Rand Paul: Every Government Worker in Uniform is a Hero

by Ryan W. McMaken, LRC Blog
Feb. 05, 2013

Following Ron Paul's truth-telling about the tragic outcomes that are sure to come from time spent in a military where rape, suicide, domestic abuse and general killing are widespread, Sen. Rand Paul immediately took the easy way out and declared that "Chris Kyle was a hero like all Americans who don the uniform to defend our country," [Emphasis mine.]

Yes, every American soldier is a hero, just like the Bronze-Star-winning Timothy McVeigh and the Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. And don't forget all the heroes at Mai Lai.

"The Army," McVeigh said "taught him how to switch off his emotions."

Now, I'm not claiming that all or even most soldiers are like Timothy McVeigh, but to claim, as Rand Paul has done, that every soldier is a hero, is contemptible and shows a probably-invincible ignorance of history. Rand Paul, however, whose full time job now seems to be pandering to neocons shouldn't fear that his words will be examined for every possible meaning, as is the case with his father's tweets. No, as long as one errs on the side of sycophantic praise of the government in the form of its armed agents, then all is fine.