by David Safier
I mentioned the other day that Tucson's own Brigadier General John Adams (retired) had an excellent interview about START on MSNBC a week or so ago. Yesterday, John Kerry quoted Adams on the Rachel Maddow Show to emphasize why the Senate should work past Christmas if need be to ratify START:
"[John Adams said] We have 150,000 young men and women in uniform in harm's way around the world in two wars, and they will be on duty doing their job on Christmas and on New Years. [Adams] said the United States Senate needs to do its job."
Much as I liked what Harry Reid said about staying in session on the Senate floor, what Adams said is far more effective and should be on the lips of every Democrat talking about passing START, even if it means working until New Years. Our fighting men and women are putting their lives on the line every single day, including holidays. The least Senators can do is assure our safety by staying in D.C. a few more days to finish the job. It's that simple.
IN PRAISE OF ENGLISH MAJORS: Adams was an English major in college. I believe he even taught English at West Point for a stretch. He's a good writer and a good speaker who knows how to frame a powerful message — in part because of his literary training. On MSNBC, talking about START, he began by saying something like this: This morning, when I rode the elevator down from my hotel room, I trusted the elevator to get me there safely, but I was happy to see a certificate saying it had been checked recently to make sure it was working properly." From there he went on to discuss the importance of restarting the "trust but verify" provisions of START. That's a better analogy than anything I've heard from Democratic politicians. Where are the English majors Democrats need to help them create their images, analogies and metaphors? Wanna bet PR and advertising firms, which get paid to create messages that move people, are filled with English majors?