 As one who thinks that just about the only thing the Kerry campaign did right in 2004 was quote Langston Hughes (even if -- or because -- someone forgot to read the whole poem), I can't muster much surprise at the speed with which "the loyal opposition" capitulated to demands, as much from within his party as without, that he apologize immediately for placing class (in the guise of education) on the table, however briefly and -- if the version where he misread his scripted remarks is to be believed -- inadvertently.
 Which still leaves the question: if it's so offensive and inaccurate to suggest that the relationship among an individual's educational background, economic prospects, and career opportunities is such as to have a bearing on that individual's decision to enlist in this country's [formally] volunteer military, why does the recruitment literature I come across -- in a BP/Subway between Springfield, MO and Sweetwater, TX, say -- seem more pragmatic than patriotic? |
As one who thinks that just about the only thing the Kerry campaign did right in 2004 was quote Langston Hughes (even if -- or because -- someone forgot to read the whole poem), I can't muster much surprise at the speed with which "the loyal opposition" capitulated to demands, as much from within his party as without, that he apologize immediately for placing class (in the guise of education) on the table, however briefly and -- if the version where he misread his scripted remarks is to be believed -- inadvertently.
Which still leaves the question: if it's so offensive and inaccurate to suggest that the relationship among an individual's educational background, economic prospects, and career opportunities is such as to have a bearing on that individual's decision to enlist in this country's [formally] volunteer military, why does the recruitment literature I come across -- in a BP/Subway between Springfield, MO and Sweetwater, TX, say -- seem more pragmatic than patriotic?