This is a thought-provoking review. I appreciate that, in spite of the headline, the author gives the subjects, Chris Kyle, Clint Eastwood, and the war in Iraq, the benefit of at least some doubt, of more than one of two choices, of something more than the black-and-white response to the complexities of reality. I remember, during the Vietnam War, My Country, Love It or Leave It, a totally bullshit simplification of the issue. As a young college student, I was allowed a deferment, but refused to take it, not that I supported the war, agreed with it, or even was some ardent patriot. I was pragmatic. That was all. I figured, why should I waste my time and parents money getting an education if the outcome was going to be drafted and shipped out, upon graduation? Fortunately, timing and the grace of God were on my side. Although my number was considered certain to be called - we had a lottery, based on birth date - they never did. I was - and still am - a pacifist, but I realize the limits of my pacifism, as I did then. I loved my country, but my allegiance to it was not blind. I began to question the war before many did, wondering why Oregon Sen. Wayne Morse would vote against the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that made Vietnam official. Of course, now we know that there was no Gulf incident, which made the whole reason for going in a moot point and the loss of thousands of lives, American, Vietnamese, and other, beyond a waste. My resolve against the war was secured when I happened to be with my family, up at my cousins cabin in Zigzag. The only thing to do was fish, hike, sleep, eat, or read. I found an old Time magazine from the late 40s and found an article on Ho Chi Minh. It raised questions. How could someone painted so positively at one point be suddenly so evil? The answer was in a trait that I shared with him, pragmatism. He sided with those who supported his vision for his people and his nation. While this put the US at odds with its ally, France, it offered no such conflict for the Soviets or the Chinese, who themselves had contended and conflicted with French, British, and German imperial and colonial forces. Ho was not anti-American. He was pro-Vietnam. For the US, the consequences were disengagement, disgrace, and reckoning. The contemporary account of US history feels like Groundhog Day, replaying itself over and over. Oh, but there is a difference now. The so-called patriotism - the same kind at play over the course of Vietnam - has moved along an arc that is now on steroids. Reading this review, I am reminded that, save for the accident of birth as an American citizen, I,too, am a brown skinned person, the object and target of gunboat - drone, deployment, and air force - diplomacy. I am willing to give people like Chris Kyle the benefit of the doubt. The question is would they be willing to do the same for people like me?
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 16:09:30 +0000
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