Ease up on the man folks! John Fogerty is a musical genius and my most favorite musical artist of all time. His protest song "Fortunate Son" absolutely describes how many of us Vietnam era veterans felt at the time. Most of us were not fortunate sons who could refuse induction, as did Cassius Clay and Bill Clinton, and get by with it. Nor were we able to get favored son treatment and avoid active military service by joining the National Guard as did George Bush. Fortunate Son is just one man's opinion of how the rich, powerful and politically connected can avoid putting their ass on the line for this nation like the rest of us have to. His new song "Deja Vu" is sending the same message as "Fortunate Son" and is right on the mark again. Who do you think is serving in our military today? The sons and daughters of the rich, powerful and politically connected? Not hardly! Pat Tillman excepted. The rich, powerful and politically connected make the decisions that send the rest of us off to die and Fogerty hit the nail on the head with both these songs.
Now, having said all of that; here's a bit more. Please understand that I am a former soldier that enlisted in the US Army and volunteered for duty in Vietnam. I served 23 years in the military and retired as a Major in 1989. I work for the Army today as a civilian contractor and may be deploying to Iraq very soon. I work with soldiers every day. I was, and still am, a supporter of President Bush. I was enough of a supporter when he was elected as Governor of Texas that I was invited to, and attended, his inaugural ball. I supported him in his first campaign for President and I still support him today. I don't necessarily agree with all his political decisions and I had my doubts about our going into Iraq. I still do. It seemed like "Deja Vu all over again" to me. However, when I look at the other possible candidates, Bush is the only way I could go. I would much rather be decisively engaging the enemy in his homeland than sitting here waiting to be hit on our own soil. It's the only way to fight a war. Tear up the other guys country instead of your own. The Republicans, being businessmen, understand that concept. The Democrats just don't get it. I respect John Kerry for his service in Vietnam, although it may not have been quite as honorable as he would have us believe. I fault George Bush for his not-quite-as-honorable-as-it-could-have-been service in the National Guard. But at least they both served!!! Bill Clinton refused induction and as far as I am concerned is a criminal and deserves to do prison time. However, I do not make political decisions on the basis of one issue. I look at the whole situation and try to decide who would be the overall best leader for the country. For the here and now I have decided that the best person of those available is George Bush. None of this has anything to do with John Fogerty and his music. His Creedence days produced the best songs I have ever heard and I still have all my old LP albums from that time. I listen to them often. I relate to John's music and the two protest songs previously mentioned definitely strike a chord with many people in this nation today just as much as in the late 60s and 70s. Our national leadership should listen to them and pay attention. Our war in Iraq is over and it's time to come home. The Iraqi people can then sort out what type of government they want. If the UN wants to get involved, then so be it but let the rest of the world police and supervise the formation of a new government in Iraq. We have done our portion and paid the price in the blood of our soldiers. It's time for someone else to bleed. Rock on John Fogerty!