Service to America
April 1st, 2008 at 09:20am Mark Noonan
John McCain had this to say:
…among the most important things children can inherit from their parents is a sense of purpose, and an aspiration to be part of something bigger than themselves.
My parents taught me that, and I will always be indebted to them. But like many young people, I didn’t understand the lesson very well until later in life when I needed it most. As a boy, my family legacy, as fascinating as it was to me, often felt like an imposition. I knew from a very early age that I was destined for Annapolis and a career in the Navy. In reaction, I often rebelled in small and petty ways to what I perceived as an encroachment on my free will.
I concede that I remember with affection the unruly passions of youth, and how they governed my immature sense of honor and self-respect. As I grew older, and the challenges to my self-respect grew more varied and serious, I was surprised to discover that while my sense of honor had matured, its defense mattered even more to me than it did when it was such a vulnerable thing that any empty challenge threatened it.
Like most people, when I reflect on the adventures and joys of youth, I feel a longing for what is lost and cannot be restored. But though the happy pursuits of the young prove ephemeral, something better can endure, and endure until our last moment of life. And that is the honor we earn and the love we give when we work and sacrifice with others for a cause greater than our self-interest. For me that cause has long been our country. I am a lucky, lucky man to have found it, and am forever grateful to those who showed me the way. What they gave me was much more valuable and lasting than the tribute I once paid to vanity.
I am the son and grandson of admirals. My grandfather was an aviator; my father a submariner. They were my first heroes, and their respect for me has been one of the most lasting ambitions of my life. They gave their lives to their country, and taught me lessons about honor, courage, duty, perseverance and leadership that I didn’t fully grasp until later in life, but remembered when I needed them most. I have been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I am their son, and they showed me how to love my country, and that has made all the difference for me, my friends, all the difference in the world.
Obama is the better speaker, but John McCain has the real message of hope.
Earlier in the speech, Senator McCain noted how government must not, in attempting to do good, actually undermine that core institution of our civlization: the family. We either learn the core lessons of life in our family, or we fail to learn them at all. In family, service is first implanted into the egotistical human heart. A baby, of course, is the most self-centered of beings - it wants what it wants and it wants it now and doesn’t give a hoot about the happiness or convenience of others…but as a child grows, if he grows in a solid family, that child will learn to subordinate selfish desires to the good of the family; in watching mother and father serve, the child learns to serve. And, of course, it is only in serving one another that we become fully civilized - fully human, that is.
And this is not abstract service - not the sort of service a high minded person might do by writing a check, or making an advocacy speech…no, the service which makes us human is the service we directly do for others, with no thought of reward or recognition. 10,000 well spoken phrases of hope and change are less in the grand scheme of things than a person just extending a hand to someone who is in sorrow. John McCain understands this - and like almost all of us, he came very late to this realisation. He’s served, of course, all his adult life - but he acknowledges that the true calling to service was something he has only relatively recently understood.
Those who would lead must serve - thus is a core Christian value stated; and when we seek our leaders, we should seek them out in the men and women who do serve; who have, in the end, volunteered to suffer along with others, as John McCain did in North Vietnam when he refused an offer to return home before his comrades were released. Families build people who serve. People who serve are those who really lead our society on the right path. John McCain understands both halves of this equation. HillBama? Well, they propose to wave a magic wand and make everything all better, without any need for anyone (other than people who have the misfortune to be in the peak earning years) to serve, or to sacrifice.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Republicans
21 Comments
1. Sunny | April 1st, 2008 at 11:38 am
HillBama? Well, they propose to wave a magic wand and make everything all better, without any need for anyone (other than people who have the misfortune to be in the peak earning years) to serve, or to sacrifice. Mark
Mark, just once could you put aside your blatant bias and be honest. All three candidates have indeed served their communities. Yes, Senator McCain has made greater sacrifices than either Senators Obama or Clinton. But that does not diminish their service. And I don’t believe that Senator McCain would appreciate your remarks - he is a very honorable man who has an honest evaluation of others. Yes, he certainly has made mistakes and has been very human in his life. But he does not feel the necessity of degrading others to make himself look good. It is refreshing to have a Republican candidate with some integrity and moral fabric for a change. He knows what it is like to have lies spread about his family and his own moral standards. I have never seen you address the disgusting attack on Senator McCain by George Bush’s campaign in 2000. This has become the Republican standard - if you cannot win on the true issues, then sling mud and lies and see what sticks. I think the majority of Americans are sick and tired of these tactics. If you cannot make your case based on the issues, please take a seat and be quiet!
