Stripped of rank..

When a soldier puts on his uniform, he wears more than cloth and insignia. He places himself within the boundaries that the uniform represents.

And he solemnly covenants that he will restrain his personal desires and wishes, so as to bring credit and respect to the service he chooses. That respect can mean the difference between an enemy's calculation that we are too strong to attack… or else ripe for the picking.

Except in cases where society may have compelled his actions, such as a war-time draft, he who has voluntarily joined that service has done so with full knowledge that he has given up the rights normally associated with unfettered citizenship.

His duty extends far beyond not degrading himself. Once that uniform is donned, he is representing every person who has ever risked his life for the good of country over the last 24 decades. Arguably, his impact extends even further, since, in the face of a mainstream media poisonously biased against the very idea of service to country… he represents the military services of all decent countries everywhere, throughout time.

Unfortunately, there are too many civil servants who conveniently misunderstand that a uniform doesn’t have to be visible to be binding.

When a Representative or a Senator seeks and gains the high office he worked so hard for, he, too, has put on a uniform. He has undertaken, with an oath (intentionally nearly identical to the military oath), to protect and defend the Constitution.

But this oath doesn’t rest with the simplistic idea that he will simply stand guard over an antique piece of paper. He does not get off so easily.

He has bound himself to stand in service and defense of everything which has been handed down to us as a nation and a culture, by those many, who, through their pains and often ultimate sacrifices in battle, will now stand forever in invisible guard over this country they so honorably served, as embodied by that written paper, the Constitution.

This is not a small thing. This is the gravest of responsibilities, and those who dismiss it lightly should never be allowed the privilege of standing in the same uniform worn so nobly by so many of our finest, whatever their eventual fates.

Yet some of our elected officials have lately, (and perhaps a few have always), regarded that uniform as something of a polite fiction- something which can be removed when convenient.

Because that uniform, visible or invisible, stands in the way of satisfying certain base appetites or desires, of acquiring assets and privileges denied by honorable bearing. As such, they reason, “Let’s be frank, here. As long as I am hidden from public view, it’s a matter of anything you don’t get caught at…”

Military officers- the ones who’s men would follow them through minefields- understand that the uniform doesn’t get put on and taken off that conveniently. They feel the weight of responsibility- that archaic and often disdained old notion that any man who wants the respect of office must himself respect that office. They understand that honor doesn’t spring from what you can take from your rank, but rather, from what you bring to it.

And , being human, at some point- some of them realize that what they crave out of life will no longer allow them to wear the uniform.

And so, before they could possible bring dishonor upon that uniform... they retire, and hang that uniform up. When it rests on that hangar, then- it does so unstained, and in good company.

From that point onwards… as civilians… whatever they do to satisfy their wants and needs, condoned and often encouraged by a subculture corroded by self-gratification, they do so out of uniform… in their new life, their new clothes.

Occasionally, as happens everywhere that fallible men are involved, some civil servants think that just by removing the cloth, itself, one afternoon- they can hide the actions which would bring discredit upon their service. Instead of having the honesty to admit that they cannot control their conduct, they instead seek to furtively “get away with it” behind closed doors.

As husbands have known since the dawn of time, you don’t remove the marriage by slipping the wedding ring into your pocket. You don’t get away with it. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t get caught this time. Or even the next.

Once you begin to violate the trust, your world begins crumbling. What you held decent, honorable and worth fighting for- you have just cast into the dirt.

Senators and other civil servants wear that uniform all during their tenure, just as certainly as military officers… and husbands. Awake, asleep, at work and at play. When we take that oath, those sacred vows, - it doesn’t mean “until we get caught.” Just as we demand full faith from our spouses- we demand full faith from our leaders. We demand that when awesome dangers face the nation, that those who enjoy the office- the solemn trust that they will put the good of the nation above their personal appetites,- will act with unflinching honor, and not degrade everyone and everything by acting despicably.

For if they disgrace themselves, they erode a bit more of the foundation that our society rests upon.

We don’t know what Senator Craig did in that restroom. We also don’t know what he attempted, or even what he intended or desired.

What we do know is that he has resigned. And that he resigned under pressure. The details will be smeared by a media so overwhelmed by its own personal agendas, that truth will have to slink in the back door- if it is invited at all.

