How much does military service actually matter?

In this election we have heard that John McCain is a war hero and that his military service gives him credibility on foreign policy and patriotism. We’ve heard this so much so that when he’s caught on tape saying that it’s tough to be proud of America and he didn’t love America until he was deprived of it’s company, that most people seem to give him a pass and shrug it off. Only the Dan Abram’s show on MSNBC has seemed to even pick up the story, despite the media’s 5 month obsession over Michelle Obama’s remarks. McCain also said that it isn’t important when our troops come home from Iraq as long as they don’t die. This comes after his “100 years in Iraq” comment and his refusal to back the new GI Bill. Many who aren’t offended by McCain appear to be saying that “of course he loves America and is proud of this country. He served, didn’t he? Who would go through that if they didn’t love America? You’re taking his words out of context.”

Really?

Ok, so in the case of John McCain, service matters.

Now let’s examine some other people who have also served America and see if their service also gets them the benefit of the doubt.

Rev. Wright also served America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Wright#Education_and_military_service

From 1959 to 1961, Wright attended Virginia Union University,[2] in Richmond. In 1961 Wright left college and joined the United States Marine Corps and became part of the 2nd Marine Division attaining the rank of private first class. In 1963, after two years of service, Wright joined the United States Navy and entered the Corpsman School at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center.[11][7] Wright was then trained as a cardiopulmonary technician at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Wright was assigned as part of the medical team charged with care of President Lyndon B. Johnson (see photo of Wright caring for Johnson after his 1966 surgery). Before leaving the position in 1967, the White House Physician, Vice Admiral Burkley, personally wrote Wright a letter of thanks on behalf of the United States President.[12][13][14]

This came at a time in which racism and race discrimination was still very high in America. MLK was shot in 1968, and the US Army didn’t formally desegregate until 1951 (exactly three years after Truman issued Executive Order 9981.). So Wright enrolled right in the middle of that. Yet he served, and served well enough to be honored for it.

However, when his comments (not actions but comments) from a church pulpit in a predominantly black neighborhood surfaced to the mainstream media out of context (even “G*ddamn America as long as she thinks she’s God…” was taken out of context. And Wright has repeatedly said he’s not talking about Americans the citizens or nation, but American policies) people DESTROYED him as anti-American, unpatriotic, hateful, and a hater of America.

Military service be damned.

Who gave a care that HE SERVED America? Who gave a care that he served EVEN while America was oppressive and racist towards him and his people? Who stopped and thought that, despite these justifiably angry feelings that Wright has actually done something positive with his life by improving torn down communities, as opposed to blowing up federal buildings like the Oklahoma City boimber did? (who also served in US Armed forces)

No one cared.

It is universally acceptable to bash him relentlessly. And this type of behavior is not unique towards Wright for his angry rants from the pulpit. Watch a documentary on the treatment of black US Soldiers, and you’ll learn that despite fighting for this country, black soldiers returned to a nation that still saw them as less than human. No parades. No cheering. No appreciation for protecting our nation. Little to no acknowledgment of bravery. And the same discrimination applied as if they were just another n-word. Again, military service be damned.

This stupidity is so outrageous it’s almost unreal. I still remember an ABC reporter asking Obama if blacks love America, as if blacks didn’t help build America? As if blacks hadn’t died for this country and fought to make it better for everyone, whether they were black or not. As if African Americans had not developed their own identity and culture within America, that is uniquely different from Africa (ie: Jazz music, Blues, hip hop, rock n’ roll, etc.). He had to remind them that blacks can express great anger about injustices in America, and deeply love America all the same.

But why is this news? No one is shocked if Jesse Ventura compares America to Nazi Germany. No one gets offended if Ron Paul says America brought 9/11 upon itself. No one questions the patriotism of the George W. Bush White House, even as they spit on our Constitution.

So getting back to the point, does service matter? I say, like with almost everything else, not really. Who you are matters. What you do only somewhat matters. And what you say only somewhat matters.

I’ll end by also throwing in that “US soldier throws puppy off a cliff” also shows how service can get trumped. While this in no way compares to Wright or other black military vets & servicemen, and the soldier was wrong for his actions, the response from many Americans was ruthless. No one cared that he’s a 22 year old who’s probably seen a friend or two killed, and many wounded, might be facing his own psychological instability and the medical service is so poor that he doesn’t get the help he needs so he takes it out elsewhere. Idk, that’s possible. I’m against what he did, but the lynch mob that came after him over that was ridiculous. Proving once again that service didn’t matter.

EDIT: As posted here yesterday, an article from the BBC yesterday suggests that John McCain might not have been tortured after all. As I posted, I’m not sure what the truth is in this case. John McCain doesn’t have a whole loft of credibility given his many flip flops, abandonment of his first wife for his mistress, etc.