(Today's Ho-Speak): Why the 'Chickenhawk' argument is un-American: Part I

[Montauk6]

By Ben "10 dollahs, mista" Shapiro/TownWhore.com
August 17, 2005


Who is qualified to speak on matters of national security? According to the American left, only pacifists, military members who have served in combat and direct relatives of those slain in combat or in acts of terrorism. The rest of us -- about 80 percent of voters -- must simply sit by silently. Our opinions do not matter. You want disenfranchisement? Talk to the political left, which seeks to exclude the vast majority of the American populace from the national debate about foreign policy.

The bulk of the left in this country refuses to argue about foreign policy rationally, without resorting to ad hominem attack. The favored ad hominem attack of the left these days is "chickenhawk." The argument goes something like this: If you believe in any of the wars America is currently fighting, you must join the military. If you do not, you must shut up. If, on the other hand, you believe that America should disengage from all foreign wars, you may feel free not to serve in the military.

This is the argument made by hate-America radicals like Michael Moore, who defines "chickenhawk" on his website thus: "A person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it; particularly when that enthusiasm is undimmed by personal experience with war; most emphatically when that lack of experience came in spite of ample opportunity in that person's youth." The "chickenhawk" argument was the implicit centerpiece of John Kerry's presidential campaign -- Kerry hyped his military service and denigrated George W. Bush's military service, all the while focusing on the fact that he, unlike President Bush, was anti-war. Kerry's campaign underling, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, made the argument explicit during April 2004: "They shriek like a hawk, but they have the backbone of the chicken," he said of the Bush Administration. "The lead chickenhawk against Sen. Kerry the vice president of the United States, Vice President Cheney." Not coincidentally, Lautenberg utilized Moore's exact "chickenhawk" definition in making his point.

More bilge: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/bs20050817.shtml

(Me: Have any of you heard "chickenhawk" bantered about LATELY? I've heard "murdering bastards" and "greedy pigs." I figured we were so used to the unfortunate fact that this war is driven by chickenhawks that we've moved on to other aspects.)

[Lerkfish]

1. HAHA! this will sound hollow, even to republicans.

trying to defend "chickenhawk".

[Dogmudgeon]

2. That's almost ... silly

--p!

[rateyes]

3. Spoken like...

a true chickenhawk. :hide:

[RobertSeattle]

4. That Chickenhawk meme is really starting to bug them

I always get the giggles when I read a conservative piece on those naughty liberals and their "ad hominem" attacks. When Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, et al quit their "ad hominem" attacks perhaps we will too. At least "Chickenhawk" is at ACCURATE description.

[phantom power]

7. As the old saying goes....

If they promise to quit telling lies about us, maybe we'll promise to quit telling the truth about them.

[BOSSHOG]

5. I did 24 years in uniform and I am anti-war

Fuckyou shapiro. You are a chickenshit chickenhawk. Serve in a combat zone then write a column.

bush and his ilk are weakening our military and our economy. Fucking A, they sure as hell are qualified to talk about National Security as are the young republicans whose two goals are tap a keg and become an old republican.

Your work is just more proof of my thesis - IGNORANCE IS PART OF CONSERVATIVE DNA.

[MoJoWorkin]

6. whoops. Cheney is to speak here in Springfield, MO today

Some-- Order of the Purple Heart Convention thing, and we are protesting.
I just made a sign that says:

CHICKENHAWK

CHENEY

So Many Have DIED

For YOUR LIES


I guess I didn't get the memo, ha

[greekspeak]

10. I am sure the Springpatchians will all be salavation to fellate him

God I am so glad to be out of that shitty town. But...put up the good protest! Where is he speaking? The tower club on top of John Q. Hammon's Darth Vader building?

[MoJoWorkin]

11. Plaza Holiday Inn==across from the trade center

[greekspeak]

14. Oh, only in the SHADOW of the Darth Vader Tower

But still in HammonsLand.

[MoJoWorkin]

12. I was born here---I can remember back in the 60's

we could actually elect Democrats once in a while. That was before Assembly of GOd made their HQ here. It all went DOWNHILL, after that. There is "tongue speakin" all round this town now.

[greekspeak]

13. I know...I worked with a charismatic Episcopalian

I find that movement...odd. But odd is the default there is SW Missouri.

[MoJoWorkin]

15. Thanks on that "odd" comment.

I hope that was a complement--for ME that is, ha

Well, I need to get to the rally soon. He is to speak at lunch there.

[rateyes]

8. Hey Shapiro, Bush wanted me to give you this message...

[greekspeak]

9. truth hurts

I do not think this is an ad hominin attack. War is great (hawk) as long as I do not have to fight it (chicken). This is a fact...tons of republicans, and a number of democrats want to have their neat war as long as they do not have to suffer for it. That means no flag draped caskets, spinning the tragedies and losses into triumphs and victories, calling dead people "collateral damage," labeling those who disagree with you as unAmeriKKKan, etc. Its simple: You think this swell little war is so damned swell, get up out of our armchair, get down to the recruitment office, and say "I am ready to serve my preznit in his tidy little skirmish."

[Montauk6]

23. Didn't a woman lose her job over a photo of a flag-draped casket?

[RobertSeattle]

16. He's the author of "Porn Generation"

Must have done alot of late night research!

