I like Kevin Drum. I don't think he likes me, though. Anyhoo, while he sometimes leans into moonbat territory, he actually has a lot of intelligent analysis of issues. When he talks about problems in Iraq, he actually seems like he cares and wants us to succeed instead of just rooting for failure. If liberals like him dominated more than Kos and comrades, the Democrats might have a chance of getting a real strategy (and, despite my partisanship, I understand a strong, sane opposition is essential to democracy). The problem is the extremists on the left are just too extreme these days to listen, and the liberals in his comments constantly harp on him. Look at this post where he just notes the current obsession with Cindy Sheehan at HuffPo and see the response in the comments.

Question of the Day: What will it take to get the extreme side of the Democratic party to act in a non-self-destructive way?

Now let's head to Kos. He has this excerpt:

Staff Sgt. Jason Rivera, 26, a Marine recruiter in Pittsburgh, went to the home of a high school student who had expressed interest in joining the Marine Reserve to talk to his parents. It was a large home in a well-to-do suburb north of the city. Two American flags adorned the yard. The prospect's mom greeted him wearing an American flag T-shirt. "I want you to know we support you," she gushed.

Rivera soon reached the limits of her support.

"Military service isn't for our son. It isn't for our kind of people," she told him.

I have to agree with him: that is a bit disturbing. I then followed his link to Atrios to the link to the full article which was quite enlightening. Apparently, recruiters are having trouble because of opposition from parents. Of course, most parents would be worried about their children going to war, but the left have been doing its best to make Iraq look like a death trap (if it were, my brother wouldn't be so bored). The article even talks about how some left-wing groups are trying to get parents to do all they can to block recruiters. The article even mentions liberals disrupting recruiters at my alma mater.

So, if I get this straight, there are lefties out there yelling about how people aren't signing up their sons for the war, and then also trying to help parents prevent their children from being recruited.

Of course, it isn't the parents’ choice for anyone 18 or older, and that seems to be lost on a lot of people. When some talk about parents losing children in Iraq, they make it seem like Rumsfeld ripped five-years-old away from parents to send them to war. Instead, they are adults making their own choices. While a grieving mother like Cindy Sheehan deserves everyone's sympathy, what's more important is what Casey Sheehan thought of his sacrifice.

Just my two cents as I try to hold the front on this war.

-Frank J., Private First Class of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists

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