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I realize only now, after having heard both McCain and Obama speak at their nominating conventions, that the deeper rhetoric of McCain's has touched me. Obama's presentation was very powerful, but McCain's actual words touched me deeper.
I admit it was likely sheer luck that I got the meaning of "Country First" when it struck me near the end of his speech. I've heard his story before, but this was a different ending than I recall:
On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn't think there was a cause more important than me....
I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
We should never focus on theatrics, age, race, sex, résumés, children, gaffes, the unborn, the person who lost a job, the economy, Iraq, wars, energy, or any other talking point. If you harp on these, you just...don't...get it. You still think it's about you, and you are wrong.
It is about the United States of America. And we damn well better thank God for having the chance to be American. The weak will continue to say it's about the issues - things! - of Americans; the strong will know it is about America itself - deeper than any issue will ever resonate. Ever. You can argue all you want that this is simply another talking point - patriotism. But then you are once again a simpleton and alone. You have completely lost the chance to be imbued with the poignancy of nationalism, of freedom.
The idea is stronger than any government anywhere at any time in history. And no government can provide for, nor take away, this from you.
I admit it was likely sheer luck that I got the meaning of "Country First" when it struck me near the end of his speech. I've heard his story before, but this was a different ending than I recall:
On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn't think there was a cause more important than me....
I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
We should never focus on theatrics, age, race, sex, résumés, children, gaffes, the unborn, the person who lost a job, the economy, Iraq, wars, energy, or any other talking point. If you harp on these, you just...don't...get it. You still think it's about you, and you are wrong.
It is about the United States of America. And we damn well better thank God for having the chance to be American. The weak will continue to say it's about the issues - things! - of Americans; the strong will know it is about America itself - deeper than any issue will ever resonate. Ever. You can argue all you want that this is simply another talking point - patriotism. But then you are once again a simpleton and alone. You have completely lost the chance to be imbued with the poignancy of nationalism, of freedom.
The idea is stronger than any government anywhere at any time in history. And no government can provide for, nor take away, this from you.
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