2. OhioOrrin | April 1st, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I’m under ear bama’s spell & failed to read any of this. now please join hands & sing along…
“I’m happy, o so happy…”
3. SteaM | April 1st, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Mark,
How do you feel about Barack’s time spent as a community organizer?
Read the rest here> http://www.edwoj.com/Alinsky/AlinskyObamaChapter1990.htm
4. hermie | April 1st, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Of course Obama himself said he was using the community organizer spot to further his ambitions for political office. It’s not like he was actually going to stay committed to it…much like his wanting to be US Senator then turning right around after two years, thumbing his nose at Illinois voters and saying “Suckers! I’m going to be President!”
5. Some Assembly Required | April 1st, 2008 at 1:44 pm
4. hermie | April 1st, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Thats known as ambition. Something which is a very precious commodity in the private sector. Would you fault a man who wants to be a partner in a law firm so he takes on pro-bono work to gain experience to achieve his goal? Everyone has an agenda that is a simple reality.
Now you are really fishing. You might want to consider changing the bait or getting a new fishing line.
6. SteaM | April 1st, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Barack Obama’s Plan for Universal Voluntary Public Service
“Your own story and the American story are not separate — they are shared. And they will both be enriched if we stand up together, and answer a new call to service to meet the challenges of our new century … I won’t just ask for your vote as a candidate; I will ask for your service and your active citizenship when I am president of the United States. This will not be a call issued in one speech or program; this will be a cause of my presidency.”
— Barack Obama, Speech in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, December 5, 2007
7. js | April 1st, 2008 at 2:02 pm
its a pretty stark contrast between obama and mccain
obama attended a church where the pastor regulary preached about how evil america is
and mccain served in the military and was a pow
obama spend 20 years dealing with black ethics and thier african nationalization issues
and mccain deals with liberty and justice
obama testifies that his membership in trinity church and his endorsement of his islamic cousins in kenya are “not the real me”
and mccain testifies about duty
A democratic government operates best in the disinfecting light of the public eye. Ethics and transparency are not election year buzz words; they are the obligations of democracy and the duties of honorable public service.”
-Senator John McCain
make your pick
8. BARRASSO | April 1st, 2008 at 2:52 pm
thumbing his nose at Illinois voters and saying “Suckers! I’m going to be President!
Because all those people that wanted him to be a senator would really hate it if he were president. They will feel really betrayed, all the Obama supporters would have their hearts broken when he becomes president.
9. SteaM | April 1st, 2008 at 3:38 pm
BARRASSO,
They’ll get over it
10. majoriot | April 1st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Nice words from the Senator. They could apply to those either interested in war or peace.
When exactly did he grasp the concept? Yesterday?
But you blew it in the last paragraph by suggesting that service is somehow only a Christian value. That McCains service somehow trumps all others, and then the childish remark about others”waving wands”.
I hope when you get a bit older, you will understand.
And why is McCain spending the week trumping up what a character he was as a kid?
Big Deal.
11. Sunny | April 1st, 2008 at 4:41 pm
hermie | April 1st, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Of course Obama himself said he was using the community organizer spot to further his ambitions for political office.
Really hermie?? And just when did Senator Obama make that statement? Or did you just make that up? I would have thought there could have been other jobs he could have taken that would have aided him in furthering his political ambitions. Considering he had a first class education, graduated with honors and all. My guess, you did just made up that statement because you are a little man who cannot stand the thought of a black man having the intelligence and abilities of Barack Obama.
12. js | April 1st, 2008 at 5:42 pm
his first class education didnt make him a first class american though
he is a worse liar than billy boy clinton, and he tries to brag about it when he spins it off
the only honor he deserves is in the sewers
13. SteaM | April 1st, 2008 at 5:47 pm
YEAH! js is right!
