Does David Broder think all Republicans served in the military?
May 21, 2009 11:48 am ET by Jamison Foser
Some adaptation is necessary for almost every president because few experiences can really prepare them for the challenges [of becoming Commander in Chief of the military] Obama described to Meacham. George W. Bush went through it after Sept. 11, 2001, subordinating his domestic agenda to focus on the terrorist threat -- and never changing.
But the step is harder for today's Democratic presidents than for their predecessors -- or their Republican contemporaries.
...
And a third reason is that today's Democrats really are isolated from the military. Harry Truman had been an artillery captain; John Kennedy and Carter, Navy officers. But Bill Clinton did everything possible to avoid the draft, and Obama, motivated as he was to public service, never gave a thought to volunteering for the military.
As opposed to George W. Bush, who got out of serving in Vietnam due to his daddy's connections, then skipped out on his National Guard Duty?
And, since Broder made the broad claim that "today's Democrats" (not just recent Democratic presidents) "really are isolated from the military" due to a lack of military, what about Dick Cheney, who had "other priorities" than serving in Vietnam? Or Newt Gingrich? Or these Republicans?
There are 96 military veterans in the House of Representatives, and 25 in the Senate. That leaves more than 400 members of congress who are not veterans. I'm not going to bother counting them up by party; suffice to say: there are a lot of Republican members of Congress who didn't serve in the military. Broder's suggestion that Democrats, and only Democrats, are isolated from the military because of a lack of military service is nonsense.
Never mind the 'students' and the ones with cysts...
So adding the Seante numbers we get: 58 Dems, 60 Pubs. WOW. What an overwhelmng majority!
I guess those DEMS are ISOLATED, with the 49% minority!
http://www.vietvet.org/senatevet.htm
http://grunt.space.swri.edu/housevet.htm
See, this is how guys like Broder think.
Do they hang out with the Brass at the Pentagon? I don't know.
Do they sit on the boards of the military contractors? I don't know.
Do they have military installations in their district to represent? Not many.
I have a suspicion that what he means is that they are outside the patronage network, eh?
Does the empty political rhetoric about "supporting the troops" include the idea of supporting the many commanding officers of our U.S. Troops?
I'm not thinking here of any commander who might be a liar, who might lie to the American People and to Congress about just what is and what is not a threat to their National Security... nor do I mean any commander who might have some personal financial interest in defense spending, and so therefore might be accused of ordering invasions for the purpose of siphoning off billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury to their friends and former associates in the defense industry...
It's not those type of commanders I'm thinking about here.
Instead I'm thinking about commanders who come to that sobering responsibility, sincere and well intentioned, thinking only of the National Security of the American People, and also as far as they can, of the lives of the U.S. troops under their command, and who are not personally financially interested in defense spending, or would never lie or exaggerate a threat just so as to inflate defense spending, and maybe inflate their own reputations...
With regard to those commanders who are truly sincere and responsible and serious and diligent, and command and act only in the interests of the National Security of the American People, and then also to whatever degree possible, in the interests of the lives of the U.S. Troops under their command, do those commanders deserve our support at this time?
Are those commanders included also, in the empty political rhetoric about "supporting the troops" : do we interpret their commanders also as having our support when we say that?
Where is this line drawn, between the troops and their commanders?
I told him he needed to check this one out. Broder is so caught up in his beltway poobah mindset. He's in danger of becoming a complete fool.