Last night, while sitting at Fed-ex Field watching the Redskins bungle the first game of the season, we watched a halftime ceremony to honor those fallen at the Pentagon on 9/11.The ceremony featured Pentagon police officer Isaac Ho'opi, a dark-skinned native Hawaiian, now resident in Virginia, who on 9/11 rushed into the gaping fiery hole in the side of the shattered building and carried out eight people, while guiding another 15-20 to safety through the smoke with his booming bariton voice. Officer Ho'opi led the 90,000 fans at Fed-ex field in a moving rendition of "God Bless America."
Watching him, we couldn't help but think: what would George Allen say if he encountered this husky dark-skinned man with the unusual last name wearing civilian clothes at some public event? Would he welcome Isaac to America?
Nancy Reagan's Objection
We weren't going to say anything about Nancy Reagan's objection to Jim Webb's first campaign ad, featuring a brief video clip of President Reagan praising Webb's military service in a speech. After thinking about it, however, we can't see why Webb shouldn't use the clip.
By using the actual video from Reagan's speech, Webb avoids distortion or misquotation of what Reagan actually said.
While we understand Ms. Reagan's concerns, we don't think she can validly insist that no one, at no time, can use her husband's image in a political context. Ronald Reagan was a politician, a public figure and a President--his words are part of the public record and they should be available for use.
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