Yesterday Senator Kerry said:

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

I have to be honest, if this was the first quote I'd ever heard from Senator Kerry I might believe his lame posturing that he misread his speech and was really trying to insult the President instead of the military. Unfortunately, I had to listen to his inane remarks during the previous unendurably long campaign and, if anything, I think he might have misread his Bush-bashing talking points and accidentally let slip what he truly believes about our soldiers. 

This weekend I listened to some very intelligent and thoughtful people discussing military service in time of war. The moderator wondered aloud to the crowd whether a young person with political aspirations ought not enlist in a time of war and whether such service would be a prerequisite to being electable as Commander in Chief. Would it be possible for someone running for President thirty years from now to be elected if he or she had shirked their civic responsibilities in this current war on terror?

Themes such as courage and duty were frequently mentioned. It's one thing to enlist in a time of peace so you can see the world and get a free education. It's quite another to volunteer when you know there is a near certainty you'll be sent to the front lines. That's why I generally find Senator Kerry's remarks reprehensible -- both during the previous campaign and yesterday. Frankly, I'd like to have seen him try that speech at Edwards.

I literally can't convey in words how much disgust I hold for a man who would say such things about the men and women I saw on Sunday. Young men and women in uniform who looked like they should still be strolling the halls of high school. Instead they were patiently herding a sloppy mass of fat and happy civilians who will never fully understand the lives they lead nor the risks they take. I wanted so badly to convey my gratitude but I couldn't think of anything more than to say thank you as we walked by.

This is not about Iraq. It's not about the war on terror. This is about the exceptionalism of every man and woman who wears the uniform of a United States soldier and the man who told them they were too dumb to do something more worthwhile.