"Neither Bill O'Reilly nor Dick Cheney (count 'em, five deferments) have any record of military service, and to my knowledge, neither does McCarthy. So their knowledge of "war" and "combat" is somewhat limited. But let's be clear, we're not arguing about "waging war." We're arguing about sending other people to wage war, which takes rather less resolve. Some people seem unable to tell the difference." - Steven Perez from Bookmarklet

I remember a light colonel once telling me he thought everyone should be subject to the draft. At the time I thought he was nuts. But I don't think so now. This is a game to these people. It's a game they don't have any skin in. So they way to get people to play honestly is for them to have skin in the game. - Todd Hoff

Reminds me of the scene from ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT: Paul (the protagonist) is sitting in a bar, back home for some leave, with a bunch of old farts that are telling him what a hero he is for sticking it to the French and British. Then they start telling him how he needs to prosecute the war, coming up with all kinds of dumbass plans to win, usually involving taking a bunch of young men and running them through the lines endlessly. The look on his face at the end of the scene says it all: here's a guy who has watched all of his friends and comrades get blown away due to REMFs and their stupid plans, and now he's gotta hear it when he's home on leave. - Steven Perez from IM