Bashing America's Young People

In what seems to me to be a very odd statement, conservative Michael Gerson of the Washington Post tries to explain why it's okay that America is indifferent to the War in Afghanistan:

But at a recent dinner I attended that included military officers, there was no nostalgia for the draft. A drafted military did indeed reflect America - including a significant portion of young Americans in need of remediation or imprisonment. Much of the military's time and effort was spent on the challenges of the bottom quintile. The volunteer force allows for recruitment of a higher-quality soldier with a precise set of skills. A draft is no solution in a nation where about 75 percent of 17- to 24-year-olds are unfit for military service due to poor education, obesity, criminal records, drug use and other disqualifications.

Given the kind of skills and experience required in the modern military, those who defend us will be a professional class. Given the continuing threat of terrorism, they will remain active even when our attention lags or turns inward. They are not like the rest of America - thank God. They bear a disproportionate burden, and they seem proud to do so. And they don't need the rest of society to join them, just to support them.

75% of young people are unfit for military service? The military is "not like the rest of America - thank God"? I didn't know that modern conservatives thought that way about America.

All I can say is that I have three children, none of them in the military, and I have three nieces and nephews who are in the military, and Gerson's condescending attitude toward those not serving in the military is incorrect. I'll put my three non-military children up against any young people anywhere, in or out of the military, in terms of ability, fitness, and character.