Is being a 'Nam vet a political liability?

I've said before here and there, that I've come to believe that having served in Vietnam, and worse, being decorated for that service, is a liability in todays political climate.

By serving, they only illustrate they were too stupid or not connected well enough to get out of serving, and any decorations earned were nothing more than the pursuit of political gain later on.

How many Republican Vietnam veterans are there in Congress today? I'm honestly asking, I don't know of any, though of course that doesn't mean there aren't any. Conversly I can name off a handfull off the top of my head that are Democrats that have subsequently had their patriotism very publicly and savagly questioned.

Oops, I do forget McCain in this, but again, he was savaged by those that were smart enough or connected enough to get out of serving their country when she called.

Murtha only escaped the phenomenon as long as he did because he's also a Korean War vet.

I can't help but view this as a form of contempt for those that served in the only war we lost. Is there some risidual blame trickling down? Is it resentment to being reminded of the loss, or is it actual contempt for service as beneath them?

I blame the WW II generation for part of this, though by no means all of it. George H.W. Bush was a true hero in WW II. He served his country proudly and deserves respect and thanks for that service. And yet, he did everything he could to get his own son out of serving in the same capacity. Was it because he knew the true horrors of war and naturaly wanted to spare his son as any father would? Or was it because he knew the war wasn't worth dying for?

So many of the WW II generation did the same for their sons as Bush Sr. did, there has to be some connection, or disconnection, as it were, between the two causes.

And now, of course, we have the 'all volunteer' army, so no one has to worry about a sense of shame in not serving. Others will do it for me, it makes it all nice and neat and manageable. I can support the war and never have my own patriotism questioned because others volunteered to fight it for me. In fact, I don't even have to sacrifice, I get tax cuts during war time.

No one likes to be reminded they lost. How many Iraq War vets are running for office as Republicans? Again, there could be some, but I follow national news pretty good, and with the amount of party line trash on boths sides posted here, if there were some I probably would have read of them by now. And certainly the Republicans would want to be making a big deal out of it, what with their naturaly puffy chests and such.

Actualy, a quick Google of 'iraq war vet running office republican' turns up a story in the Boston Globe of one Iraq War vet running as a Republican. Of course, of the nine vets running, eight of them are running as Democrats, heh. And even the Republican is running against the prevailing leadership in Washington.

Said the lone Republican candidate profiled;
"Both parties have pursued policies of division, and there is this gaping whole in the middle where I think most Americans reside, Those people need to be represented," he said. "I don't know how we go from a country as united as it was on Sept. 12, 2001, to one as divided as we are today. That is what is propelling me in this race."

Good call, my man.