Chamblee54

A radio whiner named Mike Gallagher had a few things to say about opposition to the war in Babylon today.
Now, with my job and aversion to commercials, I never hear the complete show. I did miss some of the context of today’s comment. It had something to do with a man on the Phil Donahue show, who said that those who never served in the military should not support the war.
Mr. Gallagher disagreed. He gave an analogy about not being a policeman, but supporting the police. On this level I agree with him. This is a free country, and you should be able to say what you like about an issue.
Of course, you just might be talking about something you don’t know much about.

It is sometimes said that those who have been in combat are not so eager to see another fight. This is not always the case. An example might be current Presidential hopeful John McCain.
On July 29, 1967, Mr. McCain was on the USS Forrestal when there was a big fire. He was allegedly quoted later as saying that after seeing what napalm did, he was not sure we should be dropping it on people. ( This quote was in an earlier wikipedia article on McCain, but is not currently posted. It may be fictitious.)
Now, whether or not he said that, Mr. McCain did see what happens when munitions explode. He also returned to the air war, until he was shot down on October 26, 1967.
Mr. McCain is a supporter of the war in Babylon, and has been quoted that he thinks we should be there another 100 years.

There is one more aspect of this serve/not serve/support/dissent story that Mr. Gallagher may be too young to know about. It is called the draft.
Mr. Gallagher was born in 1961. He was 12 when the Selective Service was shut down. He has never had to worry about getting a letter from the Government inviting him to military service.
George W. Bush was in the National Guard, where he may or may not have shown up for drills. He was not in the Army, and he did not go to Vietnam.
It is well documented that most of the “Brain trust” that got us into this war did not serve in the Military. Many were prime age during Vietnam, but did not find it convenient to go.
Atlanta is home to prominent Radio Whiner/ War monger supporter Neal Boortz. Mr. Boortz is rather sensitive about his draft record. He is another current war hawk who was prime cannon fodder during Vietnam, but did not go.
I was in Fifth Grade during the escalation in 1965. I wrote my story about the draft at my old blog.
Here again, a person can say anything they want. But if you were too busy to fight when it was your turn, you take the chance of being called a chicken hawk.
Of the three current Presidential hopefuls, only McCain served in the military. To be fair, the story of his captivity is inspiring. The fact that he dropped napalm on targets from an airplane…and possibly hit women and children…is less comforting.
Mr. Obama, like Mr. Gallagher, was born in 1961, and never worried about the draft. He found things other than military service to occupy his time when he was younger.
Ms. Clinton is a woman. Compulsory combat duty is a man thing. Like many others, she did not include military service in her lifestyle.
Which one of the three is the best potential president? McCain is a hot head, and seems eager to have his own war for the history books. Obama and Clinton are clueless. At least Obama has consistently opposed the war…even if he was never in the military.