The Chickenhawk Smear

It is alive and well, as Joe Klein of Time Magazine has demonstrated by way of his recent criticism of conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer. In an article by Ben Smith at Politico, Klein is quoted as saying that Krauthammer would be a better writer if not for his inability to walk (Krauthammer is a paraplegic):

"He became ground zero among the neo-cons, but he's vastly smarter than most of them," said Time's Joe Klein, an admirer and critic who praised Krauthammer's "writing skills and polemical skills" as "so far above almost anybody writing columns today."

"There's something tragic about him, too," Klein said, referring to Krauthammer's confinement to a wheelchair, the result of a diving accident during his first year of medical school. "His work would have a lot more nuance if he were able to see the situations he's writing about."

Klein is one pundit among many who have criticized hawkish conservatives like Krauthammer for supposedly being cowards. How so? Critics of the hawkish right, like Klein, claim that those who favor the use of America's military to protect our interests around the world are ignorant, cowardly hypocrites if they themselves have not served in the military. Hence the term "chickenhawk".

Of course, such a criticism is simply asinine. For one thing, I don't recall Klein or any others leveling such criticism at their hero Barack Obama - who also never served in the military - when he suggested bombing Pakistan in order to capture Osama Bin Laden, who may or may not be hiding out in that country. Nor were they similarly critical of Bill Clinton regarding his invasion of Haiti or his cruise-missile attacks on Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan.

What this is about is reducing what should be substantive policy discussions over American military and diplomatic affairs to a back-and-forth of schoolyard taunts. "Neocon" is another such insult, and it too is ridiculous and merits no further discussion from me.

No, the only "tragic" thing here is Klein's inability to comprehend or match the substantive arguments and insights that Krauthammer has brought to the table for so many years.