Military Records

     Now that Newt Gingrich has won South Carolina, let me ask if Ron Paul's criticism of him in the last debate before the Primary had merit.

     In case you missed it, Paul presented Gingrich as a military chicken hawk who never served. Gingrich said his father served, and he had a deferment because he was married with kids. Video of the exchange is here.

     Has anybody seen a fact check on the question of military service by the two? Our last three Presidents have had no military service (other than Bush's National Guard service, which virtually guarenteed he would not serve in Vietnam. In my own Basic Training in--ironically, South Carolina--the Drill Sergeants referred to National Guard members as "N-G, as in No Good", and mocked them.

     Nowadays, the opposite is true. National Guard troops have been almost assured a tour or tours of Iraq or Afghanistan for the past decade.

     I expect the next crew of presidential hopefuls in 2016 and 2020 will include at least some veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.