John Kerry's amazing gaffe

John Kerry spoke at a rally for the fast-collapsing Democratic candidate for California governor, Phil Angelides, at Pasadena City College on Monday. He was still warming up the crowd with some introductory remarks when he casually complimented the students on the hard work they were putting into their education.

"You know," the Massachusetts senator said, "Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

White House spokesman Tony Snow was ready Tuesday with a page of rapid-response notes. "Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this," he said. "This is an absolute insult."

Yes, it's that, but it's also more evidence that the wrong Democratic nominee was ridiculed for being robotic.

John Kerry is running on an autopilot that was programmed forty years ago. That's when there was a draft, known as "selective service," from which university students were exempted.

Today, in the all-volunteer (if you don't count stop-loss and involuntary call-up orders) military, many young people enlist in order to get an education. It's not that they're not "smart." It's that not everybody has a wealthy family (or wife) to cover their expenses for them.

If John Kerry is troubled that the all-volunteer military allows people with money to enjoy the national security provided by the children of people without money, he could propose universal conscription, a military draft without exemptions. But that is the single greatest infringement on freedom that it is possible for a government to carry out.

It is repulsive to suggest mandatory national service in a vague way as a partial solution to what is perceived as the general unfairness of life. Mandatory service should be reserved for a situation that threatens the survival of the United States.

If John Kerry really wanted to help the Democrats win, he would stop visiting the lush fields of Southern California campaign donors and talk about what the Iraq war is doing to the all-volunteer military.

He is in a position to articulate the short-term and long-term costs beyond the casualties; the strain on the National Guard and Reserves, the wear on military equipment, the pressure to drop standards in order to meet recruitment goals, the cost in readiness for the next conflict or disaster.

If he really wanted to help the Democrats win, he would raise the specter that President Bush's policy in Iraq has put the country on the path to a military draft and must be reversed before it's too late.

President Bush and the Republican candidates are out on the hustings telling parents they are fighting the long war on terror to keep their children safe.

Democrats could neutralize those speeches by telling parents that the president's idea of a war on terror will one day take their children from them.

If they'd rather whine about unfairness than do that, they'll probably lose.


Copyright 2006

Editor's Note: You might be interested to read "Why the Iraq policy isn't working" for a another idea on how to accomplish the president's goals in Iraq.

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