The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
- Thomas Paine
Vice President Cheney proved he was the consumate 'summer soldier' during the Viet Nam era, when he avoided the draft with several deferments. I can't really blame him about that too much, many of my friends did everything they could to prevent being drafted during that war. I even tried it myself up until the time I could no longer avoid service. My deferments came from being in school, not unlike the former Vice President. However his behavior as Vice President and his behavior since leaving office perplexes me. My granddaddy always told me that it was a sin to question another man's patriotism and for the life of me I can not figure out why anyone else would want to do that, especially a former Vice President of the United States who did everything possible to avoid service in the military. When did he earn the right to tell Americans what being a patriot entails? When he gave the name of a CIA operative to the press? When he let his chief of staff, Scooter libby, take the fall for him? When he continued to lie about WMD even after GWB said publicly, we could not find any? When he continued to lie about the Al-queda/Saddam Hussein connection? When he criticized the 'patriotism' of a Viet Vet who not only was wounded in combat three times but was awarded medals for gallantry in combat? When he lied about how much 'actionable intelligence' we gleaned from torture? When he continues to politicize fear? Dennis Kucinich was wrong, Dick Cheney should not have been impeached. However, like many people in this country, I think he should be held accountable for his words and his actions. I do not think History will remember Mr Cheney fondly or be as forgiving of his abuses of power as the current administration.
From time to time I forget about the power of forgiveness. Of course, before you can be forgiven, reason dictates that you must first ask for forgiveness and before you ask for it, you have to believe that you have done something wrong. At the present time, I can not imagine Dick(less) Cheney ever asking for forgiveness for anything he has ever said or done. I asked a former pastor, Reverend Cathy, if she thought you could forgive someone when they did not ask for forgiveness. Cathy said I could wait quite awhile before some folks would apologize or ask for forgiveness, so you might as well forgive them, "...ultimately, it's the greatest gift you can give yourself!" So then, I'm trying to figure out how it's 'the greatest gift', when I see this trailer on the Tube (not to be confused with the underground rail system in Paris) for Invictus, a new movie about the reconciliation efforts of the Mandela government in South Africa. "Aha!", I sez, "If you get too deep, you can not see what's on the surface."
Forgiveness should not be that complicated, it's the individuals involved that make it complicated. We are all at different places on life's journey and we all have differing views about forgiving. I remember as a young Marine in Viet Nam our motto was 'Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out.' Sounds rather foolish to me now, I must admit. But many hold that same philosophy today, let God do the forgiving, it's not my place. I also hear people say, "I'll forgive somebody but I won't forget what they did." Is that really forgiveness? Does forgiveness require any 'buts' or 'if onlys'? Does forgiveness mean that you forget about justice or punishment for criminal acts, no. It doesn't really matter what religion you are or if you have none, forgiveness is powerful because it relives you of your burden and resentment.
Not forgiving someone is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.
- OPRAH (I think)
So, by now, I suppose that you might have been able to surmise that I have been harboring some really ill feelings towards the former Vice President. Feelings that were really making me bitter and filling me with hate. But after much soul searching, I have decided to let them go, to forgive. Do I expect an act of contrition on his part? No. Do I expect him to continue to live in fear and to spread his venomous attacks on the Obama Administration? Yes. Will anything Dick Cheney says ever affect me negatively again? Hopefully and prayerfully, No.
Until Next Time,
I Remain,
Just another Zoroastrian Sudoku Warrior that finally knows Dick about Forgiveness...
