Now don't get me wrong, I honor John McCain's service. Apparently that is something the party faithful and lap dog press require everyone to say as an honorific declaration of fealty whenever the topic of military service is broached around John McCain, whose service I honor.
This fetish for phrasing puzzles me because last time I checked John Kerry served in the same war. So did Al Gore and Max Cleland and Wesley Clark and Bob Kerry, to name a few. However, I don't recall anyone - especially Republicans ever using that particular phrase when referring to any of those men. However, I do recall a lot of disparaging comments about them and their tours of duty.
Something else is different about the people who vouched for those guys as opposed to the people vouching for McCain, whose service I honor. Gore, Cleland, John and Bob Kerry all had comrades who actively endorsed them. Guys who served with them and vouched for them. This of course raises a question... where are all of John McCain's wartime buddies?
Why is it that all the people heralding his service are chickenhawks? I'm being serious here. Look at the list....
With the notable exception of Ann Coulter, John McCain is the darling of such notable chickenhawks as Dan Senor, Matthew Continetti,Ben Ferguson, Jonah Goldberg, Rich Lowry, Jason Mattera, and Ben Shapiro. Of course, those are just the young ones. We also have the old guard too, Kristol, Kagan, Barnes, Rove, etc.
By itself, that would not be all that newsworthy. Anyone who has been following political punditry for the last decade or so knows chickenhawks get all misty eyed for a man in uniform and reject someone who never served. Without going all Freudian on you, I'll just say -- reaction formation's are a lovely thing.
But here's something really odd: Obama has no trouble getting former associates to vouch for him. Of course they never were in combat with him because Obama never served in the military. That brings up an amazing contrast between him and McCain. Even though Obama was never in the service, he was able to get a whole bunch of generals and admirals to actively endorse him as an excellent Commander-in-Chief. When you add it all up, we're looking at centuries of military command experience showing up to personally endorse Obama. Yet, all McCain can get are signatures. What's with that?
This leaves me with a serious question. Why is it McCain's loudest supporters are all chickenhawks?