Being Accountable

I’m sure some of you have seen today’s edition of Doonesbury - if you haven’t, it’s worth a look.  B. D., decorated veteran of three wars, has met Melissa, a young former serviceperson suffering from MST.  Although he has had nothing to do with what happened to her, he apologizes for what she went through, because, in his own words, “…it seems like someone who was in authority should.”

Flash back (in a good way) almost four years ago, to one of General Clark’s first Town Hall meetings in New Hampshire.  As an avid Clark supporter, I watched and listened to them all, but this one stayed with me.  A woman rose to her feet, told him that she’d been sexually harassed when she was in the service, and asked him to comment on it.  The anguish and rage she still felt were evident in every line of her body, in her voice. 

General Clark responded thoughtfully and courteously, as is his wont – but, again, the moment that stayed with me was when he apologized.  He said he’d been a leader in the Army when she was in, that it was obvious that the system had failed her, and that he was sorry for what she’d had to go through.  I lated learned, without surprise, that he’d met with her afterwards and followed up on her experience. 

A four-star general, a decorated war veteran, apologized to a woman he didn’t know, that he’d never met before.  He didn’t know her rank, the details of her service.  She probably wasn’t an “influential person,” one who could be of use to him on the campaign trail.  Yet General Clark apologized to her, and made time – that most precious of commodities – to meet with her and see if there was anything he could do, because it was the right thing to do.

If I hadn’t already been 100% committed to General Clark as a candidate, that episode would have cemented it.  Like many women worldwide, I have been sexually harassed (in my pre-Abbess day), being forced out of jobs, enduring unwelcome contact, looks, threats (implicit or explict).  So many of us, too many of us, endure this sort of unwelcome attention – and I know it’s not just limited to women, either.  I’m sure it would never have occurred to the administrator of my department to apologize to me, particularly since he was the one doing the harassing.  Instead, I found a new job, with a new companion in my life – an incipient ulcer. 

The ulcer has healed and I have long since worked out this trauma with good counseling and understanding individuals.  I now have a plan in place, in case such an episode ever occurs again, although it grows less likely with each coming year.  I remember enough, however, that reading about Melissa, hearing about the woman in New Hampshire brings back the past like a haunting echo – and hearing the apologies, whether from fictional hero B.D. or real-life hero General Clark, is profoundly moving and healing.  If only everyone were as accountable as they are.

This lack of accountability isn’t limited to issues of harassment, however, nor is it limited to one gender.  During this campaign season, I have watched Senator Hillary Clinton – an extremely bright, focused and competent individual – refuse to admit that voting for the Iraq war was a mistake.  Perhaps this is her genuine belief, I do not know – although I have yet to hear either she or anyone else identify a clear benefit of this war.  Again, listening to candidates refuse to take clear stands on important issues exasperates and baffles me.  I know they need votes to get elected – but it seems, so often, too often, they lose sight of who and what they truly are.  How can they lead us, if they are not truly committed to their own convictions? 

To lead is to set the example.  To lead is to take responsibility for all outcomes – both good and bad – and to strive, each day, every day, to fix any problems.  To lead is to acknowledge and apologize for failure.  To lead is to use power – which everyone has to some degree – on the behalf of others, to ease their burdens, and to make things better for the community.  The American people – and the world – desperately need a leader who is willing to use his or her power on behalf of the many – not, as our current administration sadly does – for the sole enrichment of the few.

General Clark gets this. 

I just wish more people did.

- The Abbess

Voices in the Wilderness

Now those of us who are Christians are in Easter season (the fifty days following Easter), it seems odd to invoke the idea of a voice in the wilderness.  This is more closely associated with John the Baptist, Jesus’ prophetic cousin, who warned people of the impending shift and called on them to pay attention. 

Last night, I was privileged to hear a collection of church leaders who are running for a high office.  All five of them are people who have dedicated their lives to serving others. All five are at the top of their chosen professions.  All of them are educated, hard-working, faithful, committed professionals. 

One, however, stood out.

