Chickenhawkery

Paul Hackett is a boor. Kos was right to throw him under the bus in Ohio earlier this year. The man is classless.

While we're on the subject of Markos, this post caught my eye last night. In it Markos highlights the fact that Democratic Senate candidate Jim Webb is saying good-bye to his son who is deploying to Iraq. Markos however can't help himself and starts regurgitating the "Chickenhawk" slur, something echoed in the comment thread:

Here's something not a single Republican in the Senate has to worry about.

Dear Friend,

I wanted to send a note today to you, as a supporter of Jim's campaign and someone who cares about the direction of this country. As many of you know, Jim's son Jimmy, an infantry Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps, has been scheduled to be deployed to Iraq for a number of months. In the last few days, Jimmy learned he would be deploying next week. While Labor Day is the traditional kickoff to the Election and Jim already made many commitments to do events throughout the state, including events with Governor Tim Kaine and Governor Mark Warner, we hope you understand at this time that Jim wants to have time with his son. He will be taking Jimmy back to Camp Lejeune on Monday and will spend time with him and his unit before their deployment.

Republicans are too busy shipping other people's children off to Iraq. They wouldn't demand such sacrifices from their own family members.

And from the comments:

My daughter is in Iraq doing her second tour as a Sargent in the 1st AD. I worry about her all the time. When are Bush's daughters going to serve?

When will Bush's daughters serve? Well Casper, when they decide to do what your daughter did, what Senator McCain's son did, what Sam Bond did and what every other man and woman in the US Armed Services did: show up at the Recruiter's office and enlist.

Since such service is not a requirement in this country you have no right to ridicule anyone for choosing a different path. Even when you disagree with them politically, and most especially then.

Let us honor those who have made that choice knowing what it may cost. Let us honor the tradition of civilian leadership that has served this nation well for over 200 years and most especially, let us honor the right of those who agree and disagree with government policies to speak out.