This Guest Voice post is by watchingamerica.com translator Dorian de Wind, who is also a retired U.S. Air Force officer. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of TMV and its writers.
I, too, am a Flip-Flopper — And I am in good company
by Dorian de Wind
People change their minds. Some change their entire way of life–sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
In today’s political climate, changing one’s mind, whether for better or for worse, can be considered a cardinal sin. Witness the withering attacks John Kerry endured during the 2004 presidential elections campaign when he tried to explain his votes on a funding measure for the Iraq war. The term “flip-flopping” acquired an entirely new meaning. It became a pejorative and an effective one.
John Kerry’s alleged “flip-flopping,” along with the smear campaign on his Vietnam War record,–the so-called “swift boating”– probably cost him the presidency.
Several years ago, Senator John McCain, now the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, flip-flopped–in my opinion for the better–on his stands on a national holiday commemorating Martin Luther King’s birthday and on the issue of apartheid in South Africa.
Today, during the presidential primaries, we again see accusations of “flip-flopping” flying back and forth between the candidates–even between candidates of the same party.
Earlier in the campaign, McCain called his rival, Romney, a flip-flopper several times. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to trade similar accusations.
There are some new and creative—and even more disparaging– compounds and constructs of the term flip-flopper, such as “serial flip-flopper,” and “Flip-Flopper-in-Chief.”
But, is flip-flopping really so bad? Is it dishonest, disloyal, or disingenuous to change one’s beliefs or loyalties?
I often ask myself those questions–and so have others—because I have flip-flopped, too.
You see, I used to be a gung-ho Republican. Today I am a staunch Democrat. How strong of a Republican was I? Perhaps, recounting an experience of almost 40 years ago will explain.
Every Christmas, as we had done for the previous six or seven years, my sisters and I, along with our families, gathered in laid-back Lakeland, Florida, to celebrate the holidays with our parents.
That particular Christmas morning in 1968 was no different. We had just finished breakfast and were sitting around a weather-beaten redwood picnic table under a large, beautiful grapefruit tree. The conversation was lively and in three languages–Dutch, Spanish and English–reflecting our family’s diverse roots and our relatively recent arrivals in the United States. Although we all spoke English relatively well, we never dwelled upon nor questioned this Babel phenomenon. However, on this day there would be some serious questioning-not of our multi-lingual tradition, but of our beliefs, loyalties and patriotism.
As I was the only member of the military and the only Republican in our immediate family, our conversation eventually turned to the major topic in those days, the war in Vietnam. As a young Air Force captain, I ardently–almost fanatically–supported the war and those who were running the war. I blindly believed in the “Domino Theory.” I was convinced that by fighting in that far-away country we were defending freedom and democracy over there and our own national security over here. I revered President Nixon and admired Henry Kissinger. Ronald Reagan would later become my idol, Ollie North my hero.
I do not remember exactly how the conversation took the turn it did. Perhaps it was my sisters defending those longhaired, unpatriotic anti-war protesters. Perhaps it was my younger sister’s whining about the tens of thousands of casualties in Vietnam and about atrocities allegedly committed by our troops–revelations about the Mylai massacre were just beginning to emerge. I painfully recall words such as “traitor” and “unpatriotic,” that I hurled across the table at my sisters and comments such as “If you hate this country so much, why don’t you go back to Holland or to Ecuador.” I do not remember all the vitriol, but I do vividly remember the tears in my sisters’ and mother’s eyes. Yes, I was a gung-ho Republican back in 1968.
I continued to be a flag-waving war supporter for several more months after that December morning, despite the horrendous human toll the war was taking on both sides. Eventually the horrors of that war and the words I had read by the Roman historian Tacitus, “They made a wasteland and called it peace,” became too poignant for even me to ignore.
Although disillusioned with the war, I continued to be a halfhearted Republican for several more years, while still in the military and for a time while working for a defense contractor. By the time I retired from my second career, however, I had fully flip-flopped.
My disillusionment with the Vietnam War was one reason for my conversion. I also gradually realized that “moral principles,” “family and traditional values,“ and other “values” that my previous party claimed to have exclusive rights on, were quite uniformly shared by all Americans, regardless of political affiliation–and were violated by Republicans and Democrats alike.
Perhaps it was because I saw that Democrats are just as God-fearing as Republicans are.
Perhaps it was because I came to the conclusion that “compassion,” “tolerance,” and “inclusion” are a way of life with Democrats, not just hollow quadrennial campaign slogans.
There were other reasons for my “flip-flopping.” But, the most personal and compelling reason was that so many from my previous party allege that my son is immoral, a biological error, or worse. A person who does not deserve all the rights and privileges other Americans enjoy. You see, my son–the finest young man in the world– happens to be gay.
Finally, it could also have something to do with the tears in my sisters’ and mother’s eyes almost 40 years ago.
I have flip-flopped in my politics, but I find that I have not changed my deeply held beliefs and principles. I do not wear my religion on my sleeve, but I still believe in God. I do not wear an American-flag lapel pin, but I still love my country. And, although I do not blazon my car with yellow ribbon bumper stickers, I do support our troops and grieve their every casualty.
At the end of 2006, after Pope Benedict XVI–referred to as “God’s Rottweiler” when a dogmatic cardinal–returned to Rome from an unprecedented visit to Istanbul’s Islamic Blue Mosque, Time asked the question “Is Benedict Flip-Flopping?” The question referred to the Pope’s possible reconsideration of his views on Islam and on priestly celibacy.
Shanta Premawardhana of the National Council of Churches USA, also commenting on the Pope’s possible flip-flopping, writes: “Many others in the Bible and throughout Christian history – too numerous to mention–flip-flopped. The Bible has a different word for flip-flopping: repentance.”
Well, let’s put it another way: I repented, too. And I am in very good company.
Dorian de Wind is a retired U.S. Air Force Officer, born in Ecuador and educated in The Netherlands. He has a bachelor’s degree from of Texas A&M University and a master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. Dorian has written opinion pieces and travel and other articles for the Austin American-Statesman and for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. He also translates Dutch press articles for watchingamerica.com.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.