You are using an outdated browser.
Please upgrade your browser
and improve your visit to our site.
Skip Navigation

Are The Mccains Chickenhawks?

I tend to take a pretty dim view of the chickenhawk epithet when it's thrown at war supporters--save for one special exception--so maybe it's not surprising that I raised my eyebrows at this post from Matt Yglesias, which takes a shot at John McCain for the fact that, just like Jenna and Barbara Bush, "the seemingly unemployed Meghan McCain" hasn't enlisted in the military (although, after Private Benjamin, I can't imagine a Meghan-in-the-military blog breaking much new ground.)

But, while McCain's daughter is a civilian, the Arizona Senator does have one son in the Marines who just returned from a tour in Iraq and another son in the Naval Academy who may well wind up there at some point (especially if we stay 100 years). In other words, I think Yglesias is wrong to lump McCain in with people who fail "to bring their war-related rhetoric more in with their actual war-related behavior."

--Jason Zengerle