Robert Heinlein, Dick Cheney and the concept of sacrifice

Ever since I read Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers six years ago, I've thought that there was a lot of sense about the concept of government in that book. The movie version touches on it a little bit, but you really have to read the novel to fully appreciate the beauty of it. Heinlein posited in Starship Troopers that the responsibilities that come with governing and even the simple matter of voting belong only to those who have demonstrated that they are willing to serve and sacrifice for the greater good. Thus, only those who have served a minimum of two years in the military are allowed to vote and hold public office. As a result, the decision to engage in war is decided upon solely by those who fully understand the full risks and consequences of sending young men and women into battle.

Which brings us to the matter of Vice President Dick Cheney, who said this today...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President
Dick Cheney said on Sunday the United States must show it has the "stomach" to win in
Iraq or it will confirm al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's view that Americans can be pressured to leave.

U.S. allies helping in fighting terrorism -- Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Egypt -- must have confidence that the United States will stay until a successful outcome, he said.

"If the United States doesn't have the stomach to finish the task in Iraq, we put at risk what we've done in all of those other locations," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

A man who received FIVE deferments from draft service during the Vietnam conflict, telling America that it's obliged to have "the stomach" to keep sending its sons and daughters into a war with no clearly defined goal.

Dick Cheney does not understand sacrifice. Those are not his children that he's sending to fight in his war. Had he actually served in the military, he would perhaps have some moral basis on which to stand... but he doesn't even have that.

How the hell does Dick Cheney get off telling Americans that they must possess "the stomach" when he's always lacked it to begin with?

This war is being perpetuated upon us by a bunch of old men who never had the will to fight for themselves, but also have no qualms about sending young men off to die for their own selfish purpose.

Well, somebody has to say it...