Tom Harkin insults volunteer military

Or, at least that's the way it appears in this Des Moines Register article I ran across this morning while searching Yahoo News for McCain stuff:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's family background as the son and grandson of admirals has given him a worldview shaped by the military, "and he has a hard time thinking beyond that," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., said Friday.

"I think he's trapped in that," Harkin said in a conference call with Iowa reporters. "Everything is looked at from his life experiences, from always having been in the military, and I think that can be pretty dangerous."
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Harkin said that "it's one thing to have been drafted and served, but another thing when you come from generations of military people and that's just how you're steeped, how you've learned, how you've grown up."

I guess to Sen. Harkin, any of our current crop of military members are included, since, you know, they weren't forced to serve through conscription. He goes on to temper his views somewhat, but comes across in the same disingenuous way as some bigots do with a "I don't have anything against xxxxxxx, some of my best friends are xxxxxxx" type of statement:

He said that "I just want to be very clear there's nothing wrong with a career in the military" and that he has friends who are generals and admirals who have served the country well.

"But now McCain is running for a higher office. He's running for commander in chief, and our Constitution says that should be a civilian," Harkin said. "And in some ways, I think it would be nice if that commander in chief had some military background, but I don't know if they need a whole lot."

No friends with lower rank than Admiral or General? Elitist.

That last graph says a lot about the twisted viewpoint that Sen. Harkin holds. McCain doesn't count as a civilian to him, and I assume that would apply to me and many more like me as well, as I was a volunteer for 20 years in the Air Force.

I have news for Sen. Harkin - my military career did not strip away my citizenship, and Sen. McCain's service didn't strip away his. After retirement or separation from the military, we become civilians - unless Sen. Harkin can find some basis in law why we should be treated as some sort of sub-class of citizen with less rights than folks who served unwillingly. The contempt that the left holds toward the military usually does not surprise me, but this kind of distorted and sick view coming from a Senator still gets my blood boiling.

Update: Considering the source - I had forgotten Sen Harkin's past regarding his own military record. Thanks to Glenn for his somewhat better memory.