This man, an unassuming, funny, middle-aged man, knows who he is.  He knows his strengths, he knows his weaknesses and he isn’t afraid to show either. He said some things that made us laugh. He said some truths that were hard to hear.  This candidate spoke from the heart; he was truly and authentically himself and, even in that company, he shone like a diamond. If he does not attain this new position, I will be extremely surprised.

In an era when people tell us what they think we want to hear and pre-package, pre-spin and try to sell us what we don’t want, this was incredibly rejuvenating and refreshing.  His was a voice from the wilderness, cutting through game-playing, politicking, and secondary concerns.

General Wesley Clark is another one like this man.  Like him, he sees what others do not and articulates it for us. Of all of the military leaders the United States has had, he alone intervened in a genocide before it could take place and paid the price for his vision. Instead of taking “the easy way” and joining the presidential race early, he has gone it alone, becoming the voice of reason on national security, ending dependence on foreign oil, engaging Iran and a host of other problems.  Instead of speaking in slogans, General Clark speaks in truths.  Like another visionary, former Vice President Gore, General Clark offers solutions to real problems.

Like former President Carter, former Vice President gore and so many others who were ahead of their time, General Clark has become a voice in the wilderness.

At this point, we do not know whether General Clark will enter the presidential race. Those of us who support him may also feel that we have entered the wilderness with him: unsure of what to do, who to follow, where to work or throw our support.  Following a prophetic voice can be a tiresome and lonely business and often doesn’t turn out the way we want it to.  Whether it’s forty minutes, forty days or forty years, being lost in the wilderness (or so we think) is no fun.

Almost always, though, we find ourselves again – and the satisfaction of staying true to ourselves, following those we respect and leading in whatever capacity – those are worth waiting for.

Spirit of Sacrifice

Those of us who follow the Christian tradition are currently in the middle of Lent: a season where we turn inward, reflect about our lives, sometimes take on or give up certain things. You can give up more than sweets or alcohol:  this year I “gave up” driving one day a week (among other things), which has been a very interesting experience.

Sacrifice seems to be a concept a lot of people talk about, but not very many want to do. We hear endless talk about sacrificing for the War on Terror: yet, when a true national emergency hit, our president urged us to go to the mall.  We are currently at war in Iraq, with tens of thousands of our young people wounded or killed, but unless you know (or are) one of these young people, it’s easy to ignore the entire thing and just focus on the latest example of American Idol.  We admire people who sacrifice, they are heroes, but they don’t tend to be emulated. 

Which brings me to General Wesley Clark and how he embodies a spirit of service and sacrifice.  Someone with his gifts and abilities could probably have done just about anything. He could have gone into business, or politics, yet he chose to serve his country in the armed force. After he retired from the service, again, he could have become a lobbyist for a defense contractor, sat on boards of directors and made enormous sums of money.  After his first presidential campaign, he could have, once again, retired from public life, written books, sat on more corporate boards, played with his grandchildren - in short, had a very nice life.

At every turn, though, he has chosen to continue serving his country. After being wounded in Vietnam, he stayed in the service, helping to rebuild the Army. After ending his career (and stopping a potential genocide) as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, he ran for president; and when he didn’t get the nomination, campaigned tirelessly for Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry.  He has spent the last two years advising Congress on national security issues, recruiting and campaigning for Congressional Candidates and speaking out against our Administration’s current, misguided foreign policy.

Here we are in Lent – and here General Clark is, doing the exact same thing.  Instead of putting himself first and getting out on the campaign trail for the next presidential campaign, General Clark is trying to stop President Bush’s next war before it even starts – a potential war with Iran.  Instead of trading barbs with his opponents, attending church services, or bickering over fund-raisers, General Clark is hosting national security conferences, appearing on talk shows and filming videos – but not on his own behalf.  On ours. 

Like stopping a genocide, stopping a war isn’t sexy.  It isn’t exciting.  You won’t get a victory parade or huge celebrity for stopping a war.  It may even (although I hope not!) cost General Clark the chance to run for president.  But General Clark is willing to do it.  He is willing to sacrifice his own ambitions and wishes and time and hopes to avert our country from a course that he believes is destructive. He is willing to put his loyalty to his country over his own personal goals and wishes.

