No pledges required. But it would be nice to have a quiet movement towards a very civilian government, a president who keeps the military and the defense industry on a tight leash. "Boots on the ground" and "defense workers" aren't the problem. The problem is the inflation of war and the money that can be made from promoting it. That's why John McCain is about as much of a hero in this household as, say, belly-button lint.
The public has treated McCain’s record in Vietnam and his status as a war hero as something unchangeable. But placing his sacrifice beyond the pale of criticism also implicitly places the cause he served beyond the pale, and that hushes important dialogue.
A member of the military isn't automatically a villain because he served in an ignoble and indefensible war. It's when he (or she) uses military service for personal gain that we have an obligation to examine where and how he served. The Navy pilot who joined in the atrocities committed in Vietnam is the Senator McCain now seeking the presidency. No one asks him to renounce his service, but he should have renounced our role in the Vietnam war long ago.
McCain’s heroism stems entirely from Vietnam. McCain was brave in captivity, but he and his fellow pilots dropped more bombs on Vietnam than all those dropped in World War II, leading to the conclusion that “we had to destroy Vietnam in order to save it.” But he did not acknowledge the war itself as immoral. Had he engaged in such “straight talk” about the war itself, or if we had a more enlightened concept of heroism, he might not be getting so close to becoming the next president.
Maybe we need to return to genuine heroism. Most real heroes know the difference between right and wrong.
If the Democrats are to win elections in the 21st century, the key is to finally engage in straight talk about war and war heroes.
First, they must renounce the morality of militarism.
Second, they must be clear that the architects of unjust wars are not honorable or heroic but immoral moralists, those who wage evil in the name of good.
Third, they must create a new language of heroism. Brave soldiers in just and unjust wars may be heroes, if we refer purely to personal courage and sacrifice in battle. But it is critical that we recognize that those who oppose dishonorable wars are also heroes. Surely, their courage should also qualify as a character virtue for the highest office in the land.
Is John McCain a hero? No. Not by any real measure. He lost the chance of becoming a hero when he moved from being the survivor of cruel imprisonment and became the captive of ambition and corruption.
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