What is all this nonsense about us electing a “commander in chief”?

[kpete]

To Hell with the Chief!
By Dave Lindorff

What is all this nonsense about us electing a “commander in chief”?

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The idea that Americans, when they go to the polls, whether in a primary or in a general election, are choosing a commander in chief, as our feckless media pundits are wont to tell us, or as candidates running for president are fond of saying in these trying times, is not only overwrought rhetoric—it is downright dangerous, and idiotic too.

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America doesn’t need a commander in chief. It needs a wise, level-headed leader who has the courage to acknowledge that you can’t solve problems by throwing ordnance at them, the courage to tell the citizens of the country that we don’t need to spend $1 trillion a year on war and preparations for war, and that in fact, if we cut that spending by two-thirds or three-fourths, we’d still have the mightiest military in the world—and more importantly, a much stronger society and economy.

What America needs is a president who sees the military as an option of last resort, not an option of first resort.

Let’s banish this commander in chief nonsense from the campaign. Bush has already made the title laughable. That is the response we should have when we hear someone say that title in public

A guffaw.
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DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. HIs latest book is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2007 and now available in paperback). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

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