Sunday, July 13, 2008

Marching with the soldier boy behind, he's much older...

This whole deal of McCain's military service, and more specifically, his POW years and treatment therein, makes me sigh. I long for the presidential election when neither candidate has ANY military service, and it's not an issue (Perhaps an Obama vs. Romney campaign in 2012?)

At any rate, let's look at somethings, shall we?

As the amateur presidential trivia master that I am, I believe that neither Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, nor Franklin Roosevelt had any military service, and yet they led us through three great wars (Civil War, WWI and WWII), and did so admirably.

One of our greatest generals, Ulyssus Grant, led us to victory in the Civil War, and yet had one of the worst and most corrupt presidential administrations in history. Dwight Eisenhower, while an outstanding general in WWII was, at best, an average president. And let's not forget that both Jimmy Carter and the first George Bush, had honorable military careers, and yet both only served one term.

Also, let not forget that Ronald Reagan did join the military, but spent his time in Hollywood making movies; Bill Clinton had no military service to speak of; and the second George Bush's military backgorund is...questionable at best. And yet all three men served two terms as president.

I think in light of all this, what Wes Clark said, and what I've been saying for YEARS is true: military service is no inidicator of what type of president of man would make. And it's not a sole qualifier for whether a man should be president...and nor should it be. Commander-In-Chief is one, just ONE, of the hats that a president must wear. It's not THE hat that must be worn.

So can we all please just agree that John McCain went through hell as a POW, and was extremely honorable in what he did while a POW, and that, sure, he's a hero for enduring it all. And let's all agree that Barack Obama has had no military service at all. And let's all agree that neither one of these things is either more important when considering which man is more suited for, or would make, a better president.

Good. Now let's move on to things that really matter.

POLT Listening to "Discotheque" by U2

How do you not drown in your own filth? - Owlman, Superman/Batman Annual #1

No comments: