When the Tough Get Going

By Bill Maher

Donald Trump has called himself “the most militaristic person there is,” you know, short of someone who’s actually served his country under arms. I think he means “military-ish,” but it’s hard to tell. Ben Carson was either awarded a full scholarship to West Point, or once met a guy at a party who said he should go to West Point, and that’s good enough for me.  

All that being said, with Jim Webb and Lindsey Graham out of the primetime debates, there’s not a man or woman on either party's who’s ever heard a shot fired in anger at anything bigger than a duck.

Lindsey Graham spent six years as an Air Force prosecutor and defense attorney and 27 years as a reservist in the South Carolina Air National Guard and the Air Reserve, rising to the rank of colonel. He was never deployed for combat. Jim Webb commanded a Marine Corps rifle company in Vietnam. He won a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts, and rose to the rank of captain. The grass does not grow in the spots where he paused.

The Republicans may be shopping for a candidate untarnished by a day in government, but both sides have now effectively flushed their candidates with experience in any military matters except voting to send someone else to kill and die.