5 years of imprisonment and torture in that war and that honorably, but without a victory as in World War II. Now, he wants to reclaim a victory for Vietnam by a victory in Iraq. As a military man, he thinks victory while most people don't, preferring other resolutions less dramatic and costly.

While John McCain wants to redeem the past, time marches on, leaving him punching the air. As the hymn reads, "New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth." World War II, ancient history to most Americans, was a defining experience for me: victory with honor. Vietnam defined John McCain: honor without victory. So an old grouch becomes a bitter old grouch living the illusion of rewriting history. Sad it is to see a man who endured so much so honorably for so long is now bitterly dishonoring himself with a typical Nixonian Republican campaign of trivial dirty tricks. The promise of straight-talk is lost and with it an honorable John McCain. I thought we knew you.