Monday, May 24, 2010

Bloomenthal's Vietnam Pretense Contrary to Tao

This article was originally published by Technorati on 24 May 2010 as a Simply Spirited feature. To see all my Technorati articles, click Lifestyle in the Contents listing on the sidebar.

Out-going Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) offered some bland words of support today for his would-be Democratic successor, Richard Bloomenthal.

"I can't think of a better legacy I can have in the Senate than to have Dick Blumenthal follow me in that job," Dodd said, speaking to reporters in Hartford.

Dodd's statement comes in conjunction with Bloomenthal's cursory apology for pretending to have fought in Vietnam.

Though Dodd's endorsement appears to be easily bought and not worth very much, he's simply perfoming obligatory yoeman's work for his party.

In the Navy we have a saying for what Sen. Dodd is doing here. We call it polishing a . . . well, it gets a little graphic at this point. Let's just say he's polishing something that should rather be flushed. There's no way a few words at this late stage can change Bloomenthal's character.

This is a big deal. As a military man, I can attest to the fact that servicemen and women don't make this mistake except to promote their own interests. It's part of the unwritten code. Most bend over backwards to make the distinction clear, even when picking up women in bars.

Bloomenthal's supposed "misstatements" are not in keeping with this code, nor are they commensurate with the Tao. Lao-tzu writes in the Tao te Ching:
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare of compete,
everybody will respect you.
This has not been Richard Bloomenthal's way in the past, which provides some insight into his suitability for promotion to a U.S. Senate seat.

Photo credit: CT Blue

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