PBS Newshour 5/6/2011
"Shields and Brooks on Secretive SEALs, Obama's Bin Laden Raid, GOP Debate" PBS Newshour Transcript 5/6/2011
Excerpt on SEALs
JIM LEHRER (Editor, Newshour): And finally tonight, the analysis of Shields and Brooks, syndicated columnist Mark Shields, New York Times columnist David Brooks.
Mark, did you know about SEAL Team Six until this -- until a few days ago?
MARK SHIELDS: No.
JIM LEHRER: Did you, David?
DAVID BROOKS: No, I did not.
JIM LEHRER: Yes. It's fascinating.
MARK SHIELDS: Truly fascinating. And, I mean, talk about a great segment, fascinating spokespersons. I mean, they were compelling.
JIM LEHRER: Yes, the two -- you mean the two men themselves.
MARK SHIELDS: The two of them, yes.
JIM LEHRER: You could tell that they were ready to go.
MARK SHIELDS: They were.
(LAUGHTER)
JIM LEHRER: If called upon, they could go now.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
I often think why the military really is the one institution that is -- that has high regard -- and we have had loss of faith in all these institution. And why is that? And one theory, I think, is that they really tear people down.
It's not about ego in the military. They tear down the ego, before you build up towards service to something else. And we actually have very few institutions that do that anymore. And there are pros and cons to tearing people down. But it does lead to this sort of understated sense of service and commitment to something other than themselves, and an aversion to publicity, which is admirable.
JIM LEHRER: And the idea, as both of them said, that they function as teams.
DAVID BROOKS: Right.
JIM LEHRER: And that's where the breaking down goes, and then you come back together. You go down there as individuals; you come out as a team.
DAVID BROOKS: And we have done well in general, most institutions, in celebrating the individual, not so much the team you're on.
MARK SHIELDS: Yes. No, I just think it -- I agree with you. They do break down.
But what they put in the place is a sense of your dependence upon each other. And they submerge rampant individualism, which our society too often celebrates.
DAVID BROOKS: Right. Exactly.
JIM LEHRER: What about Ray's question, though, about scrutiny, about oversight? Are these -- is there a danger that these guys are so good, and so at the command of the president, that other people may not know what's going on until it's too late?
MARK SHIELDS: Well, I think, in this particular instance, they did inform the leadership.
JIM LEHRER: Congress.
MARK SHIELDS: Congress. But I thought the point of scrutiny that the senator made about watching this did bring to it a level of civilian control and oversight that was unimaginable in an earlier era.
From this retired Navy Chief (22yrs, Viet Nam Vet), I salute all SEALs. Being a home-town San Diegan, where the SEAL boot camp is located, I am proud.
Also, I was surprised that SEAL Team 6 was specifically mentioned. I wonder it that was a slip.
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