Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle_Ted
Why do you hate our troops? You think our soldiers who are under 21 are not mature and responsible enough to choose whether to drink alcohol? I'll bet you voted for John Kerry in 2004. You must want the terrorists to win!
OK, all joking aside, how exactly is that "the dumbest argument ever made"?
The argument is that when a person reaches 18 we consider that person responsible enough to be a full-fledged "adult". We allow that person to vote. We allow them freedom to choose to join the military and die for their country. We consider them sufficiently responsible to be held fully accountable under the criminal laws for their behavior (and 18 is no longer a magic number ... thousands or people are serving life sentences for crimes committed when they were as young as 14). In short, they are allowed to make any decision they want to about their lives except one ... they cannot legally choose to drink a beer. |
I can see the validity of all the other points. But it's been my experience that when anyone plays the "I can die for my country but can't get a beer" card, they have no inclination whatsoever about joining the military. If that's really the issue, then let's just make it legal for all servicemembers to drink and that should satisfy the outrage.