> On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 11:49 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> > [from The Note]
> >
> > "Obama plans
> > to use speeches and campaign events to reinforce his patriotic image
> > to America by evoking his grandparent's military background.
>
> Lame! Whose grandparents DON'T have military backgrounds? The Swiss'
> and Costa Ricans'?
Joseph,
Well the Swiss have universal military service and you used to get to bring your gun home. (I think you still do.) So all males, and today even many females, in Switzerland serve in the armed forces. (If we in the U.S. were allowed to take home our machine guns after serving in the armed forces universal military service would probably be much more respectable.) So to answer your question it would be very hard to find even one Swiss citizen who doesn't have a grandparent with a military background.
Sorry to be pedantic, but universal military service and an armed citizenry was an important principle of old time radical republicanism, so I thought I would take note.
Jerry
>
>
> --
> "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure
> mægen lytlað."
>
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>
-- Jerry Monaco's Philosophy, Politics, Culture Weblog is Shandean Postscripts to Politics, Philosophy, and Culture http://monacojerry.livejournal.com/
His fiction, poetry, weblog is Hopeful Monsters: Fiction, Poetry, Memories http://www.livejournal.com/users/jerrymonaco/
Notes, Quotes, Images - From some of my reading and browsing http://www.livejournal.com/community/jerry_quotes/