Monday, December 04, 2006

Jack Kelly on Military Mockery

Jack Kelly (a former Marine) effectively destroys Charlie Rangel's moronic assertions about the quality of U.S. servicemen and women (see below), and explains better than I did the reasons why the persistence of these stereotypes amongst Democrats is so disturbing.

Specifically, Kelly notes that:
- A higher percentage of enlistedmen in the military have high school degrees than the general population, and

- The average enlisted soldier has higher scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (which is similar to an IQ test) than the average civilian.

- A higher percentage of officers have graduate degrees than does the national population of college graduates.

Here's a thought. Perhaps Virginia's newly elected-Senator James Webb, who was a genuine war hero while a Marine platoon leader in Vietnam, and has long been a defender of the U.S. military and its culture, will demonstrate as much courage in correcting these misperceptions amongst his new colleagues as he thinks he did by insulting President Bush when asked how his Marine office son was doing.

Again, as with the AP issuing corrections for relying on bogus sources, I will not hold my breath.