OK, We have two (legitimate) choices for President.
1. A guy who may/may not have been in Vietnam/Cambodia at a certain time.
2. A guy who may/may not have been in the National Guard (or was/was not certified to fly or whatever) at the time.
These are the facts. We are stuck with them. Can someone explain why any of this is relevant now? Better yet, why these jokers use it as a platform? How is what these idiots did when they were younger than my current age (I'm still making mistakes!!) going to really affect me now? As Janet Jackson said: "What have you done for me lately???" Seriously, I have changed my freaking mind so many times since I was in my 20's, doesn't everyone?* I should hope that by the time I am old enough to run for President, I will mellow out even more!
Certainly, military service sometimes makes good leaders. Sometimes it makes "leaders" who lead only because of the chain of command. Good leaders can be born out of civil service as well.
I am from the Desert Storm generation, so I guess it will be awhile before people my age start trying to be the President. But I think gone is the day when the country needed a heroic general to walk off the battlefield and into office. Thanks George Washington (the original) for setting
that precent.
Maybe one of you older guys can explain it to me. Assume I haven't made up my mind, because I'm flip flopping like a fish out of water here. I wish VA was a swing state so I could see the stump speeches (and R.E.M. would come play - my vote won't really matter here.
------Footnotes----
*Yes JFK changes his mind 6 times a day, but let's please keep this one on my original topic.