Monday, April 1, 2002
Page 7
AFFAIRS OF STATE (Column)
Davis Owes Vietnam Veterans a Sincere Apology
By DAVID KLINE
Sooner or later, it happens to every career politician. A statement slips out and reveals how out of touch he has become, having been immersed in politics rather than living in the “real world” for too much of his adult life.
For Gov. Gray Davis, the moment arrived during a recent meeting with the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Describing his role in the energy crisis, the governor said: “This is like a war. This is worse than being in Vietnam. This is a full-out war against me.”
A debate about his approach to energy problems is worse than a war that killed 58,152 Americans and left many others scarred for life? The governor certainly is out of touch.
Davis served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, so he should know better than anyone how horrible that conflict was for this country. He also should know that other veterans do not look kindly on comments which trivialize the impact of the war or the service of the soldiers who fought it.
He SHOULD know these things, but obviously he doesn’t. That’s because he has been a professional politician since starting as Gov. Jerry Brown’s chief of staff in 1975, and politicians live in a different world.
In the political world, small differences of opinion are “battles,” and power struggles with the opposing party are “wars.” Politicians “fight” for their agendas and “shoot down” ideas they don’t like. They “kill” legislation and “send in the troops” to lobby on their behalf.
Even when the politicians are discussing matters that will have little or no impact on everyday Californians, they describe things in life-or-death terms. The rest of society might view a minor change to the Business and Professions Code as inconsequential, but that change is enough to send the politicians to the “war room.”
Davis has been involved in this world so long, his priorities are hopelessly skewed.
In addition to displaying a warped sense of self-importance and insensitivity toward veterans, Davis’ comment offered a great deal of irony. The governor made the “worse than being in Vietnam” claim while defending his actions during last year’s power crisis. One of those actions was a threat to private power companies that if they didn’t accede to his demands, the government would assume control of their operations. That is exactly the type of behavior the United States was fighting AGAINST when we battled the expansion of Communism in Vietnam.
As the governor campaigns for re-election, we can expect a rerun of previous campaigns in which he touted his status as a veteran and endorsed a host of veterans’ programs. And we definitely will hear him repeat his claim that because he handled a gun in the military, he knows a lot about gun control policies.
Before veterans listen to any of that campaigning, however, they ought to demand something.
— Capitol News Service
Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company