Note to Meghan McCain, We ALL Know War

Meghan McCain, appearing on the Today Show, made one of the most egotistical and ignorant statements I've ever heard.  It was stunning in its thoughtlessness and dismissive of the sacrifice of millions of people with loved ones serving in the Middle East.

When asked what she thinks when Barack Obama and others say her father doesn't "get it" she said,

I think my father gets it more than anyone.  I mean, my family — I have two brothers serving in the military. One is about to redeploy to Iraq.   My father is obviously a famous war hero. No one knows what war is like other than my family, period.

(Emphasis mine.) She then went on to point out that Sarah Palin's son, Track, is deploying to Iraq on September 11th. 

Meghan, we need to talk.

You're 24 years old.  You're a big girl now.  You should know that the world does not revolve around you and your family.

As of today, 4,739 American soldiers have died in the Middle East since March 19, 2003.  More than 100,000 have been injured. Some of those, like your father, will be permanently disabled but some day able to get on with their lives and families.  Still others will never recover. Some will be forever haunted by what they've witnessed.  They will be stuck reliving the losses of their friends, their band of brothers.  This doesn't even include the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Afghani families that have lost a loved one or had their lives ripped apart by war.

There are more than 200,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq alone right now.  Their families are just as important as yours.  While I would never minimize the worry that you must feel with a brother in Iraq, or the worry that Sarah Palin feels as a mother sending her son off to war, yours are most certainly not the only families affected by the folly in Iraq.

In fact, for some perspective, here are some quotes from my fellow MOMocrats after witnessing your appearance on the Today Show:

She was not even born when McCain was in Vietnam.  I think those Blue Stars would beg to diffa with you, Megan.

--- MOMocrat Glennia

My mom was 8 months old and living in Honolulu when Pearl Harbor was bombed. My great uncle was an airplane mechanic and he was on Midway when that battle started. He, a Korean, was told to "get down" and "hide" by the American pilots he was stationed with lest he be mistaken for one of the Japanese.

Please.

--- MOMocrat Stefania

I have the other POV:  My mom was 10 during the Korean War.  She was a refugee, had her house burned to the ground by the communists, her mom bound her older sisters chests with bandages and cut their hair so they would not be raped or carted off to sex slave camps, turned over dead bodies on the side of the road to make sure they were not her brother who served in the army.  Yes, other families know what war is like, too.

--- MOMocrat Glennia

my grandps, a first-gen german kid (whose parents came here after they were married), fought in WWII.  traveled all over the world during his tour.  was an airplane mechanic.  my mother was around 18 months old when he first laid eyes on her.

---MOMocrat Deborah

Okay, this is pissing ME off. My grandfather fought in the Pacific theater in WWII. He was MIA in the after getting separated during a battle & had to hide from the Japanese in the jungle for weeks. He had PTSD the rest of his life & was treated like crap by the local VA officials b/c of his race.

One of my college boyfriends, who was also my friend in high school, is in the Navy and I think of him every time I see news about a fallen sailor on TV.

A good friend & onetime coworker of mine lost her fiance in Iraq two months before their wedding. Who DOESN'T know a soldier? I don't know anyone my age who doesn't have a friend or family member who has fought in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Megan McCain is a disgrace to her entire generation. WhoTF does she think is fighting her daddy's friends' pet war?

---MOMocrat Jaelithe

You see, Meghan, yours is not the only family that knows war.  Moreover, Meghan, I really can't say that your experience as part of a military family has been typical.  Most military families make countless economic sacrifices for their country.  I don't begrudge your family its money, but don't belittle the sacrifices made by other military families by claiming that only yours knows what it feels like to have a family member at war.

My mother followed a mostly absent husband all over the world with 2 small children.  She, like many military spouses, couldn't keep a career going because of her need to move every few years.  Other military families have problems obtaining the proper care they need for special needs children or for cancer or MS.  They can't find adequate daycare in military towns.  They move their children to new towns and new schools every two years.  They face multiple deployments and the loss of a partner for a year or more at a time with no family help and no friends nearby.

Does this sound like your life at all?

I didn't think so.

The luxury of money makes your world different.  So don't you dare ignore the sacrifices that other military families make.  You don't have that right.

Now, let's talk about the people you were trying to insult, by implying that they know nothing of the military: the Obamas.

Barack and Michelle Obama have made an effort to find out what war and the military life is like.  There is no doubt in my mind that Michelle Obama knows far more of the sacrifices made by real military families than you do, sweetie.  And by real, I mean those who aren't rich and headed by "famous war heroes" who serve in the Senate.  I can't tell you how many times the Obamas have been in my corner of Virginia listening, really listening to military families and veterans.  Your father, John McCain, hasn't been here once.

Barack Obama also has concrete plans to actually help military families and veterans, which he and Michelle Obama and Senator Biden have discussed in detail.  Here's a sampling of the Obama/Biden campaign policy on veterans heard in Virginia Beach last week when Senator Joe Biden stopped by to participate in a roundtable with veterans and military families:

The Obama campaign actually has an entire page on military and veterans issues on the campaign website. 

I've gone looking for information on concrete plans that McCain has on his McCain/Palin website.  Don't worry, you don't need to go look.  There's nothing there.

So don't insult military families everywhere, Meghan.  As far as I'm concerned, they know far more of war and the military life than you do, so hop down off of that altar, won't you?  The military families I know could teach you a thing or two.

Stephanie has a brother serving in the Middle East with the Ohio National Guard and has also worried her way through two of his tours in Bosnia while serving in the Army. Her father is a retired Air Force officer and her husband just retired from the Navy after 20 years of active and reserve duty. She serves as the Deputy Director for Outreach for Blue Star Families for Obama, a grassroots organization of military families supporting Barack Obama for president. (Oh, and she also blogs at Lawyer Mama and D.C. Metro Moms in her "spare" time.)