"In his latest book, 21-year-old columnist Ben Shapiro explains how mainstream acceptance of pornography is destroying his generation -- and our nation -- by presenting a warped image of sex and self-satisfaction that ridicules the values of faith and family and mangles the most sacred ideals of matrimony. "

[Montauk6]

24. Did Jeff Gannon ghost-write it?

[ixion]

17. you know what's unAmerican? Calling other Americans unAmerican

yep, sho nuff. :grr:

[_ed_]

18. Just sent this email to Shapiro

Mr. Shapiro,

I just finished reading your recent article concerning "chickenhawks." I'm an Iraq War Veteran and a West Point Graduate. I left the Army with the rank of Captain, spent a year of ground combat in the Sunni Triangle, and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Your article is logically fallacious and is simply another attempt by a republican to justify his role as cheerleader for a war he refuses to fight. The fact that you are a young man of military age only makes it more disgusting.

You claim, "According to the American left, only pacifists, military members who have served in combat and direct relatives of those slain in combat or in acts of terrorism. The rest of us -- about 80 percent of voters -- must simply sit by silently. Our opinions do not matter. You want disenfranchisement? Talk to the political left, which seeks to exclude the vast majority of the American populace from the national debate about foreign policy."

That's simply wrong. Disenfranchisement refers specifically to withdrawing one's "franchise." Are you prohibited from voting or expressing your beliefs? Obviously not, since you are allowed to write nonsense such as this. No one is denying you the right to convey your right-wing diatribes. No one on "the left" has used the mechanism of law or government to deny you rights. Your victim-syndrome argument is just silly.

You go on to explain how the "left" uses ad hominem attacks, and calling those who clamor for war, but are unwilling to fight, "chickenhawks." You then say that this argument is "dishonest" because "the principle of republicanism is based on freedom of choice about behavior (as long as that behavior is legal) as well as freedom of speech about political issues."

You're exactly right. You have the freedom of choice to decide whether or not you will defend your nation in time of war. You have chosen not to, and I am equally free to judge your choice. You have chosen to sit idly by and watch better men defend your nation, even as you sit behind the comfort of your computer screen and clamor for a war you are too good to fight and die for. There's a word for people who rely on others to die for things they believe in - that word is coward. Substitute "chickenhawk" if that fits.

You go on to link this to some sort of Constitutional issue and then call people who question you "irrational." This is not an irrational argument. This is not some sort of obtuse policy issue, such as Social Security. War is something that should affect the citizens of a nation equally. Why should a few bear such a great burden? In our previous wars, sacrifice was borne by the nation as a whole. Take World War Two as the prime example of this. Imagine yourself writing your partisan article at the height of our war against fascism! What devices would you employ to justify not fighting in that war?

You finished your justification for cowardice by claiming that the soldiers fight and die for the "right of civilian hawks to speak up in favor of the highest level of moral and material support for their heroism." This final statement shows your true colors. "Supporting the Troops" goes far beyond slapping a magnet on your car or writing for a far right wing website. Moral and material support? You've got to be kidding me. My unit rolled into Iraq with no body armor, and most of our vehicles armed with nothing more than canvas. There was a point where we had to ration water! Veterans benefits are cut by your party all the time. Republicans smear real war heroes like John Kerry and Max Cleland. Members of your party even had the audacity to wear Purple Heart band-aids at your National Convention, mocking every soldier wounded on the fields of battle. Partisan hack Rush Limbaugh denounced a recent Iraq Vet running for Congress as a “staff puke.” Support? Hardly.

You say, “Representative democracy necessarily means that millions of us vote on issues with which we have had little practical experience. The "chickenhawk" argument -- which states that if you haven't served in the military, you can't have an opinion on foreign policy -- explicitly rejects basic principles of representative democracy.” Again, you’re playing logic games. You quickly change the argument from “voting” to “opinions,” another dishonest ploy. As I said above, no one denies your right to vote on foreign policy issues, or even hold an opinion. However, I have every right to denounce your opinions as invalid, because you have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you really think you know what war is like? Have you ever had blood on your effete hands? No? Then don’t pretend to know what war is like, and don’t pretend you are some sort of victim of the “left.”

In the first line of your article, you ask, “Who is qualified to speak on matters of national security?” Qualified… that’s a loaded word. It means “having the appropriate qualifications.” Mr. Shapiro, you are not “qualified” to speak about war. Perhaps if our elected officials were “qualified,” then nearly 1900 of my brothers and sisters in arms wouldn’t have been sacrificed in a war we didn’t need to fight.

[DinahMoeHum]

20. Great post !! Thank you for your service, _ed_ !! Welcome to DU !!

You've got a lot of veterans here at DU who will "watch your six"

:patriot:

[redqueen]

21. God bless you...

thank you for your service... and for sending that letter.

[RobertSeattle]

22. You Rock, Ed

Best Chickenhawk smack down I've ever seen.

[Betty]

26. Beautiful

I hope you also sent it to the website, it's too good to be wasted on that little asshole alone... chances are he hasn't got the balls to read past the first sentence, anyways.

[raccoon]

27. Great letter!

Welcome to DU!

[JPZenger]

19. Let Us Salute the Chickenhawk-in-Chief

It really is amazing just how few of the planners and promoters of the Iraq War never served in the military, even in peacetime. The Chickenhawk list includes Cheney, Rove, Wolfowitz, Pearle, Limbaugh (because of an anal absess), Hannity, Rice, and many many others. It is especially significant when the person went out of their way to avoid military service during wartime, such as Cheney.

The author misses the point - it is not that non-veterans can't comment on military matters. It is that non-veterans should not be so quick to send other people off to fight wars without proper justification and without considering all other alternatives.

John Kennedy said "The United States, the world knows, will never start a war." He turned out to be wrong.

[Montauk6]

25. And even more amazing that those who did serve were the least enthusiastic

about this circus.

[raccoon]

28. "Today's Ho-Speak" --

You sure got that right!