Looking the Part

PRESIDENT BARRACK OBAMA does a wonderful job looking the part, the part of the consummmate american commander - in - chief. Not that he doesn't acutally fulfill the job admirably, or anything like that, but...he does a great job looking the part. Says all the right things, proclaims the proper platitudes, attends all the ceremonies, shakes the right hands, waxes eloquent, at the right time, the right places, with the right patriotic, meoldramatic words. His salute could use a little work, but, hey, he was never in the military, so we'll cut him some slack on that account.

this year's memorial day address from mr president had to do with the proper level of appreciation of the american people for the sacrifices made by military personel on their behalf. His message, to wit: since today's military is all voluntary, and that since therefore many americans do not know anyone in the military and are therefore not directly touched by any one serviceperson's death, it follows that  these americans, the ones who are not aquainted with any member of any american armed service, simply do not fully comprehend or appreciate the sacrifice, the sacrifice of life, when the sacrifice is made. But..now...wait...

My understanding is that there are just as many armed service members now as always, roughly, and that, over the past few years, just as many of them have given their lives for their country as at any other time, save perhaps during one of our major wars, one, two, or civil. So how can it be, then, that fewer americans are affected by our recent losses, merely because those who were lost were volunteers, rather than conscripts?

Can it be that people who enlist voluntarily have fewer friends and family members per capita than past service personel who were drafted? Really? Is there some hidden, complicated sociological phenomenon wherein volunteers are loners, from small families, an draftees are from large families, with huge circles of friends?  It seems hardly likely.

More likely is that president obama, in his zeal to look the part, simply listened to the wrong speech writer, took the wrong approach, from a logical, mathematical point of view, made the wrong associations, and thus uttered words which, when given a bit of consideration, are absolutely and perfectly ludicrous. It seems the president could use a little demographic knowledge, perhaps a course or two in statistics, and maybe some hard time inside a text book on logic, and reason. That, and a bit more editing beforehand of the words he intends to use, while looking the part.