I am back, and I feel like I am up to about 85%. I still have a nasty cough, but it looks like I am going to survive. At any rate, the first question I have to ask everyone is “WHO THE HELL CARES WHAT TOM TOMORROW THINKS?” The Instapundit, LT. Smash, and Roger Simon have wasted entirely too much time on this jackass and the absurd little comic that upset so many people (BTW- I am a vet- can I write about whatever I want, Mr. Tomorrow?)
Two quick points about the petty cartoon:
1.) Go to a bar, restaurant, or any other crowded place that has a lot of adults. Walk around asking people if they have ever heard of Tom Tomorrow, and if they have, who he is. A quick note to Democrats, NEA members, and anti-school choice crowd- you might want to wear flip flops or sandals so your counting is not hindered in any way when you get to ten.
2.) This ‘chickenhawk’ blogger argument is just another example of loony left identity politics. I guess, according to this sort of thinking, no one should discuss telecommunications legislation unless they are in the field of telecommunications. No one should discuss abortion unless they are about to have an abortion or be aborted. No one should discuss rape unless they are a rapist or victim. Note to Tom Tomorrow- arguments stand or fall on their merits, not on who made them.
*** Update ***
Oliver Willis farts in public states:
Much like our president, vice-president and several other members of this administration, the warbloggers encourage using our military as some kind of toy to be trifled with, invading on whim when if they or their children were forced to serve they would likely be humming a whole ‘nother tune.
$5 dollars to the person who can figure out what the hell that means.
Ricky
Personally, I hope he tackles the tax cut issue, since he & the chicken tax hikers deposited their Bush tax cuts.
But they can sure blog about how it was for the rich!
Terry
Is this the same guy who works as a porn actor with the name, Tom Tomorrow?
drew
I’m still waiting for a study proving school vouchers work. Make sure this said study controls for things like family background and income.
I think the chicken hawk argument isn’t about identity politics at all. War is one of those things where you should be willing to put your ass and your childrens lives on the line if you really think war is the best option. Leaders who know what was is about are better able to grasp what war is all about.
That abortion comparison is such a bad agrument, since most adults know what is involved in the reprodcutive process we all can make an informed moral decision when it comes to our feelings about that subject.
Roger L. Simon
Actually, as I said in my blog, I don’t care very much what Tom Tomorrow thinks. He’s one guy–and no Daumier either! What I care about is the mindset.
John Cole
“War is one of those things where you should be willing to put your ass and your childrens lives on the line if you really think war is the best option. Leaders who know what was is about are better able to grasp what war is all about.”
If you have not fought in a war, I am going to use the Tomorrow standard and refuse to listen to your remarks. Damn peacebloggers.
HH
The “knowing what war is makes them better equipped to handle it” is an old, tired BS argument as history has shown.
Dodd
Um, Mr. Cole, what makes you think they’ll get past ten? Likely as not, someone conducting this exercise won’t get full use of one hand.
I call bullsh*t. Civilian control of the military is one of the central organizing principles of our Republic and has been since the Founding – for good reason. Non-lunatic lefties have generally tended to not only understand this but to applaud it until, well, very, very recently. Even the loonies understood it well enough when the previous President (who had, to put it nicely, even less experience in this area upon assuming office than the current one) was sending American troops off to wars in Haiti, Kosovo and various and sundry other places around the globe. Some just kinda forgot it at noon on 20 January 2001, I guess.
And to do the Hokey-Pokey, no doubt. Really, though, that
s quite a tautology you’ve contructed there. Let’s apply it it to the real world….
There goes Dean.
And Gephardt.
And Lieberman.
And Edwards.
And Sharpton.
And Kucinich.
And Moseley-Braun.
It leaves only Kerry, Clark and, oops, Bush (who’s been running
onetwo for a couple of years now, in case you forgot). I guess, if Dean wins the Dem nomination, you’ll have to vote for Bush, since running a war gives one far more ability to know “what war is all about” than constantly carping about one.Peter
The stupidist part of the chickenhawk meme is the ignorance of those using it.
I’m a vet of the Viet Nam debacle. The folks that got us into that mess were veterans of WW2. JFK, LBJ. Nixon, all vets. Most of the congresscritters were vets.
Now somebody tell me that only a vet is qualified to make decisions of war and peace.
drew
let me clarify here…I think a person need not have military experince to develop a solid national defense policy. I do think it is a bit ironic that todays hawks like Cheany, Bush, and Delay pussed-out when their country needed them during the Vietnam war.
drew
Btw, John Edwards is my candidate since he, like my father, turned 18 in 1971 he wasn’t part of the draft.
I didn’t exlude those without military service I just said those with military serive can better grasp what war is about.
drew
I bet if I went into a bar, restaurant, or any other crowded place that has a lot of adults and asked about John Cole I’d get a lot of responses like “Who the hell is that?”. I guess I’m missing your point about asking people if they know Tom Tomorrow. You just wanted to work in a stupid joke about school vouchers which btw have never been proved to be effective.
The Unkillable Grimace
Something I keep wondering about the “chickenhawk” argument but never seem to see addressed.
I have a friend who was born without the use of his hands. Clearly he can’t serve in the military. Is he, because of his handicap, not allowed to have an opinion on the war?
Or is he just not allowed to have an opinion different from that of the person crying “chickenhawk”?
janebane
After all your broo-ha-ha I looked up T. Tomorrow’s chickenhawk cartoon. It was a hoot! I’m so sorry you guys didn’t get it.