A draft dodger now called general
[ John Ashcroft's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week -- during which he declared that his critics "only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve" -- was despicable. And not just for the obvious reasons. Ashcroft, you see, is the last person who should be accusing others of undermining a war effort, given his own sorry performance during the Vietnam War.
While attending Yale and then the University of Chicago Law School in the 1960s, Ashcroft repeatedly sought and received student deferments from his local draft board in Springfield, Missouri. In this, Ashcroft was hardly unique. But, as The Boston Globe reported last January, when Ashcroft graduated from law school in 1967 he took the far less common step of seeking an occupational deferment granted to those who hold critical civilian jobs. (Out of 35 million men registered with the Selective Service in 1967, only 264,000 received occupational deferments.) The "critical" job in question? Teaching business law to undergrads at Southwest Missouri State University -- an assignment he lined up with the help of a family friend.
Although Ashcroft's draft board had already earmarked him for induction -- indeed, Ashcroft had already passed his pre-induction physical -- the board reversed itself and granted the deferment, and Ashcroft spent the rest of the Vietnam War in Missouri, safe and sound. And quiet:
Although Ashcroft was clearly eager to avoid going to Vietnam, he never protested the war. At least those people Ashcroft now brands traitors have the courage to voice their dissent. ]
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