Name-calling has no place in war debate

By MATT POPE

I read Mr. Joe Turner’s “Your Turn” commentary on Dec. 18, entitled “Democrats are sissies,” with great disappointment.

The term “sissy” itself, according to the dictionary definition, refers to either a timid or cowardly person or a little girl. Obviously, to brand every Democrat in the country as falling into one of these categories is a logical fallacy and discredits the central argument. To use such a pejorative, particularly as it applies to the feminine, would also seem to be an insult to half the human race. That is worthy of deeper examination at another time.

As the word applies to the characteristics of timidity or cowardice, I would respond only by suggesting that anyone subscribing to such a belief should get to know some local Democrats who I am honored to call my friends and personal heroes. These individuals wore the uniform of their nation in Vietnam and know what it is like to be shot at in anger. As I write this, my best friend, a registered Democrat who was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in Iraq, is preparing, like many members of our armed forces, to spend another holiday season deployed overseas. Timidity and cowardice are not words fit to share a sentence with references to these individuals.

Perhaps more importantly, though, Mr. Turner’s letter represents precisely that which is most resented about the stale and mercurial political debate in contemporary America.

Americans are facing a globalized economy, the bifurcated security challenges posed by both an international Jihadist movement and competition from new and potentially multiple emerging super-powers, the dire implications of worldwide climate change, stagnant educational institutions and the challenge of transforming an industrialized economy into a leading-edge information technology-based one.

We have before us the important task of constructing a far more sophisticated, nuanced, interdependent and multi-faceted America than anything history has shown before — a 21st century nation that will project moral, intellectual, economic and military leadership in the face of tests we are only beginning to conceptualize. This calls us to an unflinching examination of world realities, shortcomings in our existing institutions and infrastructures and the rational consideration of nuanced solutions that may not always satisfy one’s visceral partisan desires.

In the face of this worthy challenge, we welcome a debate steeped in the respect and dignity befitting a great nation. Absent that, however, America will gain very little value from name-calling and denigration.

(Pope is president of Democrats of Napa Valley and lives in American Canyon.)

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