Military is "most corrupt institution in history"?

[democracyindanger]

The past few months some posters have described the military--and I'm assuming they mean the US military in particular, because they never elaborate--as "the most corrupt institution" in history. Unsurprisingly, this occurs in threads about a possible Clark candidacy.

After bearing this in post after post, I've decided to put on my asbestos underwear and say to these folks: Shut the hell up.

Just from a logical viewpoint, your reasoning is screwy. If you want to pick out corruption in the US government, the CIA is light years beyond any of the armed services in that category. Hell, even Congress is worse.

Am I saying that the US military is pure as the driven snow? Nope. But hyperbole like "the most corrupt institution in history" is ridiculous, and quite frankly, insults all the people--many of them liberals--that serve. I wonder what you people would say if DU's Hawker were to run for office. Would you treat him with as much suspicion and contempt just because he served in the Navy?

You want to hate Clark? Fine. Attack his viewpoints. But suggesting that he's unfit to be an elected official purely because he's a military man is as prejudiced and silly a position as those who whine that actors should keep their mouths shut about politics. Hell, you wanna know about corruption? Try getting a studio to make your feature.

Sheesh. And people wonder why military folks lean Repugnican.

Full disclosure: I am not, nor have I ever been, in the armed forces. And while I like Clark, I like Kerry and Dean and Kucinich, too. I'm just sick of this tinfoil hat "all military people are absolute evil" garbage.