…from David Brooks in today’s New York Times:

“My own instinct is that we need an ambitious national service program to demystify the military for the next generation of Americans.”

I’m no enthusiast for any “national service” schemes – for any number of reasons – but if what Brooks is talking about is obligatory national service (and I think he is), he could not be more wrong. Americans are not the property of their government. It’s that simple. Period.