SHOWDOWN

WHY A BIG PART OF THE CULTURE WAR WILL BE DECIDED IN THIS ELECTION

This election is not only about the war in Iraq, as we have recently discovered. It is also about the war in Vietnam, how we feel about it as a nation, who was right about it, and what it means for our future.

Barack Obama notwithstanding, this nation is severely divided, and that division reflects a cultural segmentation that truly began in the very questions that the Swift Boat controversy raises. In 1971, Kerry and his Winter Soldier compatriots shoved their rhetorical bayonets into the heart of the nation, claiming that American soldiers were engaged in widespread atrocities in Vietnam. Their contention was that the nation was entrapped in an illegitimate war, a quagmire of incredible proportions, and the only moral thing to do was to leave Vietnam to the Vietnamese.

Other Americans--notably his current nemesis, John O'Neill--disagreed and maintained that the soldiers were serving honorably, that the war was, yes, messy, but important, and that America herself was a great nation, worthy of honor, reverence, and respect. The Kerry/Jane Fonda contingent (never, by the way, a majority of public opinion during the War) held that the United States was a corrupt and tyrannical nation, bent on world conquest of the weak and the foreign, and that we deserved to lose.

Since the end of the war, the three primary architectural forces of Democratic Party policy--elite academics, mainstream media, and Hollywood celebrities--have labored mightily to ensure that the Winter Soldier version of Vietnam was the one pounded into the heads of the American people, particularly college students. It is fair to say that, until the Reagan revolution, the academics were essentially holding the fort alone. But once the war-mongering, hyper-patriotic Reagan had appeared on the scene, legions of journalism students tutored in the evilness of America jumped into the pot to enhance the flavor. Particularly on the social issues that traditionalists held dear--abortion, gun control, gay rights--US journalists carried the water for the Democratic party, making clear that those who stood with the Reagans were backward Neanderthal morons, while those who fell into the camp with Mondale and then Dukakis were the intellectual elite. Patriotism, American flags, and armies were "out." Peace coalitions, flag burning, and abortion were "in."

But the Democrats lost anyway.

At the same time, we can see now that the entertainment media was trending left, and television scripts in particular were echoing the prejudices of their pals in the National Organization for Women, the National Abortion Rights Action League, and People for the American Way. (Norman Lear, producer of multiple television shows, founded PFAW in response to Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority.) The same people who were "hard-hats" supporting the Vietnam War in the 70s moved over to the Republican side in the 1980s (remember, it was a Democratic president who first articulated the American interest in Vietnam, though it is now erroneously seen as a "Republican" war) and became "Reagan Democrats."

Before the advent of the Clinton administration, only hippies, tenured radicals, and Hollywood celebrities were still worried about American "hegemony" or "Western imperialism." They had a lot to say, but few voters paid any attention to them. Every March for Choice every year featured information tables with literature from the Communist Party of America (CPUSA) and various types of Socialists, but for the most part, even in friendly territory, such arguments were downplayed by rational people on both sides of the issues.

With the defeat of George H.W. Bush, the Democrats smelled blood in the water, though their man only won by a plurality of the vote, in a split election in which his incumbent opponent had broken the "no new taxes" pledge and angered economic conservatives (and his "New World Order" language had scared away cultural conservatives). For eight years, they plighted their troth to the Clintons with impunity, though the people themselves were somewhat taken aback during the impeachment period. In fact, though the media seems to have missed it, the whole Monica Lewinsky affair left (you'll excuse the expression) a bad taste in the mouth of Americans, who took the next opportunity to reject Clinton's vice president and rid themselves of the moral morass of the 90s. In fact, Gore may well have lost because he was not conservative enough for the "red" states and not liberal enough for the "blue" states. In other words, he was too Clinton for the right, and not enough Clinton for the left.

With the advent of George W. Bush, it seemed that tradition might have won after all. But--with the brief exception of a moment of political silence and moral sanity that followed 9/11--the blue people never stopped caterwauling about having lost the election. The president, they maintained (and still do) was not really "elected;" he was "selected" by the Supreme Court, in some kind of conspiracy orchestrated between FoxNews Channel and Jeb Bush (and, of course, the Zionists). Although prayer meetings sprouted at the White House and patriotism flourished throughout the nation, the culture war still remained at an impasse.

But this year something has changed. This year, the Kerry campaign has made what might be a fatal mistake: the elites were so full of their own possibility that they launched what is essentially a two-front war. Now, while trying to fight the electoral battle of today, John Kerry, Vietnam hero, is also mired in the roots of the culture war. At the same time that he has to defend himself against the slings and arrows of outrageous attacks on his peacenik voting record (or, in the terminology of the Democrats, "his patriotism"), he has to use his other hand to fire on the traditionalists. Unfortunately for Kerry and his team, they have underestimated the number of Americans who have never accepted the propaganda of the academy, the snotty arrogance of Hollywood, or the brainwashing of the mainstream media. And now he has to contend as well with the legions of veterans he slandered on Capitol Hill in the 1970s and libeled in his now out-of-print book, "The New Soldier."

What no one on the Kerry team counted on--not Moveon.org,, not The Media Fund, not Americans Coming Together, not even Michael Moore or EMILY's List--was that there would be people who would not wait for the president to take up their concerns. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were not going to let this man become president, would not sit on their hands and hope that the Bush campaign would hit the right notes. No, they decided to stand and fight the last battle for Vietnam all on their own, and without concern for any other issue.

As a matter of fact, as far as issue-oriented groups go, this has to be the most single minded we've seen in a long time. No one on the Swiftie team has a single word to say about Iraq or Afghanistan, the economy, gay marriage, or any other issue that Americans supposedly care about. They've not staked a position on health care, welfare, education, or the environment. Their only concern is that Kerry not be allowed to become commander-in-chief, and their only reason is that they claim to know him for who he really is. One gets the distinct impression that even the current wars aren't the impetus for their concern; they simply believe him unfit to be commander-in-chief, regardless of the circumstances. (Click here to purchase through Amazon: )


And so, unexpectedly and against our will, America has come to its final reckoning on Vietnam. For if the Kerry forces prevail, it will send the implicit message to the anti-American left that they have won. They were right, and they will have a president to prove it. If the patriots and the Bush camp win the day, with their love of God and country, it will be a repudiation of the Hollywood-academy-press troika that has sought to finish the job of the Winter Soldier investigations lo these many years.

If the hippies prevail, they will bring with them the full pantheon of their religion. Moral relativism, secularism, and pacifism will have won the day. Moral traditionalism, the rule of law, and patriotism will be defeated. As we pull the electoral lever, we open doors to the future. The possible outcomes of the election carry specific, predictable, and vastly different sets of consequences.

John Kerry and the antiwar left have chosen this electoral hill to die on. It falls to the people to decide who will win the war.