August 27, 2004 - This election in large part is about values. It is not, or rather should not be about, validating John Forbes Kerry’s exploits in his short tour as OIC of a Swift Boat It should not be about punishing his presentation to the Congress of the results of the Winter Soldier investigation. If should not be about the location of PCF 44 on Christmas 1968 or how many drills George W. Bush attended four years later.

The questions that the voters will decide on November 2nd are more basic than that. What the voters must decide is what values will guide America in the 21st Century. What principles will guide us through the coming years and enable us to pass to our children and they to their children a better, more peaceful and more compassionate world than that which was passed to us.

The human tragedy of Abu Ghraib reflects on us and our values as did the massacre at Mai Li. If American soldiers collected human ears in Vietnam as trophies it reflects on each of us and on the validity of our American ideals. For those of us who grew up learning that Americans were a virtuous people challenged and beset by inhumane and cruel dictatorships that valued nothing more than power and privilege Mai Li and now Abu Ghraib hit like an earthquake shaking the foundation of the image of America we had carried with us from our childhood. When we heard of Mai Li; when we heard of American soldiers collecting the ears from dead Vietnamese to substantiate body counts; when we counted the dead at Kent State we were sick unto death for we could not believe that Americans could be guilty of such outrages.

We were reassured somewhat because there were men like John Kerry with the courage to blow the whistle and hold America to account for its violation of those principles to which we give such vehement lip service even though we heard him vilified as a traitor for his candor. The Toledo Blade has vindicated his 1971 testimony in its 2003 Pulitzer winning series exposing Tiger Force and the Army’s secret two year investigation that found the Winter Soldier war crimes accusations to be true.

It was another brave soldier, a reservist military policeman, who pried the cover off of the cesspool at Abu Ghraib and shone the light so that we could see the contents. We are just now seeing the depth and breadth of the filth that it contains; that the outrage goes far beyond seven rogue soldiers playing a fraternity prank. That military policeman who showed us the shocking images of torture returned home ostracized and vilified because he rolled over the rock beneath which the vermin hid and exposed them to the light of day. The two investigations reported this week show just how high up the stench clings to the chain of command.

What this election is about is values – American values – human values. Is this nation still dedicated to the proposition that all men – not just Americans - are created equal with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Are we no longer the nation whose symbol holds high the beacon of liberty beside the golden door? Have we become a country where the word Freedom has become just another way to say I’ve nothing left to lose? Are we now to be a nation in which only the haves and the have mores can reap the benefits of American power and American wealth consumed by American greed? Or will we reclaim the values and principles that led this nation to greatness?

Those are the questions that each of us must resolve for ourselves as we make our choices this November. Those are the questions that the contestants must address between now and Election Day. We must decide just how much we value America.