Younger males from Pennsylvania are sworn in to the Military after being drafted for the Vietnam Conflict in 1967.
Photograph:
Bettmann Archive
A liberal is somebody too broad-minded to take his personal aspect in a quarrel. That previous joke rushed to thoughts as I learn the outcomes this week of a Quinnipiac College survey indicating that, nicely, it isn’t actually a joke. There are extra sunshine patriots in our midst than anybody realized.
The pollster requested: What would you do when you have been in the identical place as Ukrainians are actually, keep and battle or go away the nation? Shockingly, greater than half of Democrats (52%) stated they’d lower and run if the U.S. homeland have been invaded. We aren’t speaking about ladies and kids, and even some cadre of pacifists and conscientious objectors. That is most Democrats saying they’d reasonably go away America than defend it. Solely a pathetic 40% stated they’d stick round.
Republicans did higher. Greater than two-thirds (68%) stated they’d stand their floor. This could possibly be a mirrored image of the partisan skew within the nation’s distribution of small arms. However 1 in 4 Republicans stated they’d flee—not precisely the don’t-tread-on-me spirit I used to be anticipating.
What within the hell has occurred to this nation? One can hardly think about Individuals of yesteryear exhibiting such excessive ranges of yellow-bellyism. The place have all of the Minutemen gone? The Molly Pitchers? The Audie Murphys? The Todd Beamers?
Within the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, when the nation was on its knees, the decision was answered with out hesitation by rock-ribbed Republicans and true-blue Democrats alike. Even the turbulent Vietnam period didn’t encourage such pusillanimity. Between 1964 and 1973, 2.2 million Individuals have been conscripted into navy service. One other 15 million have been granted deferments for one purpose or one other. Lower than 2% of those that have been eligible for the draft opted to evade it, both by going underground or emigrating. A few of them thought of the struggle unjust. Say what you need concerning the deserves of that argument, at the least it was an argument.
This, alternatively, is abject cowardice—at greatest. The battle hypothesized by the Quinnipiac pollsters wasn’t a struggle for oil or empire. Ballot respondents have been requested to check a international invader on their very own entrance porch. Think about
Vladimir Putin
has despatched his shock troops to degree your hometown, to occupy your highschool and drop a missile on the hospital the place you have been born. If you happen to received’t battle for fireside and residential, what would you battle for?
The one applicable response right here is disgust. Making issues worse, the 52 percenters had the choice to lie. It could have value them nothing to say, “Yeah, I’m a patriot. I’ll keep and battle.” That implies they put antipathy towards their nation above the near-universal human impulse to not appear to be a quisling.
Being born an American is concerning the luckiest factor that would occur to an individual. Positive, we have now points. Sure, Jan. 6 was unhealthy. However authorities of the folks, by the folks, for the folks, remains to be a uncommon factor. It’s nonetheless value preventing for.
I by no means thought I’d dwell to see the day half of Democrats would toss the entire nation to the wolves if given the possibility.
Mr. Hennessey is the Journal’s deputy editorial options editor.
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