I’m watching Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana on Cspan as he addresses the College Republicans. Much talk about heroes and serving and sacrifice — but not in terms of enlisting to help fight the war they all so enthusiastically support. “Serving” in the sense of pursuing their own careers. “Heroes” in the sense of courageously striving to become future Republican leaders. This passage in particular struck me as extraordinary, given the 900-pound elephant in the room that no one seems to be mentioning, the Army’s current desperate need for 18-22 year-old bodies:
If you really want to know what’s in your heart, ask this question: what would you die for? Who would you die for? Are there people, are there ideas, are there causes in your life for which you would lay that life down? Find that, men and women, and you will find your heart.
Unbelievably, he does not go on to mention the war in Iraq, which is apparently not such a cause — instead meandering toward such platitudes as “understand America” — because “you cannot lead America if you do not know her.”
And there you have the crux of it. These are the elite, the future leaders. That whole messy fighting and dying business — that would be for other people.
(My transcript, no link.)