MoveOn’s Alex and John McCain’s One Hundred Years in Iraq

I guess Barack Obama and other key Democrats (“Liberals,“ Bill would say) didn’t do or say anything that Bill Kristol could use as fodder in his much awaited, once-a-week, Monday morning New York Times column. I say that because Bill Kristol decided to go after MoveOn.org by dredging up last September’s General Petraeus ad, and by mischaracterizing a new 30-second TV spot that MoveOn is airing and is called “Not Alex.”

I resisted the temptation to view the ad before reading Kristol’s “critique,“ and that almost turned out to be a mistake because after reading the following Kristol review I was very reluctant to view such an allegedly nauseating, unpatriotic piece of dirt:

The MoveOn ad is unapologetic in its selfishness, and barely disguised in its disdain for those who have chosen to serve — and its contempt for those parents who might be proud of sons and daughters who are serving. The ad boldly embraces a vision of a selfish and infantilized America, suggesting that military service and sacrifice are unnecessary and deplorable relics of the past. And the sole responsibility of others.

I finally gathered enough courage to view the ad.

The 30-second ad shows a young mother holding a young baby, Alex, while expressing her natural maternal concern as to what may await her baby when he grows up in a troubled world. This is what she says–and perhaps the only part that Kristol gets right in his much awaited piece:

“Hi, John McCain. This is Alex. And he’s my first. So far his talents include trying any new food and chasing after our dog. That, and making my heart pound every time I look at him. And so, John McCain, when you say you would stay in Iraq for 100 years, were you counting on Alex? Because if you were, you can’t have him.”

Now, only Bill Kristol could extrapolate the words of this mother into “Take that, warmonger!” “creepy,” “MoveOn has now moved on to express contempt for all who might choose to serve their country in uniform,” “The MoveOn ad is… barely disguised in its disdain for those who have chosen to serve — and its contempt for those parents who might be proud of sons and daughters who are serving. The ad boldly embraces a vision of a selfish and infantilized America, suggesting that military service and sacrifice are unnecessary and deplorable relics of the past,” and by using the words of a post at the Web site, BlueStarChronicles.com.,“Does that mean that she wants other people’s sons to keep the wolves at bay so that her son can live a life of complete narcissism?”

Of course, mothers all across America realize that their sons, and daughters, may have to serve in the military and even risk their lives for our nation. That is not the issue. The issue is that they fear that their sons and daughters may be sent to fight an unnecessary war, a war that is started based on faulty intelligence, exaggerations, and even false pretenses; a war that is utterly mismanaged; and, yes, a war–or an occupation–that may go on “for a hundred years.”

Fortunately, I don’t have young kids. But I do have a precious grandson and I share the same concerns for him as the mother in the MoveOn ad. I have expressed such concerns in “John McCain’s One Hundred Years in Iraq.“

As far a Kristol’s claim that MoveOn “slandered a distinguished general officer,” I could stand corrected, but I don’t remember Bill Kristol condemning the slandering–the swift boating–of other military heroes who honorably served our country, such as Vietnam veteran John Kerry and triple-amputee, Vietnam veteran Max Cleland.