How the Left Learned to Love the Military; or: At Least the VA Scandal has Vanished

Honestly, friends, I really tried to give the President the benefit of the doubt when news of the Bergdhal prisoner exchange broke. I really did. We trade prisoners all the time, the war is winding down, etc., etc., everybody just calm down because if we’re going to get on Obama for this we might as well criticize him for breathing, too. That’s about the only thing we don’t attack him for.

And then came…..the rest of the story.

We already know Obama is a weak sister. The debate is over: when it comes to being tough, he falls like France. He has not only broken the prisoner exchange law by not informing Congress, he has changed US policy about negotiating with terrorists. The last time I checked the Taliban is not a recognized government. In exchange for a POW with a sketchy story, we now have five reportedly dangerous Taliban operatives back on the grid. If he’s done it once, the enemy might think he’ll do it again.

And the other sticky part: alleging a U.S. soldier might not be telling us the whole story. This individual was either captured on patrol, or got sick of fighting for a conceited nation (his words). In an email to his father quoted in the linked article, America’s new hero said: “I am ashamed to be an American. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools. I am sorry for everything. The horror that is America is disgusting.”

His old man, by the way, was not beyond encouraging the boy to “follow his conscience”.

Who would have imagined that conservatives would take up arguing against an individual soldier, while the left suddenly loves the military? The left would have us believe that demanding full accountability and, perhaps, a court martial is an awful suggestion for somebody who went over to bleed for our freedom, as opposed to when Bush sent him over there to die for foreign oil. Where’s Rod Taylor?

A local radio station ran a poll on this story today, and 80% of those who responded do not think the U.S. came out ahead in this trade. Only 12% thought it was the right thing to do.If that is any indication of a national trend, and as his own words come back to haunt him, I think newly-promoted Staff Sergeant Bergdhal might want to seek out a more genial clime.

Like Afghanistan.

By the way, have you noticed the VA scandal has pretty much vanished from the headlines because of this? I thought you might have. But in trying to deflect one scandal, we now have another.

BRIAN DRAKE’s new thriller is The Rogue Gentleman: Mine to Avenge, available at Amazon.Com.