Michael Kelly's error:

In today's op-ed, Michael Kelly expresses his view that the term "chicken hawk" refers to civilians "who advocate war but who declined a significant opportunity to serve in uniform" and that "the central implication here is that only men who have professionally endured war have the moral standing and the experiential authority to advocate war."

Wrong, Mr. Kelly.

The term "chicken hawk" is applicable in one specific instance (out of 8 possibilities). It is therefore, pace Kelly, not a "general trump-it-all insult that the antiwar crowd aims at the pro-war crowd."

For those with limited language and logic skills - like Kelly - we offer this table as a visual aid.

			military & veterans
			cautious	pro-war
civilian government	cautious	no military experience
		military experience
	pro-war	no military experience	chicken-hawk
		military experience

posted by Quiddity at 10/30/2002 06:19:00 AM