Here, here!! Well said.

Great analogies. Unfortunately, these examples of the idiocy of his argument will undoubtedly fail to reach the reasoning part of Juan Cole's brain. His ego will block any attempt at rationalization.

Let's not forget the easiest one: If you are not prepared to pay the same percentages of federal income taxes, one is a coward and a hypocrite to (a) be against the Bush tax cuts and shortly thereafter deposit the $300/$66 check when it comes in the mail; (b) charge that Bill Gates should pay the old top rate of 39.6% (of course, those folks haven't been for a drop in the top rate since JFK, so that would really be 70%, wouldn't it?).

I wonder if Prof. Cole pays the tax rates that he wants others to pay? He could use the leftover change from the Kerry election celebration party, you know.

Ack: $600 above.

Nice.

Well said !

Cole & people like him are dangerous fools.

Whenever I am accused of chickenhawkery for my support of this war, I respond with the idea that a healthy democratic society depends on informed participation. That means advocating one political position or another on the basis of reason ---and NOT on the basis of experience.

Men are not going to stop having opinions on reproductive rights just because they cannot bear children. People criticize their representatives (or the cop on the street or the clerk behind the counter) all the time without having made the same sacrifices or learned the same skills that they have, yet they aren't going to stop making those criticisms. There's a division of labor in a free society and there's different levels of involvement, aptitude, and desire. No one person can fill every station.

It is stupid to insist that a person must be experienced in something before he may advocate it. His only obligation is to know what he's talking about.

Crank,

Great response! I served Navy for 25 years and will tell you we are really glad a lot of folks aren't along side us. If this goof, Cole, had any understanding of our country's history he would know that one of our concerns early on was ensuring civilian control of the military to avoid potential military coups. I suppose this idiot would consider FDR a chickenhawk???

Toby does make a salient point: what of the female congresswomen & senators who vote in favor of a war or a draft that they're not privy to? Didn't Hillary vote for the war?

That said: did Cole not support going after the Taliban in Afghanistan? Does he not support going after Bin Laden? Al Qaeda? Zarqawi?

If he's not a part of the Marine special ops, does that make him a chicken hawk to himself?

Lastly, what is it with people like Cole (and Black, Willis, Wolcott, etc) who gain their testosterone from sitting at a computer and typing things that they'd never say to someone's face? Do they not realize that their bravado is only as strong as the bytes that carry the words? Or are they so stricken by their "he laid the smack down and called him out" fans that they're blind to the fact that their machismo exists only in the realm of the internet, where they can safely lace their comments with childhood taunts?

Juan Cole's irrational diatribe would not have occurred if Jonah's last name was 'Smith'. Cole is an Israel hater who believes Pres.Bush is in thrall to the dreaded Jewish neo-Cons, and Ariel Sharon. There is no reasoned dialogue possible with anti-semites like Cole.

Re Item 3: Item Do I need to experience rape before I can condemn it? What a weak and inane argument Brooks ...

Dennis - I don't endorse that argument (in fact, I feel quite comfortable myself condemning the abuses at Abu Ghraib) but it's the logical endpoint of Cole's argument.

I supposed Prof. Cole would be happier with the pre-war government of Japan. The military acted virtually independent of civilian control. If any civilian dared to criticize the army they would most likely be shot.

Perhaps Professor Cole would approve of going back to the days when only property owners could vote. That was based on the idea that property owners had the biggest stake in society and thus were the only ones competent to vote.

"Perhaps Professor Cole would approve of going back to the days when only property owners could vote. That was based on the idea that property owners had the biggest stake in society and thus were the only ones competent to vote."

Robert,
Actually, many of us would like to see some requirement be met prior to voting. Land ownership is a way to avoid the mob rule form of democracy we are slipping towards where politicians bribe people to vote for them with gifts (welfare, etc) bought with other peoples money.

Thomas Jefferson decided not to go to war as a soldier during the Revolutionary War that his penning of the Declaration of Independence initiated. Cole must hate him for such hypocrisy. Imagine, Jefferson thought that by working as a diplomat, a lawyer, a thinker, and a writer he could be more effective in the cause than as a soldier. What a pity Cole wasn't around to set him straight and shut him up.

Mike:

"Unfortunately, these examples of the idiocy of his argument will undoubtedly fail to reach the reasoning part of Juan Cole's brain."

I'm still waiting for Prof. Cole to demonstrate that his brain HAS a reasoning part. Dissembling, yes. Rationalizing, check. Demonizing, absolutely. Bloviating, heaps. Mischaracterinzing, sure. But all those rhetorical tricks seem to have crowded out actual reasoning.