I was indulging just now in my habit of reading comments after some online news events when I ran across an item that produced more partisan commentary than I have seen in some time. Apparently Joe Biden's son, Beau, the Attorney General of Delaware, who is currently in Iraq with his unit in the Air National Guard, is home on leave for the inauguration. [Not to go off on a tangent or anything here, but the guy is only about ten years younger than me, and he looks like he is about 20. Life really IS NOT FAIR.]
This has given rise to some of the smokiest comments I've seen in awhile, maybe since the election itself, in fact. People on both sides of the issue seem to be passionate about their opinions, as usual. What I find interesting, though, is not the partisan opinions, which are routine and expected, and so small minded that I don't pay attention to either side.
The thing that caught my attention is that there seems to be no recognition of the fact that some life events, even once in a lifetime, are bigger than others, and that inequity is what we should be arguing about. We have entirely lost our perspective as a nation, I think, on pretty much everything, and we are all the worse for it. This small thing demonstrates our inability to be rational about what is really important as well as anything I've seen in awhile, which is probably why it piqued my interest in the first place.
Don't get me wrong here. I would prefer that no member of our military ever miss any big event in the lives of their family members. I am a liberal after all, [or so I'm told,] and I would prefer peace over war any day of the year. [Not to diverge once again, but if hating war and preferring peace makes me a liberal, then I will claim the title with alacrity.] Sadly, sometimes we must face the inevitable, however, [Afghanistan comes to mind as one inevitable conflict where we had no choice but to act,] and just move forward to do what must be done.
So when we send our young men and women off to fight our battles for us, and let's be honest, that is, in fact, what we are doing, we should at least be understanding of the sorts of sacrifices not only the service person, but their families, are making on our behalf. It seems to me that some things should be absolute, in terms of granting leave, so that the most special moments life has to offer won't be missed, if at all possible.
The birth of your child is one such moment that should never be missed. When a baby is born, it changes the world. All the possibilities in life are wrapped up in their promise, and the world will never be the same, because they are now in it. No matter what happens from that moment forward, they have already touched the lives of other people, and the waves that spread outward from there cannot be stopped. The birth of a child is a moment no parent should miss, and no baby should be denied their parents being there, if it can be avoided.
So I think, if there is any possible way to get the guy home, and let's face it, there are usually nine months warning, so you do have some planning lead time here, why on earth are our military commanders not getting it done? Are there so many babies being born to the men in uniform [I leave out the women here, because I don't think pregnant women get deployed, so this is an issue that only affects the men,] that we cannot bring them home for two weeks to be there for the most special event in most people's lives?
I don't understand. Weddings can be postponed or moved up. Graduations, while certainly special and important, don't rise to the same level, in my opinion, as a birth or a death. You can even postpone a funeral, if need be, until the service person can come home.
But a baby? You have roughly 40 weeks, and that is the time frame. You cannot postpone, you can move ahead only marginally. A person has only one or two, or at most, a few, children in a lifetime, and for the commoners amongst us, it is the most life changing moment we will ever experience. That calls for special consideration, in my book, and if our men in the arena of war aren't getting it, then we need to call for a change.
The commentary, blisteringly partisan, has been rather fascinating, I think. You can see the spin people put on the subject, depending on their own experience and station in life.
Some people are offended because the rank and file soldier doesn't have the chance to come home for special family events. Unfortunately for them, their comments are hard to take seriously, as the events being mentioned are generally birthdays, anniversaries, graduations. It seems silly to me to compare a birthday party, however special your child may be to you, to a birth or an inauguration as Vice President of the United States. Perspective, anyone? [I would say perspective is genuinely lacking for much of the online commentary, if not most Americans generally, these days. The me first culture seems to be alive and well in North America.]
There were comments made, mostly by the Republican partisans, about Sarah Palin's son, also currently on duty in the Middle East, and the question asked whether people now so in favor would be on the other side of the fence, if she were being inaugurated instead of Joe Biden. I think that's a fair question in the current political climate, and if your answer is yes, then you need to look into your own heart and see what you need to change. Personally, I would hope that any child would be present for an event that is only happening for the 44th time in the history of our nation, perhaps one of the most historic of all time, and I don't care which party it is that is in control.
There were the apologists, who stated that everyone has a scheduled R&R time, and if you plan ahead, you can plan around important family events. There were many comments, both in support and in conflict with those remarks, from people who had missed many important occasions while on active duty, as well as from people who done exactly that.
Since I have never served, I don't know the rules or the way it works. But there were enough comments to make me think that there are two sets of rules in the military, and whether you are an officer or an enlisted person probably makes a bigger difference than if you are the son of a powerful person, or Joe Shmoe from Paducah.
There were the cynical comments about nothing changing, and many scathing comments were hurled around on favoritism, elitism, and all sorts of other isms. For all I know, there probably was favoritism shown to Beau Biden.
I don't think anyone should be surprised, frankly, to learn that there is favoritism amongst the powerful and elite in this country. [Of course there is, what rock have you been living under, anyway? Do you seriously believe that the Democrats are the only ones who engage in that sort of behavior? Sheesh.] One of the key things about being elite, and why it is the cause of envy throughout human history, why most people strive to achieve that status, if they are honest, is the very fact that it allows you special treatment.
Although this country was founded on egalitarian principles, and we all like to hold up the whole "All people are created equal" standard as the ideal, let's face it folks, some people really are more valued than others, and that is just the way life is. Even in America in 2009. If you are rich, famous, powerful - the rules will always change for you. If you are educated and wealthy, and you have the right connections or enough money, the rules are different for you, and for your children. If you are poor, uneducated, from a disadvantaged background, you will suffer for it.
