News?

Another chickenhawk attack. 

Ah yes, the outrage du jour that passes for political debate in America. John Kerry’s comments that young people should study hard or they’ll be stuck in Iraq has received more TV coverage than the actual war in Iraq. A news cycle sent from heaven for an administration that has botched an entire war and now wants to cash in on a botched joke. Conservatives, most who never bothered to serve in our nation’s armed forces, have jumped all over this statement, claiming that it is an insult to the troops. They demand an apology. Even if Kerry’s remarks warranted an apology—and they don’t—I would vote Republican if he were to give in to the cowardly neo-con hacks at the White House, Fox News, and CNN.

The fact of the matter is that the present make-up of today’s military does reflect young men and women who probably have few other alternatives other than joining the military. Whether or not anyone in power is willing to admit to it, we have an army of economic conscripts. Conservatives are always happy to point out the patriotism of our men and women in the military—and they are patriotic—but what does that say for the young men and women who don’t enlist? Are they unpatriotic, un-American?

Anyone who thinks that America’s military represents a cross section of economic classes has obviously never served in the “all volunteer” armed forces. After being in Iraq longer than we fought in WWII, enlistment standards are being continuously lowered to meet quotas. Even the officer corps is filling its ranks with lower qualified candidates. Don't take my word on it, ask a recruiter like I did. I would love to know how many Ivy League graduates join the military after graduation. I don’t think that rich kids have the same definition of patriotism as lower income citizens. That's a luxury most men and women in uniform don't have.

The news readers and politicians cashing in on the Kerry statement are, for the most part, non-veterans themselves. Serving in the military doesn’t mean that you are more patriotic than those who have chosen not to, it doesn’t give you any sort of moral high ground from which to assault your detractors, but I think that it gives you immunity from the legions of chicken-hawks on the Right who impugn your status as a citizen.

The most ridiculous thing about this whole affair is that anyone is even talking about it at all at a time when it is evident to almost everyone that our invasion of Iraq has been a failure. This has been one of the bloodiest months so far in the 3 ½ years since we invaded, or liberated, or whatever the hell you want to call it.

This is from today’s New York Times:

A classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the United States Central Command portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos, in a chart that the military is using as a barometer of civil conflict.

And all we can talk about is a statement made by a man who is not currently even running for office? This is probably a new low in American politics. I can hardly wait for tomorrow.


Here is a great take on this non-issue.