Isn’t this the sort of person we want to run our country?  Are we so engulfed with celebrity culture that we are willing to let the media select our candidates for this critical job?  Are we willing to allow our presidential election – this free election that so many of our ancestors fought and died and struggled to preserve – turn into a celebrity sideshow?

I hope not.  I pray not.  And, I think not. 

As a first step, I hope that all voters out there will take a serious look at all potential candidates.  Read up on them.  Study them.  Choose the one who most closely embodies your hopes and wishes and ideals. Choose the one you believe will be the best president, even if you’re in total disagreement with this entire column.  Talk to your friends, neighbors and relatives.

I further urge all readers to at least visit and consider signing the Stop Iran War petition at http://stopiranwar.com   When I talked to some people about this last week, they scoffed and said that Bush would never do this.  Well, maybe not – but how will they (and you) feel if he does do this and good people did nothing?

Thank you – and may the blessings (or good wishes) of whatever tradition you follow or don’t be with you on this Sunday.

- TheAbbess

Clark for President?

-snip

Wesley Clark is probably the closest thing to a pacifist that I could ever hope to have elected. Now, I hear you already, “Chuck, you’re crazy! Clark is surely a man who embraces the just war theory. He is, after all, a retired general.”

Well, that’s where some insights from a friend of mine come into play. He reminded me that, though Just War Theorists and Christian Pacifists are often viewed as opposites, these two positions are actually united against those who see war as just another foreign policy strategy to be deployed whenever it seems convenient. It is worth noting the Clark has consistently called into question the war in Iraq and has repeatedly been correct in his predictions about how things would unfold. As I reflected on this fact coupled with the behind the scenes reports of the extent to which other military experts had opposed the war, it hit me that we are at a place where the military leaders are much more cautious in their use of military force than the civilian leadership. It seems that the actual experience of seeing first hand the killing of troops that one has ordered into war has a sobering effect. It creates a genuine hatred for war that gives a much more concrete reality to the words of the Just War Theory “only as a last resort.”

We live in a culture where candidates feel they must avoid “looking weak.” So, they posture and threaten and saber rattle so as to assure an anxious constituency that they can be trusted to “leave all options on the table” and that they are willing to use them all, “including war,” in order to protect us. Interesting, isn’t it? We have come to the point that our many within our military leadership are actually less anxious to use the military than our political leaders who feel the need to “be tough.” Perhaps, if they had Clark’s experiences, they would be much more cautious in their willing to put troops in harms way. But, as I noted at the outset, these are just a bunch of crazy ruminations…..

Imitatio Christi

Wes Clark: Democrats are the Party of Faith

The right wing extremists would have everyone believe that the Democratic party is godless and lacks spirituality of any sort. The reality of this Democratic party is that the values and ideals that it espouses are the true values of any religion founded in virtue and good deed.

We often find ourselves in dispute about the varied facets of each religious institution, but underneath it all, as General Clark has made clear time and time again, is that all religions find one characteristic that holds their constituency together, and this is the basic tenet that those who are more fortunate help those who are less fortunate.

Equal Opportunity for all? Democratic Party.
Equal Rights under Law? Democratic Party.

Universal Health Care, Poverty, Civil Rights, Public Education, Social Security, Immigration, Jobs, War and Peace.

Stand up.

Plant’s Diary on Daily Kos,  February 8, 2007

America’s Scientific Responsibility

Writing this post from the YearlyKos’ “Championing Science” panel, which was just kicked off by Wesley Clark. Mr. Clark spent his 30 minutes highlighting the unmatched historical importance of science in the development of our country. An interesting tidbit was his point that during the Cold War science was the “American” weapon against the godless communists — oh how times change.Clark quickly turned to the politicization of science, highlighting the conflict between faith and science today and making some quite aggressive statements against the religious right.

Clark was also questioned about religious abuse in the armed forces. The General cut right to the chase, “If there is anyone out there telling soldiers they are going to hell because of their religious beliefs, thats wrong and in my book they are going to jail.”

DefCon, June 9, 2006