is also good for the gander.
About two weeks ago, my friend Two Putt Tommy posted about a protest at the Minnesota Republican Party State Convention in St Paul. Veterans and supporters protested because the Deputy Chair of the 4th CD GOP called Colonel Joe Repya and his supporters "communists".
Insulting. While I do not agree with Colonel Repya and have had a tense conversation or two with the man, I could never question his Patriotism.
Rightfully so, folks on all sides of the political aisle were outraged, hence a protest at the Republican Party State Convention.
So why does Grace Kelly get a free pass? Is it because she is a member of the DFL State Executive Board, one of 16 directors from across the state?
Her initial post was outrageous, linking to a story and photos of rape fetish porn. Her post after the retraction was even worse, essentially blaming us for failing to understand what she really meant.
But one thing was missing.
A public apology.
She can call all the right wing Veterans she wants, her private apologies do nothing for the rest of us that have been hurt by her careless remarks Saturday.
Which is why I have openly requested that Grace Kelly resign from the Minnesota Progressive Project and/or her role on the State Executive Board for the DFL.
I don't beleive this is merely an insignificant event, but a clear sign of someone who just doesn't get it.
We have shown a great deal of outrage towards Nathan Hansen and his hateful and disrespectful comments towards Veterans.
In order to be consistent, we need to scrutinize Grace Kelly just as much. Afterall, how can we hold anyone else accountable if we can't hold ourselves accountable.
Update 1: Grace issues her Mea Culpa.
4 comments:
Grace issued an apology a little while ago on her blog. It was short and didn’t explain anything. I’m not even sure she understands all the things that she did that were wrong. She did not adress any of the questions I asked.
What happened at MPP was disappointing but not surprising. There is a saying that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and last week showed us who the weakest link was at that site.
My lifelong friend Two Putt posts there and I enjoy reading his stuff so I’ll read his posts. But I see no point in giving credence to the rest of it. Tommy can e-mail me his stuff. They clearly see themselves as a propaganda tool and not as Journalist. We have to many of those as it is.
What pisses me off more, is that we have a country that has forgotten us in anything more than a tangential and superficial way. On a daily basis, who even remembers that we are in two wars. I guarantee in WWII the citizens knew, ever single day, that their country was at war.
Our country is not at war like WWII. A few soldiers are at war. We only remember we are at war when someone shocks the consciousness with a picture of a dead soldier, proposes a new funding package, or writes something like Grace did.
To me, it is pathetic that that is what it takes to even bring the war back into our thoughts. People put a bumper sticker on their car, say thanks for your service, and that is about the end of it.
I accept Grace's apology because she didn't quibble. She didn't say she was sorry if I happened to be offended. She apologized for her wrong actions.
I understand the outrage. I also understand that most people reading this will think about the war for a few days, and then forget about it again. Some won't, but most people will.
I wish Grace hadn't written or said all those things. I also wish our country knew we were at war. I wish it was over. I wish it was over every day that I wake.
The suicide and PTSD problems are the ones that can be wrongly swept aside in looking at the rape problem, the VA hospital quality worries, the don't ask don't tell saga, and brass-heaviness and how to face that. And the suicide and PTSD situation should not be ignored. Ignoring that borders on being criminal, and the Pentagon brass are complicit.
Mental health, and combat seem to me to be fundamentally incompatible, given civilian-taught behavior norms and how the military must untrain them. But I've never been in combat so it is only a guess.
Another ugly truth is that if there were a draft there'd be a lot more howling from the populace. It is part of why the volunteer army notion arose.
In terms of duration, has Iraq passed Vietnam? In terms of loss of life it is nowhere near; but the disability rate is not looked at and talked about enough - life saving care is better decades after Vietnam, and the sheer number of troops is less, but the death rate is only part of the carnage.
Hal,
Good post! Grace called me on Sunday and I urged her to post a sincere apology. People make mistakes and she is understands how her post hurt those who served this nation.
Sorry but I don't recall ever meeting you, but that doesn't mean our paths have never crossed. Give me a call and we will meet for coffee so in the future you wont feel tense when we talk. Joe Repya
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