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Parallel Lives

Plutarch compared distinguished Greeks and Romans from antiquity. This document similarly compares an Iranian hero, Gholam-Reza Hassani, to American Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. Hassani eagerly participated in executing his Marxist son, saying it paralleled Abraham sacrificing Isaac, while Zumwalt's son died from cancer linked to Agent Orange used in Vietnam. Zumwalt worked to integrate the Navy and promote equal rights, receiving honors for his work, while Hassani supports strict Islamic codes including stoning women for adultery. The document argues Zumwalt's character exemplifies American values that will ensure its continued success.

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Steven Donahue
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580 views1 page

Parallel Lives

Plutarch compared distinguished Greeks and Romans from antiquity. This document similarly compares an Iranian hero, Gholam-Reza Hassani, to American Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. Hassani eagerly participated in executing his Marxist son, saying it paralleled Abraham sacrificing Isaac, while Zumwalt's son died from cancer linked to Agent Orange used in Vietnam. Zumwalt worked to integrate the Navy and promote equal rights, receiving honors for his work, while Hassani supports strict Islamic codes including stoning women for adultery. The document argues Zumwalt's character exemplifies American values that will ensure its continued success.

Uploaded by

Steven Donahue
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Parallel Lives

Plutarch ( 46—120 A.D.) is best known for his paired character studies of distinguished Greeks
and Romans from the age of Theseus and Romulus down to his own time. It is often remarked that
Republicans and Democrats are shades of the same basic principles that underpin American system of
values. Partial support for this view can be gleaned by comparing an contemporary Iraninan hero, Gholam-
Reza Hassani, and Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. who died in the first week of the new millennium.
Admiral Zumwalt ran as a Democrat for the Senate in Virgina in 1976.

American Family Values

In 1983, Mr. Hassani led the Ayatollah Khomeini’s guards to the secret hiding place of his 25-
year-old son, a suspected Marxist, and eagerly participated in his son’s execution. Hassani has said that the
death of his son paralleled Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac. Even after 17 years, Mr. Hassani says
that “I don’t regret it.”

Admiral Zumwalt’s son also died as a consequence of decisions that the admiral made during the
Vietnam war. From 1968 until 1970 Zumwalt ordered the spraying of the Mekong Delta with the defoliant
Agent Orange. Zumwalt’s son, Lt. Elmo Zumwalt III was patrolling the Delta during the defoliation. In
May of 1988, the younger Zumwalt died of cancer linked to Agent Orange. Before his son’s death, they
cooperated on a book and film Zumwalt, while not regretting the military necessity of deploying Agent
Orange, says of his son, “ It is the first thing I think of in the morning, and the last thing I remember when I
go to sleep.”
Equal Rights

Zumwalt became famous for issuing over 121 directives, known as Z-Grams, that re-invented the
modern Navy in terms of integrating women and minorities. He recalled that “ When I became chief of
naval operations, racism and sexism were still an integral part of the Navy tradition.” Zumwalt worked
tirelessly to create equal opportunity in the Navy. On the other hand, Mr. Hassani is obsessed with women
committing adultery in the United States and calls for us to adopt a strict Islamic codes for this practice.
Such codes include stoning to death for adultery, but in its application women invariably receive this
punishment and not the men involved in the same “offense”. When Mr. Hasani was asked about his wife’s
reaction to the death of the son he singled out for execution, he replied, “ If she has any thoughts about it,
she has kept them to herself, and I haven’t asked.”

Symbols

Admiral Zumwalt was presented with the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award,
from President Clinton in January 1998. He was applauded for his voluntary work involving bone-marrow
donors and cancer patients and for fighting against discrimination for women and minorities. Mr. Hassani’s
office is decorated with a signature artwork of a Thompson submachine gun hanging from a leather strap
from the bookshelves.

We must remember to be grateful for our system that brings out the best in us. Admiral Zumwalt
was a good Democrat that positively impacted many lives. Mr. Hassani represents many of the horrible
excesses that can occur when democratic processes do not exist. While Mr. Hassani has predicted that the
United States will lose its power because it “has lost its soul,” I believe that the character, values, and spirit
of men like Mr. Zumwalt will see us prevail.

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