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November 27, 2006
Knocking the military. Again
Hoof in mouth disease seems to be spreading this season. Celebrities diss minorities. Politicians mock others. And now John Kerry seems to have infected Rep Charles Rangel (D-NY) over the intellectual and career attainments of our military personnel. From the New York Sun: "If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career, or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq," Mr. Rangel, a Democrat representing Manhattan and Queens, said on "Fox News Sunday."
"If there's anyone who believes these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No bright young individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment," the congressman said.
Uh, Representative Rangel, Senator Kerry and others who think that the military is the employer of last resort perhaps they need to be reminded about a study by a conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, which found that those enlisting in the military tend to be better educated than the general public and that military recruiting seems to be more successful in middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods than in poor ones.
But they probably know that. Representative Rangel is a decorated veteran who has talked of returning the draft. Those who knock the military are undoubtedly expressing contempt for those who choose to voluntarily serve and defend their country, a concept they truly don't seem to understand.
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