Posted by
The Patriot on Monday, September 08, 2008 11:43:51 PM
So now I hear that once upon a time, Barack Obama wanted to join the military. Apparently Obama stated just that during his recent interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. During the interview, Obama stated,
"I actually always thought of the military as an ennobling and you know, honorable option," suggesting that he had considered military service. But alas, Obama's military service was not to be. You see there was no war to fight, no epic struggle for him to lend his gifts. He told Stephanopoulos,
"I graduated in 1979. The Vietnam War had come to an end. We weren’t
engaged in an active military conflict at that point. And so, it’s not
an option that I ever decided to pursue."
Call me overly sensitive, but I have always found it to be disingenuous at best, and offensive at worst when someone who never served in the military says, "I thought about joining," or "I always wanted to." Short of those with medical disqualifiers, I often detect a bit of guilt in those making such comments. It always comes up when they find themselves in the company of those who have served, and they are somewhat ashamed to realize that they could have but didn't. But I understand that military life is not for everyone, and I would venture that most of us who have served wouldn't want
everyone to put on a uniform. Indeed, we have all likely served with someone who shouldn't have been there. I find no fault with those who know that it's not for them and are honest about it.
But attempting to relate yourself to those who have worn the uniform by talking about what you almost did rings very, very hollow. Coming from the would-be commander-in-chief, it is worse. Barack Obama has no real military experience or affiliation, but by spinning a tale of how he almost did it, he is trying to drape himself in the honor earned by those who actually did. John McCain was there, and Sarah Palin and Joe Biden have sons in the service. I think that in this statement, true or not, Barack Obama seeks some sort of equivalency by wishing. He is attempting to take credit for something he never did, just by talking about how he
thought about doing it. (If this line of reasoning reasoning works, then I must tell you about the time I slept with Heidi Klum.)
But even if we take him at his word...that sometime between lines of blow he did actually consider military service, his statement still is chock full of his trademark "audacity." He would only consider joining the military if there was an active conflict? Does he rate himself so highly that he thinks that in time of war, the military couldn't do without his particular brand of heroism?
There's a war on? Sign me up, so I can save the world! No war to fight? Guess I'll take a pass on the military and go to law school and become a community organizer instead. What I suspect though, is the subtle, backhanded insult of one who does not value the service of a peacetime military. Barack Obama views service in a peacetime military as unworthy, and particularly unworthy to receive his sweat.
That should be a cue to anyone who hasn't yet figured out what kind of commander-in-chief Barack Obama would be. If he spoke the truth in the Stephanopoulos interview, the military and the people who make it up are not worth his while in time of peace. He doesn't value the sailor who goes on six-month tours at sea, the soldier or marine out training in the field, or the airman fueling a fighter jet in Alaska during peacetime. He certainly wouldn't consider lowering himself to become one. There is a well-known verse, often paraphrased, which goes something like :
God and the soldier we adore,
In time of trouble, not before.
When the danger's passed and all things righted,
God is forgotten, and the soldier slighted.
As a veteran, I am fine with this attitude (to a degree) from everyday citizens. The soldier serves precisely so that average folks do not have to give their security a second thought, and can go about their lives in peace. But in Barack Obama, it reveals the dangerous duplicity of one who would co-opt the honorable service of others and simultaneously disrespect it. He has no business becoming commander-in-chief.