In last Sunday's Atlanta Journal Constitution, Editorial Page Editor Cynthia Tucker came out in favor of the draft in an article titled "Military out to draw all income levels" saying:
It is unconscionable that this republic could be so cavalier about duty and sacrifice, sending its poorer sons and daughters off to defend liberty for the rest of us.
And then today comes sad news about a soldier dying who did not exactly meet Tucker's definition of one of our "poorer sons and daughters", former NFL player Pat Tillmann.
Tillman gave up a 3 year contract to make over a million dollars a year playing professional football.
Now, I am not saying that Tillman's death is any more or less tragic than any other soldier's death, just because he played professional football or becuase of the amount of money he gave up. What I am saying is that columns like Tucker's insult all of the volunteers in our military, because she implies that they are somehow inferior to an all-conscript military.
We should celebrate the sacrifice of those that defend us. And not make some kind of stupid political point at their expense.
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