The Iranian Hostage crisis –
no American of my generation was not marked by this event. This was a seminal moment in American
history, even if we didn’t realize it at the time. I was just an enlisted Soldier at the time
but seeing my country so ineffectual in responding to these Iranian scumbags
actually had a part in my decision to seek a commission and make the military a
career. A large part of my OCS class
felt the same way – we all hoped we would get a chance to kill Iranians in
large numbers.
That didn’t turn out to be
possible; the Iraqis beat us to it, but that generation of military leaders
totally redefined the American military, making it the preeminent military in the
world. I still feel the confrontation
with Iran
The movie itself was a revelation. Affleck is turning into an extremely
impressive movie maker. He even acts well in this! The film does a great job of recreating the tensions
and “feel” of the late 1970s without overdoing it. I really enjoyed this movie which was “adult”
in that it creates a lot of tension without resorting to cheap tricks and
trying to over explain things.
The final comment I have is
how the movie intruded into my ruminations on the current presidential election. While I’m sure this is the last thing Affleck
(well known liberal that he is) intended, it brings up the danger of
president like Carter. While I laud his altruistic leanings Carter never
figured out that sometimes people are just flat evil and have to be dealt with.
I see a little bit of that in Obama who
wants to be everybody’s friend. I’m convinced
that naïveté played a factor in the recent Libyan debacle. Obama can’t be happy to have such a vibrant
and well done movie about Carter’s presidential failings come out less than a
month before the election. Lucky for
him, Romney is certainly no Ronald Reagan.
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| Front Yard Yesterday |
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