Elizabeth Edwards: disabled unqualified to work

Folks who have even mild disabilities barring them from military service would naturally be barred from all other work. At least, that would be the natural extension of logic, were we to take Elizabeth Edwards at her word:

My classmates went to Vietnam, he did not. He was 4F. He had a medical disability, the same medical disability that probably should have stopped him from spending a lifetime in a radio announcer’s chair; but it is true, isn’t it? If he has an inoperable position that allows him not to serve, presumably it should not allow him to sit for long periods of time the way he does.

I gather that Mrs. Edwards had never heard of doughnut cushions, or of ergonomic chairs, or of sitting funny? Try taking any of these options through boot camp, let alone into battle!

(Quit snickering, people, or drop and give me twenty.)


More to the point, Edwards (inadvertently, I hope) implies that people who are physically incapable of soldiering therefore have no right to any job, even the cushy ones where you just sit sideways and talk into a microphone.

For the record, Snopes clarifies that Limbaugh was not initially 4-F, but 1-Y (he could only be called up in case of national emergency).

My father was 4-F, for the genetic back problem which plagues two of his offspring today, and for being blind as a fruitbat without thick spectacles -- and those only eased, but didn't correct, the problem. There was no way in all the netherworld that Pop could have served in the field, or even, for that matter, survived basic training. He managed, nonetheless, to stand, several hours every day, to teach college students the basics of physics, mathematics, astronomy, and several other subjects as the need arose on campus. And, he managed to keep a pretty good eye on his teen-aged daughters, through those thick lenses. He's still contributing to society today, in his mid-to-late-70s.

Now, I know most people who are launching in on Mrs. Silky Pony are challenging her husband to put up his military service records, or both of them shut up. But his records don't matter any more than do those of Limbaugh. None of these three has a real dog in that fight.

The real issue is, does she have the right to a job in her future -- as First Lady or any position other than one involving no walking or talking -- if she keeps putting her foot in her mouth and chewing so vigorously?

HT: McQ at QandO