AND HE IS BLACK
14. js | April 1st, 2008 at 6:10 pm
13. SteaM | April 1st, 2008 at 5:47 pm
YEAH! js is right!
AND HE IS BLACK
—————————
I see you finally figured that out.
what clued you in?
15. Diane Tomlinson | April 1st, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Deleted - falsely accuses another of racism.
16. Kahn | April 1st, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Actually, a liberal brought that up. I would vote for Condi…
Finding fault with Obama does not mean someone is racist.
17. Kahn | April 1st, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Service: Oldest son, Eagle Scout. Second son, finished with his service project and close to his Eagle. Third son, who is eight actually helped with BOTH projects.
No members of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance or the ACLU offered to help.
My next door neighbor who is a rabid liberal became President of the PTO at our school. She promptly refused to recharter the Cub Scout Pack. Apparently, first through fifth grade boys learning skills, patriotism, and service was a threat to her values system.
18. Mark Noonan | April 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 am
SteaM,
Community organizer? Just what does a person in that job description actually do? I mean, for others?
There is a fine young man at my parish who often heads down to Catholic Charities to help out with whatever needs doing - most people don’t know he does this, and he’d be the last person to trumpet his own actions. Who, though, is of more use to the community - someone from the outside proposing to “organise” it, or someone within it doing actual, phsyical deeds for others in the community?
What you have in HillBama is the false service of liberalism - a make believe bit of service where someone appears to do things for others, picks up a hefty paycheck for his efforts, but doesn’t actually do any of the grubby work of helping, say, a filthy boozer get off the streets, or a drug addicted single mother get her life together.
The most stunning example of this dichotomy between real service and liberal service is in the life stories of Princess Diana and Mother Theresa - Diana, dying around the same time as Mother Theresa, was lauded to the skies for her work with the poor…except, of course, she didn’t actually do anything for them. Oh, to be sure, she could prove useful - having her show up would generate interest in a need, and that would get real people off their duffs to do real things, but there still remains the fact that Diana would fly in (first class), do a photo op, and then fly out (first class), back to the palace or swank vacation resort. A friend of mine happened to visit Mother Theresa’s home in India - one small, bare room with Mother’s meagre possessions.
Who did things for people? And I mean, really.
Obama says he has served and wants to serve - but he’s got the liberal idea of service…he’ll talk about it, write about it, get well paid to emote about…but he won’t actually do it.
19. FoolYouTwice | April 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Mark, what do you actually know about Obama’s work as a community organizer? You attack him and his work as if you know a great deal about it. So, specifically what are things that he did that are make believe and just for appearance sake, but actually did not contribute to anything positive?
Some actual facts and information would be nice. You admitted previously that you lied when you claimed Obama to be corrupt, yet have nothing which he should be charged with. If you state someone is corrupt, you should be able to point to something he could be charged with. I know it is hard to hate Obama based on what he has actually done, so you are forced to make claims without evidence; but since you so often speak of the truth, I would assume you hold yourself to a higher standard than that.
20. SteaM | April 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Mark, quick, post some more stories so this one will get knocked out of the top list. You are risking looking like an ass by talking sh*t on someones work regarding making their community better.
Run away!
Seriously though. You don’t realize this but doing so is pretty petty and low.
21. Cavalor Epthith, Esquire, D.S.V.J. | April 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Here are some little known facts about Barack Obama’s community organizing after his graduation from Columbia and after returning to Chicago after graduating from Harvard Law School:
The Developing Communities Project, which Obama directed in 1984 helping to renew the self esteem of young black girls through faith based projects, provide alternatives to drugs and alcohol to black and inner city youth as well as promoting healthy lifestyles and economic austerity for adults in low income Rosedale. This project recived a healthy portion of its operating from the Catholic Campaign For Human Development of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
As the head of Chicago Vote! in 1991 Barack Obama oversaw a voter registration drive that brought over 500 000 black voters to the polls 150 000 of those newly registered and for the first time having more new black voters registered in Chicago’s 38 wards than whites. A once slumping Bill Clinton saw his Illinois fortunes reversed by the tireless efforts of Barack Obama.