Ken Dalton is the President for the New Jersey chapter of Veterans for Peace. He is a veteran of the US Navy.
On August 14 of this year, representatives from Military Families Speak Out met with State Senator Tom Kean, Jr. During this meeting, in which he looked into the faces of United States citizens who have family members currently serving in the US military, he refused to answer their direct questions about what his plans were for our troops abroad if he were to win the election in November. Let's make that clear: A man who aspires to the United States Senate refuses to answer the family members of the troops he's willing to send into harm's way. He insisted at the time that he would put his answers in writing, but later changed his mind about that because he was too sure it would be used against him and MFSO wasn't going to vote for him anyway. How can we trust Baby Kean to stand up for us in Washington if we can't even trust him to keep a simple promise to answer questions to the families of the people he wants to send away to die?
His refusal to provide answers to the families of those serving in Bush's illegal and immoral war in Iraq is in and of itself ignorant and arrogant on his part. Does he believe that he would not have to represent these people and only represent "Big Money" Republicans from places like Morris and Somerset Counties? Knowing Baby Kean's background, I can see too clearly where his arrogance grows - since neither he, nor people of his "upper class constituency", will ever have to bleed or even make the slightest sacrifice for this country. They just reap the economic benefits of Bush's war and policies. I believe he has only disdain for the class of people who serve in the Armed Forces, whether they enlist for patriotic or economic purposes.
Like many from that strata of society, they believe that being a senator or governor is a birthright, not something they have to earn. It's telling that Baby Kean never has won an election - neither to the State Assembly nor to the State Senate - before he's been appointed to it. By refusing to deal in good faith with the military families, he is acting like a little Lord Fauntleroy that always had a silver spoon in his mouth. This is certainly not the behavior of someone who deserves to be a U.S. Senator.
Baby Kean acts like he thinks his family name is sufficient enough to get him elected. Unlike those serving in the military or their families, he never had to get his hands dirty, never mind bloody. Perhaps he should sign up to be a "Grunt" in the Army or Marines before being a U.S. Senator. Then maybe he would repsect the sacrifices that these military families must endure.
I know many members of Military Families Speak Out who think about the safety of their loved ones every day. This is especially difficult for those families whose sons and daughters have already made multiple deployments. I have also witnessed one M.F.S.O member, Elaine Brower, get arrested at the United Nations in order to bring attention to the suffering of military families and the immorality of Bush's war. This was truly an act of bravery - a single woman standing in the halls of the greatest assemblage of power ever created to demand justice - yet Baby Kean is too cowardly to meet these families face to face. If this is his attempt at courage - denying family members with a curt letter of dismissal - then perhaps our troops under fire are better off not having Baby Kean serving in uniform. In those conditions, every person has to depend on every other person to hold up his end of the obligations of unit honor and duty. From what I've witnessed, Baby Kean would simply not have the guts necessary to do that.
Even those who question the Bush Doctrine have a right to be heard by their elected officials. We are as much Americans as any of his party's right wing bubble heads. Our opinions and voices are every bit as important as the shrillness that passes for commentary from the likes of Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter and every bit as deserving of respect as right-wing hatemongers like Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly. Baby Kean's arrogance proves he does not deserve to be elected to federal office and that he is incapable of even contemplating, much less representing, the many different views and opinions concerning Bush and his war.
Veterans for Peace is proud to stand with our fellow veterans and veteran-family organizations and demand justice and a public voice for our brothers-in-arms and loved-ones who volunteer to walk into fire to protect our freedoms. We, who have already served our country faithfully, stand ready to fulfill our oaths to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States and we will not stand in silence while another generation of veterans is served up as cannon-fodder for a civilian leadership that has never served, never suffered, and never given a damn about those that do. Shame on you, Tom Kean, Jr. You don't deserve the position you have, much less the one to which you aspire. You have the opportunity to prove us wrong: Find your manhood and treat our military families with the dignity and respect they have earned with their prayers, their tears, and the blood and lives of their most precious loved ones.
