The 9/11 Generation

(Red Skirt also here)

They could have been as self-absorbed as many in their parents' generation. As they were growing up, there was Bill Clinton, making oral sex a household word, and junk email porn on school computers. Teachers showed R-rated movies in class to babysit kids, while admonishing parents for letting them watch the irreverent Bart Simpson and South Park at home. Kids learned less in school than they could have, but that was OK--self-esteem reigned in urban and suburban schools alike.

Liberals claimed they were doing everything "for the children", while pushing adulthood at younger and younger ages.

The feminized schools made war on this generation of boys.

Then came 9/11.

Now those boys and some girls have gone to war to protect feminists, liberals and the American way of life. They have grown up fast. And apparently they have learned a few things, despite the NEA, maybe some history in the making. Our children are now men and women, and many of them are not only more practical, but more patriotic than their parents.

Of course a number of Boomers remained childless by choice. And it could be that many of those other Boomers who rocked the cradle had a rock-solid appreciation of this country and our freedoms. Before the 2004 election there were rumors of a draft, fanned by Rep. Charlie Rangel (who, along with other liberals, thinks of soldiers as baby killers), with false concern that our "children" would be going to war. Of course in Beslan, the terrorists slaughtered hundreds of children in their school. No safety there.

But those who choose to join our military do not view themselves as less than adults, or victims, despite the Democrats' best efforts to demean them. Our military remains all volunteer and largely mirrors the country. Dean Barnett, The Weekly Standard, on "The 9/11 Generation", a story which has unsurprisingly been underreported in the MSM:

Colonel Schlichter talks about the soldiers he commands with unvarnished admiration. He has 20-year-olds serving under him who have earned combat badges. As to why these young men are willingly and eagerly putting themselves in harm's way, Schlichter flatly declares, "The direction comes from themselves. They like to be challenged."

In Chicago, Mayor Daley's son gets his MBA and joins the Army. The adopted son of a radical, antiwar Chicago priest enlists. A kid from suburban Wilmette gets a ROTC scholarship from the Marines to study in that hippie haven of yesteryear, the University of Wisconsin. A number of those aging Boomer protesters are on the faculty now. New college graduates have already shipped out this summer.

What accounts for this generational shift? I recall a debate between two contenders for an open Congressonal seat. It was prior to the 2000 election. One candidate said we didn't need nuclear weapons, nor did Israel, as our oceans would protect us. (I thought, does this woman take the QEII to Europe? Maybe Amtrak to visit relatives.). The other candidate strongly disagreed. The first lost. Her name is Lauren Beth Gash, Dem leader and clueless Boomer. The winning candidate was Mark Kirk in the 10th, now in his 4th term.

We were attacked on our soil on 9/11, the first time since Pearl Harbor when the Greatest Generation stepped up. We fought back in Afghanistan and now in Iraq. Since then we have learned of the brutal treatment of women by radical Islam, the rise of anti-Semitism around the world, and our own home-grown risk. We could be attacked again.

The 9/11 generation is taking on Al Qaeda.