speak

Ron Kovic Reborn

Tim Gilmer, New Mobility
June 20, 2003

. . . Kovic was not always this eloquent. His voice has been shaped by war, its destructive aftermath and decades of fearless commitment to protesting governmental policies that support war. To Kovic, war is not an abstraction, not a neatly packaged television graphic -- The War with Saddam -- not a map bristling with colored pins. It's blood-and-guts reality, and he owns it. He's a streetwise activist who speaks like a polished politician -- the cadence, the repetition, the dramatic diction, streams of words pouring forth, demanding attention: "I think this policy is so wrong, and so misguided, and I may be one of the few Americans saying that right now, but I believe strongly in what I'm saying, and I'll say it today, even on this day -- [the day Baghdad fell]. This is a terribly misguided policy that will backfire, this will not stand, this will not work, this will work only against us. This will not lead us to peace and this will not lead us to justice, and this will not lead us to a safer world but a more dangerous world, a more dangerous and unstable Middle East. I think this is going to hurt America."

Born on the 4th of July, is required reading