So, about this whole John Kerry thing.

(I know, I’m a little bit behind the curve on this one, but I just had to throw in my 2c. You won’t typically hear me dive into partisan politics on this blog, largely because I think a lot of it is distracting BS that stops people from getting anything real done. And I care a lot about politics as it affects the world and people’s lives, but I’m no huge fan of either major national party.)

I know a decent amount of people in the military — lots of kids from high school, or their husbands. And everyone I know who’s joined the military recently did it for economic reasons. Every single one of them. Because it was the best option they saw, or in some cases the only option, to make something of themselves. To get money for education. To support a family. Or just because there seemed to be no better way to support themselves.

Would these people do something else if they had the opportunity? Possibly. Do any of them really want to be “stuck in Iraq” right now? I highly doubt that. And I think this is what JK was trying to get at, with his now infamous comment.

Where he screwed up, though, is that the way he expressed that seemed to make fun of those people. By saying that getting “stuck in Iraq” was a consequence of not working hard, of not doing your bloody homework(!), he implied that those who are in Iraq are there because they’re dumb, or lazy. He, a Northeastern millionaire himself, said this as a just-between-us inside joke presented to a group of college students, by definition privileged, by definition unlikely to ever be in Iraq themselves. (And yes, I do acknowledge that I am now part of that group.) It comes off as a “thank God we’re not like them” – them being the largely lower-economic-class, lower-education-level people who make up most of the military. A bit of a nod and a wink between elites, as it were.

I can totally understand why people are offended and upset by that. I also believe that, as a whole, the Republicans are a lot less likely to do things that will really help people of that economic class and situation than the Democrats are. So I really wish that JK hadn’t made his stupid joke, if only because it could potentially be used to bolster that godawful image of the Democratic party as latte-sipping elites. Meanwhile real issues like paying a living wage, fixing our country’s effed-up educational system, increasing access to healthcare, prison reform, substance abuse and mental health issues – things that could actually make a big difference to a lot of the same people who are part of the new “military class” – get thrown by the wayside in all the bickering.

So I’ll end with this newsflash. The people who are in Iraq aren’t dumb, or lazy… well, maybe some of them are, but I doubt it’s a higher percentage than anywhere else in the population. People don’t get stuck in Iraq because they didn’t work hard or “do their homework”. They get stuck in Iraq, JK, because they’re poor.

And conflating poor with “lazy and stupid”… Why, JK, that’s downright Republican of you.

(End partisan squabbling. Now back to your regularly scheduled trees and skyscrapers.)