We don't have to look very far to see the truth of that. OJ Simpson spent years as a free man because of it. Actors get diversion instead of jail all the time. Famous people want an international adoption, and suddenly all the usual rules have been waived. The Vice President shoots his friend on a hunting trip, and has the wounded man apologizing for being in the way of the bullet. The child of a former president expresses a whim to be a US Senator, and is taken seriously, despite never having been elected for anything at all. Being well connected trumps every other consideration, and for them, the playing field is not only not level, it is stacked in their favor.
The children of the President and Vice President of the United States are going to get preferential treatment. Always have, always will. Whether their last name is Bush, or Eisenhower, Kennedy or Biden, there will be a different set of rules for their children than for the rest of us.
And perhaps they should. Being the children of the highest ranking officials in the country, they also face some unique risks and adverse circumstances that the rest of us will never know. They are scrutinized for their braces, their school, their clothing, their activities, their hair, their job choice, and their support of their own parents. They are living in the shadow of 250 million or so expectations, and I have to think, that can't be easy. I don't even fulfill my own expectations, I can't imagine living in the shadow of the White House.
They are targets for everything from abduction to undue influence by someone whose motives are less than ideal. They are held up as the example of their parents' failings (everyone from Alice Roosevelt and Amy Carter to Bristol Palin come to mind,) as well as examples of their parents' success (Maureen Reagan, Jack Ford or Chelsea Clinton are the ones that pop into my head, although I'm sure there are others,) without being given credit for having made their own way on either side of the coin. Can you imagine the coup, should one of them be abducted or assassinated by a terrorist trying to be the ultimate martyr?
The more cogent concern, if I had a loved one in Beau Biden's unit, or anywhere near him, for that matter, is whether he should even be in Iraq at all. If my son were there, the last place I would want him to be is anywhere near the son of the Vice President of the United States.
I think I would be thrilled to see Beau leave that continent and come back to the US, where the Secret Service can deal with his protection, and he would no longer be drawing the attention of the baddest of the world's bad guys to the place where my loved one was currently serving.
What a target he would make. Kidnapping? Extortion? Even murder? The enemy we are fighting would kill, literally, for the opportunity to get that kind of attention. Just as I feel Prince Harry probably doesn't belong over there, even though I think it might have been the single admirable impulse he has ever had, because he is putting his unit at risk, I don't feel the child of a high member of our administration should be over there, either. It is the common folk, after all, that really matter to me, and they are the ones who will suffer most if something happens because he is there.
Much as Prince Harry was pulled when his presence became known in Afghanistan, as much for his unit as for his own safety, the same is true here. As long as he is anonymous, it is probably okay.
There wouldn't have been any way that Beau Biden would have remained anonymous, even if he tried. It would have been trumpeted every five minutes, on every radio and television station in the country, if not the world, that the son of the incoming Vice President was serving in Iraq.
They would have shown his unit, they would have had photographers there to film him watching his father's swearing in, there would have been attention paid and pictures published and details of his location unintentionally given. And that, I think, is the real point of bringing him home.
So what about Beau Biden coming back on leave to see his father inaugurated? I think that any time a service man or woman has an event in their family that is truly once in a lifetime, a special exception should be made whenever possible, whether it's the birth of a child, the death of a family member, or the inauguration of his father as VIce President of this nation. If it doesn't happen for everyone, then I am sorry for those who haven't had the chance. But I don't think you solve the problem by restricting the privilege and engaging in reverse elitism.
Instead, I think we need to work in the direction of allowing more men and women, who are giving up years of their lives and family time, more opportunities to be there for the special times, even if it means extending their service a little longer, or making some other sacrifice. It seems there should be ways that we can make it happen, which would not only not compromise our military, but perhaps even enhance it by promoting greater satisfaction among those who are serving. We are fond of saying nothing is too good for our people in uniform. I would like to see our actions support our words on the things that really matter, from better armor to more campassionate leave.
And to the naysayers who say he got special treatment, and he should just sit in a tent and watch the swearing in with the other servicemen and women? I would point out that this late 30's man, well educated and very well connected, the Attorney General of the State of Delaware, no less, probably could have gotten out of his service in Iraq, if he were, in fact, a shirker. Whether your last name is Biden or McCain or Windsor or Shmoe, you should be honored for your service, and for risking your life, so those of us sitting in the safe zone can bloviate about it. It is no less a sacrifice if you are famous than if you are not.
And then, if you are a potential target because of who you are or who your parents are, you should be gotten out of there, for the protection of everyone else who isn't a big name. In the long run, your special treatment just may save the lives of the not so special people who are serving with you, and that is what matters most to me.
I hope that the many people who are making much of this situation will look into their hearts and realize that the special treatment they seek to deny Beau Biden may also deny their neighbor, their friend, or their own relative, special treatment somewhere down the line. If I had to guess, I would imagine more special favors were granted for everyday men and women than are ever granted for the powerful and well connected. And it is the common folk that we should be most concerned about.
Happy spectating, Beau. And when you return to Iraq in two weeks or whenever, please keep your men and women who serve under you safe by not taking stupid chances, exposing yourself to risk unnecessarily, and remember how it felt to have the privilege of being present at this important event. Maybe you can help change the culture to give the chance to others, too. That may be the most imnportant service you can do.
