What a nice world it would be if fastening a flag to your lapel/car/lawn/ (insert preferred patriot-platform here) was demonstration enough of your support for the armed forces. It would make symbolic gestures of unity a lot more convenient with the added feature of saving some of our more self-interested politicians a few headaches. Instead of the hackneyed and, dare I say, almost-trivial presentations of gratitude offered every day to veterans, at little to no expense to ourselves, why don't we sacrifice that little something extra and offer one of the most powerful gifts of all: an education.
It's not a new issue, which makes opposition to bills like Rep. Webb's Veteran's Education Bill absurd. Quizzically, our own John McCain and George Bush have taken the flimsy stance that this bill will give a lot of soldiers the chance to flee from the unfavorable role of defending the country that they, paradoxically, signed up to defend in the first place. Quite the mixed message when it comes to respecting the U.S. solider.
This reeks of miscalculated politics, if not outright insincerity. For
starters, it doesn't help McCain's stance as the champion of the armed
forces. What possessed McCain to take such a self-destructive stance is
beyond me. Additionally, transforming this relatively non-partisan bill
into a political battleground does very few people any good and makes
me personally disappointed in a so-far favorable McCain campaign.
Political
leanings aside, this should be a non-issue, a no-brainer. As students
of A&M, we should be especially in favor of this avenue of
appreciation. Luckily, there's little doubt that this bill will be
enacted, even with a presidential veto, but that does little to quell
my doubts as to the mental stability and sincerity of not only our
current leadership but also a potential one for the imminent future.