Yeah, I think there wasn't any (military service for Pat.) I think his Daddy, the Senator, helped him scam. Vietnam Era Vets have a name for the likes of the Quayles, Robertsons, Gingrichs, Limbaughs, and Phil Gramms of the world: Chicken Hawks. They dodged the war and now rattle the sabers since they are out of harm's way. At least Clinton opposed the war, although he didn't have the cohones to admit it during the campaign, any more than he had the guts to admit he had smoked pot. Even Danny boy admitted that, which may give credence to the argument that grass causes long term brain damage. Our former two-term governor here in Indiana, Evan Bayh, who scared off Dan Coats from running for re-election and who will be the next Senator, had this reply when asked the same question when he first ran. "Of course I smoked pot occasionally when I was in college. I got over it. Next question?" He was elected by a landslide, even in "conservative" Indiana. Amazing what candor can do when you don't insult people's intelligence.
Other draft evaders, like President McMuffin, had to use the student deferment and/or lottery number routes. As with most things, Clinton obfuscated that as well, which is another reason to think where there is smoke there may be fire here. A friend of mine recently reminded me that Heraclitus said, "Character is destiny." Lot of support for that line out there isn't there?
Yeah, Bill's a weasel, but not a murderer. One gets the feeling that people who willingly embrace this stuff need to get a life. They remind me of the eternal students who peopled the Communist Party when I was in grad school. Yet I have a feeling a lot of them are teenagers who get most of their news from Rush and the scores of kook threads on the Web. Somebody should cut off their electricity and lock them in a room with The Economist for a month to get the brain cells stimulated again. |
