Unless you've been living under a rock for god knows how long, you know that John McCain and his supporters don't let anyone forget his military record.  Not only did he fly jets like a true American badass, he survived years of brutal torture in a North Vietnamese prison (goddamn charlie)!  Surely this qualifies him to lead the bloated American empire, they maintain at great length, probably because little else in his record does, other than being white, rich and male.

And many Americans, even those who don't much care for McCain's politics, are happy to agree that military service and--especially--enduring hardship and agony for years is at least a step in the right direction.

Let's think about that for a moment.  I'd like to provide another example, one from the early twentieth century.  A young soldier, from a lower middle class family, enlisted in the military of a neighboring country because he felt it stood more for his ideals than did his own homeland.  He served bravely throughout the First World War, serving as a runner for regimental headquarters, one of the most dangerous positions in a WW1-era army.  He was wounded by gunfire and poison gas attack and decorated more than once for bravery.  In fact, he recieved one of the highest decorations for bravery his military had to offer, which was especially uncommon given his low rank.

That seems like a pretty good war record, certainly one that would earn respect in the American public consciousness.  Imagine a prospective congressman or president who went through these ordeals in Iraq--his or her street cred would be through the roof.

The catch, of course, is that this person I'm describing was Adolf Hitler, and he grew up to murder millions of people and start the single most destructive war the world has yet to see.  Good choice, that.

My point is not that McCain is Hitler come again or that he deserved to be tortured as a POW because I firmly believe that no one does.  My point, rather, is that military service is only one aspect of a person's being and hardly an automatic qualifier for leadership.  As with the rest of society, the military is populated by all types of people, few of them monsters and fewer of them saints and most stuck somewhere in between.

So stop suckling at the teet of militarism, America.  It spews a bitter milk.