That same media, and the liberal constituency that it carries water for, will see only that an enemy got caught in a sexual act. And just as blindly will see no further. For they have a particular handicap.

They aren’t color blind, which they know and try to conceal with their favorite “interest group spokespersons“, but they are truly blind to that odd color of light that emits from responsibility.

They cannot comprehend that, while the Senator’s actions may or may not be abhorred by the average voter, where his downfall originates is from his willingness to subject the office he holds to the risk of discredit, by undertaking those actions.

They stood solidly in defense of a cretin in the ultimate office of the country, when he repeatedly and criminally, recklessly cast a stain upon that office, that invisible uniform, in the eyes of the entire world, by his loathsome actions with a female subordinate.

Military officers with even the strongest stomachs must have fought to contain their nausea. Having so many friends and colleagues who have died upholding their oaths, the sight of circled political wagons around one who spit on honor and responsibility must have been a shock, when it came from the top of the chain of command.

Many have murmured that since the liberals defend their miscreants, what folly it is for the conservatives to hold captain’s mast- and drum the offender out of their ranks.

When the convicted stands before the assembled companies and regiments, the insignia of rank and of outfit are physically stripped from his clothing, which then is no longer a uniform, but the tattered remainders of his promises.

Since the time of Julius Caesar, it has been important for the troops to understand the dishonor done to the man’s oath of office, to his uniform, by committing the crime. The crime would be punished after the man was removed from the high position of trust.

In the case of Senator Craig, what burdens he will bear now falls upon him as a former officeholder, a former wearer of the uniform.

The tragedy is that more harm may result from his self-inflicted vacancy. And we may suffer grievous harm from that.

But we would have nothing left at all, as conservatives and as Americans, if responsibility is left to fall into the dust, actions papered over and protected, and wagons cirled to protect “our side”.

If the very act of “holding to account“, as so contrasted to the very opposite actions of our liberal adversaries, means nothing in the coming elections to the majority of voting Americans, then we need to simply gird ourselves to a coming dark period. We have survived them before, and will survive them again.

And the reason we will survive is that standing in the wings of the world stage, are a host of honorable Officers and men of our military and our civil service, who will bear and absorb the impact of losses, while knowing to themselves that such losses would have been avoided… if our adversaries had not believed that the whole barrel was spoiled, due to the bad apple.

They stood solidly in defense of a cretin in the ultimate office of the country, when he repeatedly and criminally, recklessly cast a stain upon that office

Ain't that the truth. Even the Germans were making fasching (sort of like Mardi Gras) floats making fun of his indiscretions with a certain intern. They like to do a lot of satire with them.

BTW, in trying to find a photo of that float, which I couldn't, I found another fun one:

The Muslims were really pissed about it. The insane mad suicide bomber in front has the word "Cliche," while the other equally murderous one behind him has the word "Reality." I swear the truth upsets Muslims more than anything else.

I also found this one everyone here should like. Check out the site.

“Except in cases where society may have compelled his actions, such as a war-time draft, he who has voluntarily joined that service has done so with full knowledge that he has given up the rights normally associated with unfettered citizenship.”

This applies if one is drafted into military service as well. All draftee’s are requested to take the same oath as volunteers and, if they take it, they have the same obligations. Of course, if they don’t take it, they don’t serve in the military.

We don’t know what Senator Craig did in that restroom. We also don’t know what he attempted, or even what he intended or desired. What we do know is that he has resigned.

I'm not as baffled as this author. He leaves out the single most important fact:

Craig pled guilty.

“...Except in cases where society may have compelled his actions, such as a war-time draft, he who has voluntarily joined that service has done so with full knowledge that he has given up the rights normally associated with unfettered citizenship.”

You are, of course, right about that, but the analogy becomes strained when the military draft is included. And I could see coming those objectors who would make the argument, "Well, not everyone who served, sought to serve. Some were compelled..."

Hoping to divert that argument, I pre-emptively applied the analogy only to those who choose their service. The problem is that there is a length limit to these posts, and no perfect way to craft them to suit everyone, since every possibility would have to be explored at length.

No slur on draftees was intended.

Thanks for the reply.

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