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On using possibly pejorative tags, let me just say I've heard both of them for at least 8 decades. They highlight an inbuilt agism. And in the case of the current likely contenders for the White House, they suggest attitudes common to their issues and chances of being elected.War is destruction. The least that comes out of it is reaction to a truce in hostility long enough to rebuild what was destroyed. My father was born in 1884 and was therefor too old to fight in World War One. Yet his life was impacted by Congress' action (or reaction, depending upon viewpoint). Since history has made Cox's Army famous, let's just say the government was interested in heading off the spectacle of Hoovervilles. The Homestead Act made it easier for mid-American farm hands to take up a place of their own on the prairies of Mountain States. That's how I ended up being a Wyomingite.
By the time my brothers were old enough to fight in a war to end all war, we had seen the end of World War Two. It was time for them to make the world safe from the communists. The younger still relates to his time in Korea. This is not a typical family saga, I believe, because the next generation were all girls and not a one took interest in going to war. However they were as involved in Incursion One, Viet Nam, as I had been 25 years before. Now that the nation is dealing with Incursion Two, hugely affecting all who have given up dreams, treasure, and sometimes lives, we are still stuck.
No one can sucker me into believing that war has anything but harmful results. I don't expect others to be so adamant, and abide all arguments counter to mine as long as they don't try to tell me they are fighting for my own good.
Richard Nixon sensed that those crazy longhairs who burned their draft cards during Viet Nam could destabilize government plans. His inner circle was dubbed the German mafia, and to tone that down, he appointed a young attorney to appear on TV. But his idea backfired. At cost to himself, John Dean turned out to be judicious. You all know he paid a price and now can be used as reference against today's didos in the White House.
To come current with election of a new president in 2008, we see traces of former maneuvers to quiet protest over war everywhere and always. So John McCain, who has a lifetime of credentials in martial arts, and Barack Obama with a different approach to international conflicts, will duke it out.
This time, attorneys as window dressing take a back seat to "bottom up" writings from those who realize not signing up for the military is only a first step toward studying war. I am glad to help in anyway I can to see that their dreams for a sane life are not shattered.
