A: "Interesting question. I think, historically, that if we go back to the foundations of what we consider Western Civilization, and by that I mean the Athenian democracy and the Roman Republic, military service was practically a requirement for political office. They didn't expect you to be a general, but they did expect you to know which end of the spear to hold, and which end went into the other guy. That has certainly been the case in America as well, at least until recent years. Up through the Korean War, I think the percentage of the Congress which had served was in the 80%-90% range. That changed after Viet Nam. Nowadays it is somewhere around 10%-20%. I think this country would be better served if that ratio were to rise again."
Q: "How so?"
A: "One of the things I hear constantly are calls by what I call 'chickenhawks' to go to war somewhere in the world. These types have never served and their children have never served but boy are they happy to tell me and my children what to do! In my experience, the last people who actually want a war are the people who have already been in one. I might not be a war hero, but I saw enough in the Army to know just how bad it can get."
We also got into some social issues affecting the services.
Q: "You are a proponent of gay rights. Do you plan on repealing 'Don't ask, don't tell'?"
A: "I don't know as I am a proponent as much as somebody who doesn't think people should be judged based on who they sleep with. It's not so much 'don't ask don't tell' as it is 'don't ask, don't care.'"
Q: "But do you plan to repeal the current law?"
A: "No. I think that would be premature. However, I do think that time is coming, and sooner than you might think. My bet is that the current ruling on homosexuality in the military will be finished in ten years or less. It's a generational thing. People my age or older want the rule, but not the younger generation. They don't understand it or agree with it. Every time they take a poll on this the responses from the senior people in the services are starkly different from those of the junior people. Ten years from now 'don't ask, don't tell' will be history. Twenty years from now nobody will understand why we had it in the first place."
Q: "There are those who argue that having gays in the military will cause a decrease in unit cohesion and efficiency."
A: "I seem to recall we had that same argument about blacks in the military and women in the military. We seem to have survived those two crises. In addition, I just love the people who claim that in combat having to share a foxhole with a gay comrade will be a problem. This just shows they don't know what they are talking about! I've been in a foxhole, and the only thing I cared about the guy in it with me was whether he had enough ammo and whether he was going to do something that might get me killed. Never share a foxhole with anybody braver than you are!"
Q: "Are you going to loosen the restrictions on women in combat?"
A: "That one I'm not in favor of, but I'll be honest about it. I think it's because I'm enough of a dinosaur to think that combat is a man's job, not a woman's. Not everybody agrees with that, of course, and the law allows women into most military fields, and I have no intention of changing that. My biggest issue, however, is simply whether a woman is qualified or not. Men and women are different. On average, men are bigger and have much greater upper body strength. Now, I am perfectly aware that there are any number of women out there who can probably kick my butt, but on average the loads we carry are more than what the average woman can handle. Gender norming is what they use to get around this fact, and I think it is a pernicious problem. If I was going to be in combat, I would want the people around me to be able to carry the load, which just might include me. Then again, my wife and daughters tell me I'm just a grumpy old man, so I don't think I am going to win this argument."
My responses on women and gays made the Sunday morning shows the week after the interviews were published. As always, the religious right considered my remarks a sign of the end times and the collapse of civilization, and the liberals thought I was a hidebound antique. Some days you just can't win.
At the start of September, I had one event which I was the host of and wasn't political. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was beginning their fall season at the Meyerhoff. As one of their larger patrons, and the honorary chairman of their fundraising committee (funny how that worked out!) I had the privilege of opening the season up. As President I had missed some years because of scheduling conflicts, but this year I was available. It was a black tie affair, a real gala event, and I would play host and shake hands with the powers that be in Maryland. Bob Ehrlich, the Governor would be there, along with Martin O'Malley, the Mayor of Baltimore, and any number of other state and city politicians, several Congressmen, at least one Senator, and a variety of bigwigs. The concert would be an evening of Wagner, and would be preceded by a very nice (expensive!) cocktail party, my treat.
Marilyn and I arrived at the main entrance on Cathedral Street. We had driven up in the limo from D.C., which took no longer than flying from the South Lawn to somewhere in Baltimore and taking a limo from there. I was sure there was a place, a park or something, we could land in, but it's pretty rude to simply take over a public park and land your helicopter there. Once we pulled up to the front, we waited while the agents looked around at the rope line, and then a door was opened, and I stepped out, and then gave Marilyn my hand to help her out.
Camera flashes began going off, and I waved to the crowds on the other side of the rope line, mostly reporters and photographers. It was guaranteed that this would make the front page of the Society section in the next Baltimore Sun. From there we would head inside to the cocktail reception, which was invitation only. You couldn't even get in the building without an invitation, and people would be entering through a discreet magnetometer system. I knew that agents were out in the crowd, and probably on some nearby roofs, and just inside the rope line was a line of Baltimore City Police officers.
Marilyn slipped away for a second and went over to say hello to Cheryl Dedrick. I waved, but then saw Bob Ehrlich waving and trying to catch my eye. I moved towards him.
"GUN!"
I didn't even have a chance to look around. I heard a few muted POPs, but I was being bodily dragged back to the limo and was thrown inside. Tires squealing and sirens flashing, we were gone in a matter of seconds.
"WHAT ... WHAT HAPPENED!?", I managed to get out. 'WHERE'S MARILYN?!" I looked around, but she wasn't in the limo with me. I could taste blood, so I must have bitten my tongue when they grabbed me.
"There was a gun, sir! Mrs. Buckman is in the next car!", I was told.
I wondered vaguely where we were going, but they really don't tell you that stuff. They had the plan, and the protectee doesn't need to know all the details. Besides, I was feeling a little off at the moment, probably from nerves, and I knew I must have bitten my tongue, since I could taste a lot of blood, and my breathing was a bit difficult.
"Where..." I managed to say, and I could feel some blood dripping out of my mouth onto my dress shirt. The Residence staff was going to be pissed. It would never get clean...
"SHIT! JUMPER IS HIT, REPEAT, JUMPER IS HIT! DIVERTING TO SHOCK TRAUMA!"
Somebody must have been hit by something. I vaguely wondered who, and why everybody was grabbing me and tearing off my shirt. Then I didn't remember anything more.
The next thing I knew, I was waking up in some place that seemed like it was a hospital room, but that didn't make any sense. I hadn't been hurt or sick, so why was I in a hospital? I tried to move around some, but I was really stiff, and had a bunch of tubes going into both arms, and some more going around my head. None of this made any sense, so I tried to sit up, and that didn't work either. I lay back down to try and figure it out.