ABC News is reporting on former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's ongoing search for the magic incantation that will finally make him visible to the Republican voters. But as is often the case with those who enter the crucible of Presidential politics, it is the small things that can reveal the character of the person behind the tightly manicured and expensively painted campaign-mask.
In his new attempt at a visibility-spell, Governor Pawlenty may have been merely attempting to cloak himself with the robust martial virility of the alpha-male character he chose to quote.
Or, as Republicans often do, he may have been flirting with the troubling darker messages embedded in both the quote and the story in a way that allows that segment of the Republican base who approve of such messages to assume Pawlenty shares their values while maintaining his plausible deniability for those segments of the Republican base (and general voting population) that find those values deeply un-American. Here's what ABC reported that Governor Pawlenty had to say:
GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty today brought his "hard truths" tour to President Obama's old stomping grounds of the University of Chicago to unveil his proposal to jumpstart the economy.
"It's going to be the Jack Nicholson election," Pawlenty told the crowd here, full of college students. "Some of you are probably too young to remember the movie 'A Few Good Men,' but there's that famous line when he's on the witness stand and says, 'You can't handle the truth.' The American people, I think, can handle the truth."
So what was this "truth" that Pawlenty wants to mirror? What values, either as a person or as leader, is he trying to invoke?
He's running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, so it might be worth knowing.
If you ask Governor Pawlenty whether he respects the rule of law, I'm sure he'll give the politically correct answer. But when he's choosing who he admires, who he emulates, what fictional charcter he finds inspirational enough to include in his campaign message, what answer does that choice reveal?
There are no coincidences in a campaign for President, no untested concept or key phrase such as this that is not intended to serve a specific purpose.
But as many a campaign advisor and candidate have found, once out of the mouth or down on paper, such utterances take on a life of their own and can sometimes turn round on their creators in unexpected and unwanted ways.
So who is it Governor Pawlenty was quoting in such admiring tones?
The movie: A Few Good Men (1992).
The actor: Jack Nicholson, playing Col. Nathan R. Jessep, Commanding Officer,
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The story of A Few Good Men revolves around two young Marines (Corporal Dawson and Pfc. Downey) accused of murder for the death of fellow Marine Pfc. William T. ("Willy") Santiago that resulted from their carrying out a prohibited "Code Red" disciplinary procedure on Pfc. Santiago, a procedure involving physical abuse and assault. (The subject matter and location would become tied together in a very different circumstance less than a decade later.)
The defense, led by Lt. Daniel Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise, is based primarily on the assertion that the two young Marines were acting on the orders of their superior officers, including Col Jessep and that Col. Jessep had covered up the existence of those orders.
In an environment when the members of the previous Republican administration continue their aggressive defense of their use of torture (aka "enhanced interrogation") and other violations of both US and international law, the question raised by this movie of whether the ends justify the means is a particularly relevant one. If by choosing Col Jessep as his campaign mascot, Pawlenty is signaling his answer to that question, his candidacy is a cause for greater concern than it might have appeared to be.
The following excerpts of the script, taken from here and here, give us a better view of the real 'truth' told by that movie - a truth far from the one represented by Col Jessup - and by implication, Governor Pawlenty.
Kaffee: Kendrick ordered a Code Red, because you told him to!
And when it went bad, you signed a phoney transfer and fixed the logs! You coerced the doctor! Colonel Jessep, did you order the Code Red?
Col. Jessep - You want answers?
Kaffee - I want the truth!
Col. Jessep - [shouts] You can't handle the truth!
Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.
Kaffee - Did you order the Code Red?
Col. Jessep - I did the job I...
Kaffee - Did you order the Code Red?
Col. Jessep - You're Goddamn right I did!
...
Col. Jessep - [Judge dismisses the jury after Jessep's revelation on the stand about the Code Red] What is this? What's going on? I did my job, I'd do it again!
[stands up defiantly]
Col. Jessep - I'm gonna get on a plane and go on back to my base.
Judge Randolph - You're not going anywhere, Colonel. MP's... guard the Colonel!
[MPs take post]
Judge Randolph - Captain Ross?
Col. Jessep - What the hell is this?
Capt. Ross - Colonel Jessep, you have the right to remain silent. Any statement you make...
Col. Jessep - I'm being charged with a crime? Is that what this is? I'm being charged with a crime? This is funny. That's what this is. This is...
[turning to Kaffee and lunging at him]
Col. Jessep - ... I'm gonna rip the eyes out of your head and piss into your dead skull! You fucked with the wrong Marine!
Capt. Ross - Colonel Jessep! Do you understand these rights as I have just read them to you?
Col. Jessep - [contemptuously] You fuckin' people... you have no idea how to defend a nation. All you did was weaken a country today, Kaffee. That's all you did. You put people's lives in danger. Sweet dreams, son.
Kaffee: Don't call me son. I'm a lawyer, and an officer in the United States Navy, and you're under arrest you son of a bitch.
[glares at Jessep]
Kaffee - The witness is excused.
...
(Later, as the jury returns with its verdict on the charges brought against the two young Marines. ITW)
All rise!
Judge Randolph - Have you reached a verdict?
- We have, sir.
Judge Randolph - Corporal Dawson and Private Downey.
Of the charge of murder, the members find the accused - not guilty.
On the charge of conspiracy to commit murder - the members find the accused not guilty.
On the charge of conduct unbecoming a US Marine, - the members find the accused guilty as charged
You are sentenced to time already served, - and to be dishonourably discharged from the Marines.
This court-martial is adjourned.
Private Downey- What did that mean?
Hal?
What did that mean?
Colonel Jessep said he ordered the Code Red.
What did we do wrong?
Corporal Dawson- It's not that simple.
Private Downey - We did nothing wrong!
Corporal Dawson - Yeah, we did.
We're supposed to fight for people who can't fight for themselves.
We were supposed to fight for Willy.
In a country founded upon the prinicples of the rule of law, checks and balances, limited power, seperation of powers, immutable individual rights, and accountability to the goverened of those temporarily selected to govern, what qualities should we be looking for in a President?
Those of Col Nathan R. Jessep or those described by Corporal Dawson?
In choosing between the two, we might want to consider some of the final lines of Lt. Kaffee:
You don't need a patch on your arm to have honour.
You also don't need to be in the armed forces to need it.