At our U.S. Naval Academy there is a tall stone obelisk named for Captain Herndon, a Naval hero who elected to go down with his ship and the men left aboard in a storm in 1857 rather than save himself. This monument becomes the target of a massing of 4th class midshipmen each year with the goal of removing a cap from the pinnacle through united effort. Forming a human pyramid with linked arms, they scale the greased surface of the monument through unified combined selfless effort by many strong-willed individuals so that one of their number may succeed in tearing away the cap placed at the top, thus symbolizing the end of their struggles as plebes and graduation on to future endeavors. The plebe who removes the cap is awarded with a pair of Admiral's shoulder boards.
As one of the plebes in the class of 1976, I participated in this rite of passage and recall being impressed by the challenge of deciding whether to join those who would sacrifice their chance of climbing to the top by forming the human support base rather than waiting until after the formation was established to try for the prize. This is a timed event which allows classes to be compared from year to year with the shorter times indicating a higher degree of organization, skill, strength, endurance, self sacrifice, finesse and luck. The shortest recorded time is 1 minute 30 seconds in 1969 by the class of 1972, although the monument was not then greased; the longest was 4 hours, 5 minutes, 17 seconds in 1995 by the class of 1998, according to today's entry in Wikipedia
In our attempt in 1973, I had joined the support formation at the base and we eventually got someone to the top but not until after we had gone through several formations and reformations due to fatigue and after removing the inch thick coating of what seemed to be lithium grease with our uniform tops. Some of our class couldn't wait until the formation was completed to climb over us and would destabilize the entire group which would collapse under multiple climbers. I think it took us over 45 minutes, but it seemed like hours under the strain of supporting several times our own weight and waiting for the cap to be removed which seemed welded to the top by glue [and probably was]. During the ordeal, I remember cursing those who tried to climb before we were ready. After we succeeded, there was a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and unity and bonding, but also regret and embarrassment that we couldn't have done it faster.
I don't know how John McCain's class of 1958 did in their Herndon monument moment at the Naval Academy. Did they accomplish the task in a shorter time than did we? Were they up against the same grease and glued cap phenomenon? Did John work to form or support the base or did he try to climb over everyone else to claim the prize? Only he may remember; mine is a lasting memory.
The complex emotional mix I recall during our symbolic group effort at the herndon monument has been triggered anew by events in this 2008 presidential election. Next Tuesday will be the defining moment of a group effort to get one person elected as our nation's leader - to 'pull the cap off' as it were with a whole lot of us in supporting roles. I see the McCain campaign as a competing group also working to claim the prize which is to elect a good president. At what point does a candidate running for president acknowledge that he won't win and should start working for the common good rather than tearing down someone who might actually succeed?
When will John McCain reach the realization that he and his supporters are doing more harm than good to the common effort? I for one would like to see us achieve success at electing a good president and repeat that sense of accomplishment with unity and bonding as a people after this election. It is time for the RNC and John McCain to quit behaving like they believe that they 'rate what they get away with' in the use of dirty tricks on the voting public. They should quit trying to game the voting process by restricting legitimate voters from being counted or trying to confuse voters to vote on the wrong day or at the wrong place. This activity lessens people's faith in representational democracy and embarrasses the whole country. We can't seriously export or promote democracy to any other country if we can't accomplish simply voting with honest access and transparent, verifiable counting of ballots at home.
I believe it is clear that the voting public is tired of 'dirty' politics and the same old tricks at the polling places. Among all the other reforms and changes needed in our government, election reform has to be near the top. I know Barack Obama has a lot to consider if he gets elected. His reward will not be Admiral's shoulder boards but a whole lot of reading assignments and meetings and decisions which I know he can do well based on prior performance. I can only hope he stays true to the promise of bringing a fresh perspective and a glimmer of a chance at making the changes we so badly need. I and many others who supported his efforts will be closely monitoring his progress.
For John McCain, all I can say is "Remember Herndon".