[AmishDude]

The definitive "chickenhawk" chart.

Military status	Pro-war	Anti-war
Undrafted, not of age during Vietnam era	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Undrafted during Vietnam era	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Drafted, fled to Canada	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Drafted, college deferment	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Drafted, medical deferment	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Drafted, served stateside	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Drafted, served in 'Nam	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Volunteered for National Guard, served stateside	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Volunteered for service, served stateside	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Volunteered for service, served in non-combat in 'Nam	Opinion invalid	Opinion valid
Volunteered for service, served in combat	Opinion valid invalid (in the pocket of military contractors)	Opinion valid

For those of you scoring at home.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Gee you missed me completely!

Volunteered for service, served in Germany.

[L.N. Smithee]

Brilliant! Did you create that yourself? You gotta send that to Rush!

[leadhead]

You missed a classification:

Not Volunteered, Not Drafted, In combat area.

[FBD]

You nailed it right on! This is what this "chicken hawk" name calling is all about. Protesting the war on terrorism, and the pending war with Iraq.

In the minds of liberals, and the minds of folks like Mineral Man, no one has any right to voice an opinion, unless it's against sending troops into a combat. The defense of our homeland be damned, too.

Hey Mineral Man: Did our firefighters & policemen who lost their lives at the World Trade Center have a RIGHT to voice THEIR opinion?

Mayor Gulliani never was a fire fighter or a cop; what friggin right did he have ordering those guys into a building that took their lives? HMMMMM?

[dennisw]

Great chart!!!

[WarrenC]

Your "opinion valid/opinion invalid" chart perfectly expresses the consequences of the tiresome 'chicken-hawk' routine. The logical conclusion of that matrix is that America can never go to war - even when the requirement for self defense is at its most extreme. After all, only a tiny percentage of Americans have ever served in combat. Some of them were killed so the population of Americans eligible to serve as president gets even smaller. Those who didn't get killed include many who aren't smart enough to be president - so the eligible population is reduced still further. Of those who survive and are smart enough to be president, most lack the inclination for a life in politics, so the eligible population gets smaller still. Of those who survive and are smart enough and want a life in politics, there are those who won't be politically fortunate enough to succeed in winning elections and becoming a political force so the eligible population is further diminished. What do you know? We end up never having a president who has the moral right to send troops into battle. Tough luck for America I guess.

Of course the people who throw around phrases like 'chicken-hawk' and malign those who didn't serve as 'draft-dodgers' don't care about that. What they're chiefly interested in is the opportunity for moral preening.