Froma Harrop Nails Mitt Romney: Uber Chickenhawk

Mitt Romney is an impressive individual. He is a self-made multi-, multi-millionaire; he has served as Governor of Massachusetts; he was in charge of the Winter Olympics one year; he is running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Romney has also raised five very promising sons -- each of whom became an Eagle Scout, played sports, follows their fathers' Mormon faith, and graduated from Harvard. Each son is clearly the child of privilege.

One thing that Mitt Romney never did was serve in the military. He got a missionary deferment during the VietNam war, no big deal.

Now, let's look at those five sons again. I failed to mention that each one of those five sons has been and is of an age to make military service very feasible. I failed to mention that not one of the five sons -- again, just like his father -- has served A DAY in the military. I said I would not beat up on the Father for his lack of military service, but I will look at his sons in a more critical light. During the last five or so years, our country has been involved in a war against Islamofascists in both Afghanistan and Iraq. That war has cost almost 4000 individuals their lives,to say nothing of the army of wounded and maimed. This is the point of Froma Harrop excellent piece in RCP here.

How is that, during this time of crisis, during this time of being attacked by our enemies, not ONE of Mitt's sons -- each of whom is the creme de la creme of American society -- found it worth his time to serve A SINGLE DAY in the military -- not even in the Guard (like Senator Biden's son) or the reserves (like Congressman Hunter's son), let alone active duty.

I think i see a pattern here: These boys are no rebels; they are remarkable for their maturity. Indeed they have followed their father's lead meticulously: He went to Harvard (Grad School); they went to Harvard; he lived a Boy Scout-like life, they became Eagle Scouts; he lived life as a devout Mormon, they each became Mormons.

Get my point? My take is that the MAIN REASON not ONE of Romney's sons served even ONE day in the military is because their father did NOT put a premium on military service. The virtues of the vocation of arms was not extolled in the Romney household.

Again, the tipping point is that this has been DURING WAR TIME.

Moreover, Romney has been calling for a "stronger" military and has indicated that he is willing to use it if elected President -- and for that I am happy, as I do not want another Jimmy Carter in the White House.

Nonetheless, I am troubled at Mitt Romney's lack of cognitive dissonance over campaigning about sending our boys in harm's way when not one of his sons has served.

That's right: He appears to be eager to send OTHER people's children into combat. After all, the Romney's are rich and elite and should not be expected to serve in such a menial capacity.

Even worse, as far as I can gather, NOT ONE of the Romney boys has served a day of his life in CIVILIAN Federal service, either.

Memo to Mitt Romney: Read the life of fellow Harvard man Teddy Roosevelt, who as a mature man, resigned his post as Secretary of the Navy to help lead the Roughriders up San Juan Hill.

But, then, I think TR was made of tougher -- and more patriotic -- stuff than Mitt Romeney.