LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS

From amNewYork's cover story on a plan to do more aggressive miltary recruiting at New York schools:

Citing national security concerns, an Army spokeswoman would not reveal the total number of recruiters assigned to the city.

Yeah -- Valerie Plame's undercover status? No problem. This information? Forget it -- don't you know there's a war on?



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By the way, the more I read about military recruiting these days, the more it concerns me. You know, of course, that the No Child Left Behind law gives military recruiters access to detailed information about high school students unless their parents take measures to "opt out" of the recruiting process.

I'm intrigued by the parallels betaween the military and a certain other group that's said to "recruit" the young. As many fine conservative thinkers have pointed out, gay people choose to engage in the behavior that defines their "lifestyle." And, as conservative thinkers such as Ben Shapiro have recently noted, military service in this country is also a choice:

The favored ad hominem attack of the left these days is "chickenhawk." The argument goes something like this: If you believe in any of the wars America is currently fighting, you must join the military....

The "chickenhawk" argument is dishonest. It is dishonest because the principle of republicanism is based on freedom of choice about behavior (as long as that behavior is legal) as well as freedom of speech about political issues.

I'm wondering whether we're giving the Pentagon special rights -- including the right to recruit our children -- strictly because of voluntary behavior. That wouldn't be right, would it?