As most of you know, I am one who will call a political duck a duck. I am a conservative- yet I have no problems pointing out the flaws of the Rebublican party. I also have no troubles pointing out what I find to be problematic in the Democratic party.Today we look at, the great former candidate for president, John Kerry. Being a man in the Democratic party you would think that he would attempt to stand up for the little guy. You know, the blue collar guys in the factories, the minorities who are struggling along, and those with a grudge against the upper-middle-class.
I would assert that Mr. Kerry is in actuality quite the bigot. His quote today was over-the-top! He claims that if one does poorly in school that it is a sure ticket to Iraq. Wow- way to win votes Mr. Kerry! The last time I checked, our military was an all volunteer military, as well as one that had many people with advanced degrees serving in it.
I guess that Mr. Kerry thinks our military is for what society deems as retards, drop-outs, and those with learning disabilities. Hmmm... which one was he- he served in the military?
6 comments:
There is no doubt that the armed forces have been most successful in recruiting the under-privileged. I don't think a decision made under economic duress is very voluntary. There's other notions out there that our "voluntary" armed forces aren't voluntary at all -- http://www.counterpunch.org/white01062003.html
I don't think Kerry was right in saying what he did but I don't think it's a ridiculous notion either.
But Nate! How can you say that Lurch is an elitist? After all, he and the Heinz heiress have Blue Cross/Blue Shield bennys... just like the rest of us peasants.
Anon,
You call it "economic duress." I'd call it a prison of your own making. The armed forces is most certainly voluntary. No on e is putting a gun to your head. I'd venture to say that most recruits have very rational well thought out decisions for joining the military even beyond any lies told to them by the recruiter. Whether you base your decision on lies or the truth, it's still YOUR decision. Stop finding victims under every bush.
In any case, it is a ridiculous notion. When people started dying in Iraq, recruitment numbers dropped. Obviously these "poor" people "under economic duress" are making a risk assessment.
I wish someone would have told me my son was a retard when he joined the Marines!!! Now I have to worry about hom blowing himself up instead of the Iraqies.
Oh, how I do detest ignorance.
Toni
Kerry is an elitist that really does not understand these things.
Someone today asked if he applied for a purple heart over that joke!
Dick Cheney said that he was for the joke before he was against it.
eh, I think it was just a joke that was not only in poor taste but poorly executed and blown completely out of proportion to real atrocities against our military, such as a lack of protection, body armour, etc. If anything, I can take Kerry's comments as a warning from someone who's been there, that you do not WANT to be in a quagmire of a military situation. Either way, it has been blown way out of proportion by the media and the GOP (mostly the administration) in order to distract people from the Iraq debacle and the countless GOP scandals.
And briefly, Anon has a valid point that the lower classes have historically used the military as a means of moving up in social status. I'm not just talking recent American history, either, it's been like that since pre-Roman times. Often, the poor look at either having a subpar life in poverty or volunteering for the military for guaranteed benefits, pay, and respect from fellow citizens. I think that a lot of times, poor people could make the choice to not join up, but often times are swept up in a rise of patriotism and the lure of a better life. Once the realities of war began settling in, yes, recruitment levels began dropping. That only happened when people realized that "one weekend a month" didn't mean helping out your city/state in the National Guard, but a 2-year stint overseas. That's just my two cents.
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