Not Represenative of America, Thankfully!

On Friday March 2, 2007 Andy Rooney released a column entitled I Feel A Draft, which appeared in my local paper on Monday, March 5, 2007 and can still be read here and here. He writes:

In an attempt to fill the ranks with the number of soldiers they need for this war, recruiters have reduced the standards that previously existed for anyone volunteering for the Army or Navy. For instance, they’ve reduced the educational standards so they’re getting fewer high school graduates.

I just want to say, he is absolutely correct, today’s military “are not representative Americans.”

Where I disagree with him is the twisted and patently false accusations he makes in referencing today’s military in the process. The military we have today is not representative of America if America is represented by the spoiled ladies of The Real Housewives of Orange County, college aged adults acting like children on MTV’s The Real World and Anti-War protestors demeaning those very troops they claim to be supporting.

Today’s military is not representative of America if America is represented by out of touch academics, hated filled television journalists, Sharia supporting extremists that are protected by the very government they seek to subvert and Latino nationalists who seek to oust every American from our shores.

Yes, it’s quite obvious to me that today’s military has nothing in common with the America that Mr. Rooney and his fellow members of the left tell us that we need to be a part of to be considered “good American’s.” In point of fact today’s military is without a doubt the embodiment of what makes America great. They love their country and all its faults, they believe that the accumulation of wealth is not necessary to prove that you are a success and they believe that you can learn from the mistakes of the past and do it better the next time.

Mr. Rooney you equate today’s military with a military that no longer exists. The military you hate is not today’s military but a military that forced you to be something you would never have forced upon yourself, a member of a larger group all fighting for a common goal. If today’s military is not representative of America it is only because you and your hatred of the military are representative of a large segment of American society.

However, the make up of today’s military is not the not the only thing Mr. Rooney gets wrong. In his column he bemoans the use of Moral Waivers during the recruitment process, he writes:

“A ‘moral waiver,’ it turns out, means recruiters will often take someone with a serious character flaw or someone who has had mental problems or even served time in prison. Last year, a total of 8,129 ‘moral waivers’ were given to men who volunteered for the Army. Are these people who we want representing us?”

Contrary to what Mr. Rooney writes, moral waivers do not address “mental problems” and in point of fact moral waivers or more correctly criminal history waivers are allowed for only a specific set of criteria: A suitability review will be conducted on the following charges (regardless of disposition) prior to any moral waiver processing on all applicants:

Five or more minor non-traffic charges
Two or more misdemeanor charges
Combination of four or more minor non-traffic or misdemeanor charges
One serious criminal misconduct charge

In a Feb 20, 2007 Army Times article: David S.C. Chu Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness is quoted as saying, “[N]o one gets a waiver for criminal behavior without having their case reviewed by a flag or general officer.”

The article further states that the military does not accept anyone convicted of a violent crime such as murder, rape or armed robbery, nor does it take in anyone who has a pending criminal charge or is on probation or parole. It also does not let people enlist as part of a plea bargain to avoid prosecution.

However, the services do accept people convicted of petty larceny, vandalism, driving while intoxicated or traffic violations. The Army, Navy and Air Force require a waiver for anyone with six or more traffic violations, while the Marine Corps requires a waiver for five or more.

Furthermore moral waivers can not be obtained for any of the following reasons:

• Intoxicated or under influence of alcohol or drugs at time of application, or at any stage of processing for enlistment.
• Criminal or juvenile court charges filed or pending against them by civil authorities.
• Special Instructions: Pending charges include unpaid traffic violations. Authorized reception battalion commanders and Initial Entry Training (IET) commanders may consider that, in certain meritorious cases, unpaid minor traffic tickets that are subsequently paid after entry did not constitute fraudulent entry. In those limited circumstances, separation processing for fraudulent enlistment is not required. All other cases meeting the provisions of fraudulent entry criteria must be processed in accordance with AR 635-200.
• Persons under civil restraint, such as confinement, parole, or probation.
• Subject of initial civil court conviction or adverse disposition for more than one serious offense. (Note: Applicants with juvenile felony offenses who have had no offenses within 5 years of application for enlistment may be considered for a waiver in meritorious cases)
• Civil conviction of a serious offense with three or more other offenses (other than traffic)
  Subject of initial civil court conviction or other adverse dispositions for sale, distribution, or trafficking (including "Intent To:) of cannabis (marijuana), or any other controlled substance.
• Prior service military with an RE code of "4"
• Persons with a Bad Conduct or Dishonorable discharge.
• Applicants having history of chronic cannabis (marijuana) use or psychological cannabis dependence (as defined in AR 40-501).
• Persons with prior service last discharged from any component of the Armed Forces for drug or alcohol abuse, or as rehab failure during their last period of service.
• Three or more convictions or other adverse dispositions for driving while intoxicated, drugged, or impaired in the 5 years preceding application for enlistment.
• Confirmed positive result for alcohol or drugs (test administered at MEPS)
• Persons with convictions or other adverse dispositions for 5 or more misdemeanors preceding application for enlistment.
  

As the Army Times article points out medical waivers raise questions about whether recruits will be able to complete their enlistments, the moral waivers garner more attention because of the idea that the military is letting criminals into the ranks, and it is this aspect of it that Mr. Rooney and those on the left latch onto. In response to requests by members of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, defense officials said:

“The waiver process recognizes that some young people have made mistakes, have overcome their past behavior and have clearly demonstrated the potential for being productive, law-abiding citizens and members of the military.”

With that in mind it comes as no surprise to me that Mr. Rooney is now saying that the all volunteer military is somehow broken and not capable of fighting a war because it is not representative of America, and in its effort to become more representative of America and allow more people to serve who want to serve by approving criminal history waivers, they are some how breaking it more. If the issuance of waivers is a bad thing Mr. Rooney, how will you reconcile a draft that will sweep up males of all segments of society and all their attendant issues, problems, and maladies? Seems to me that Mr. Rooney is throwing out a red-herring in order to bias the reader into believing that today’s military is filled to the gills with paranoid schizophrenics’, drug users, murders and rapists, when the contrary is the truth which means that his argument is nothing more than a straw man meant to belittle those who proudly serve.

Mr. Rooney lies when he writes:

“Now comes the part of this column I hate to write. I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but if we, as a nation, decide to fight a war, it should be fought by average young American men, not by young men who joined up because they couldn’t find anything else to do. They are not representative Americans.”

You see Mr. Rooney doesn’t want a draft so that we can win this war, he wants a draft so we can lose this war, in his mind a draft will make the war a reality for ALL AMERICAN’S and when that happens America will stand up and say no more, just as a vocal minority did in the 60’s with Vietnam. He wants all of America to suffer for the war so that he can save us from war; he wants the US to come home a bloodied and beaten force, retreating to its shores, so that he can win his fight within himself.

Mr. Rooney doesn’t like today’s military precisely because they are not representative of today’s America, an America he has helped shape into the egotistical, narcissistic mass of humanness. He believes that anyone who sees through the charade that has become American life is not worthy of the freedoms enshrined in its heritage. He believes that only the masses who blindly worship the pantheon of celebrity, tolerance and environment deserve the protections of his constitution and no others.

In that case its not surprising at all to realize that today’s military is not representative of American society as a whole for they have shown themselves to be above the petty bickering for while Mr. Rooney and most of America debate, they quietly serve. Perhaps the real question Mr. Rooney should be asking is why isn’t more of America represented by today’s military?

Today’s military are not joining up because they have nothing better to do Mr. Rooney; they are joining up because they know there is nothing better they could be doing. Why aren’t you?