Chickenhawks Ride Again

Atrios gives us this link about a Bowdin student who goes off to war, and the local chapter of Chickenhawk's response:

While Cornell du Houx has actively rallied against many of President Bush's policies, he feels that his involvement in the Marines is not a conflict of interest.

"Regardless of my opinions regarding the war in Iraq, it is my duty as a U.S. Marine to serve and I am ready and willing to do my job to its fullest extent," he said.

Others on campus, particularly his political opponents in the Bowdoin College Republicans, feel differently about his service. Daniel Schuberth, a leader of the Bowdoin College Republicans and College Republican national secretary, said, "I applaud Mr. Houx for his service, just as I applaud any other soldier who is brave enough to take up arms in defense of his country. I find it troubling, however, that one of the most vocal opponents of our president, our country and our mission in Iraq has chosen to fight for a cause he claims is wrong. Mr. Houx's rhetoric against the war on terror places him in agreement with the most radical fringes of the Democratic Party, and I am left to question his logic and motivation."

His logic and motivation may be that he made a commitment to his country and he intends to honor it? Not so bright, these chickenhawks.

Atrios talks about the commitment made and the value system whereby Houx defines his role as an American and a Marine based on the needs of his service. But there's more to this strange disconnect. Houx is fighting an elective war that he actively has disparaged- certainly his right; while Schuberth refuses to consider his role in that war as being more than an American-bound acedemic. Houx has seen this war unfold and understands, among whatever else his beliefs are, that the war is wrong, undertaken for the wrong reasons, but his conflict is real- he must fulfill his committments of service. This is a pandemic of self-interest on the right- a rhretoric of ideology without any moral core of service, or even capability. They're so hung up on discrediting their rivals, and they're just using it as a method that they refuse the irrefutable: that this Invasion has been a monumental error.

I'm proud of Houx, I think he's a model of American values which we should all admire. We're increasingly told that we don't have to follow through with our commitments- Bush's Administration, who had, in 1999, promised to usher in an "era of Accountability" has done anything but, and has coded into our society a sense of moral ambiguity [at best] when it comes to commitments and accountability.

See Gen. JC Patriot's letter for some ideas.