I suspect this is the nub of the problem. If you have standards, you also have the possibility of failure. Libs don’t want anyone to fail…hence, they don’t want standards. Life is _so_ much easier if you have no standards.
Even moreso if – as you point out – they “feel themselves intellectually and morally superior to conservative Americans”, by birth, I suspect. Hence they consider themselves the new nobility…the new ruling class – also by birth. The Conservatives are the peons…the “working class”.

There’s also a factor of Americanism here. America – as in the United States of – deliberately discarded the ideas of hereditary class…the royalty, the nobility, the gentry etc. They established a new nation based on a meritocracy – earn it and it’s yours. Anybody can do anything – just work for it. Much easier to inherit it. The military is – as you indicate – also a meritocracy. There is without a doubt a certain amount of the old boys’ club, but while it may get your foot in the door, it won’t get you into the main room – you have to earn _that_ on your own. That’s the heart of Americanism – and it’s contrary to Liberal ideas, which will give to you based on what group you belong to…and which group is considered “most oppressed” at the moment.

Here is a person that has held himself to an extremely high standard, and all he can do is to look at an unattainable standard that is even higher. Unattainable because it requires dying to acquire.

Compare this with John Kerry and you get a fundamental different in not just raw material, but personality and quality.

The military also has war to keep them on their toes, so this is a multiple order of magnitude increase over purely economic competitive motivations.

What is different is not the basic fundamental matrix, which is the nature of humanity or Americans. What is different is that Americans selectively pick only their best to go to the military. The best raw materials make the best finished products. If there is a flaw in the raw material or fundamental nature of a person, then it’s a crapshoot whether the end product will be glorious victory or disastrous defeat. It will depend upon the craftsman then, meaning the military leader. A great craftsman can make excellent goods from sub-standard material. Take steel for example. It helps to have Damascene steel material, which is steel with various impurities like Molybedenum or some other long chemical name. This gives the finished product the “water mark”, the lines of waves that make a sword extremely beautiful. However, that’s not what makes good sword steel. That has to involve the skill of the craftsman.

I do not need reverence, but I also would not want to have a soda poured on me.

Many military members are examples to civilians in that this is the standard to which not only Americans should hold themselves to, but all of humanity.

Of course, true masters at a craft or skill or a profession did not do it for public adulation or reverence and thus would rightly feel uncomfortable with too much of it. However, it is also a mark of distinction and is a requirement to all those that succeed to beyond the top 1% in human affairs to acknowledge and recognize the respect people will naturally wish to provide them.

What really matters is whether praise has been earned or not. There have been many of the 1% top of humanity that have not earned their way there. Instead, they got there via brutality, exploitation, or socialist promises that manipulated the masses to give them such status and power. The US military has truly earned their place in society, humanity, and history.

We will know when the military fails to earn the praise they are given, when the military leadership makes proclamations or expectations about such things. For the true Enlightened individual, they became Enlightened and superior because of their humble views toward themselves. They know how far they have yet to go, and thus this provides them motivation and also embarassment should others tout them as being the best of the best.

If you believe yourself worthy of praise and adulation, then there will be far less of a motivation to excel over and beyond the normal standards.

Code Pink, because they feel themselves intellectually and morally superior to conservative Americans, do not deserve any praise or respect. Code Pink members like Medea want peace and protection in Berkley, yet will deny and exclude conservatives from enjoying the benefits of Marine protection with the excuse that “conservatives can go somewhere else”. They feel no internal motivation ot excel, just a motivation to become a better parasite. They are not only beggars, but they are also choosers.

>Disagree. Maybe not those who serve some years and get out, but the career military person _is_ different from civilians<

My point may have been stated inelegantly. I had wanted to write that we were civilians when we joined. We do not come from some warrior class. And I will return one day to being a civilian. I am no different from you in that we are Americans. . .

Yes, the military is a calling for most and a great responsibility. It requires sacrifice, yet I could not imagine doing anything else with my life. No civilian job (9 to 5-type) would really satisfy me like the Navy does.

Code Pink and some of the folks in Alabama both have strong feelings about the military, just polar opposite from each other. I do not need reverence, but I also would not want to have a soda poured on me.

Disagree. Maybe not those who serve some years and get out, but the career military person _is_ different from civilians. I’m not exactly sure what the difference is (but I know it when I see it!), but there’s a difference. Maybe it’s because they’re “married” to the military. Duty comes first. Always. And that isn’t a burden for the careerist – it’s just a fact. There’s a military mindset – and it seems to be in some men’s personality even if they’re not in the military…they seem to be looking for that lifestyle that is demanding and requires dedication and sacrifice.
Woe to the woman who marries the military man if she’s not prepared to share that dedication…if she’s not, he’ll get out – either from the military or the marriage. More likely, the marriage.

I don’t want to make myself out to be someone who was sacrificing a 6-figure job to serve. I was working in a cubicle for a large company when 9/11 happened. (It was not a great job.) I also have known people from good schools (although not the top Ivies) who join the military. I work in one of the nerdier fields and I know/knew people from Cal Tech, Williams, Oklahoma State, UCLA, etc.

Thanks for the American Thinker link. If you get a chance, check out this Marine’s book. He is a Dartmouth grad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Fick

I love the Navy. I look at myself as an ambassador of sorts, representing the Navy when in uniform, or in civvies. . . The big lie from the Berkeley pink types is that they support us. We know they don’t, nor do they want us to win in Iraq. We may not be Yale grads, but we are not stupid. Still, I would never say anything to them in uniform or otherwise. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if they choose to lie about it.