The President of the United States is not our commander in chief

The president is commander in chief of the armed forces, not commander in chief of the country. It was Ronald Reagan, with his deep love of military pageantry, who introduced the modern cult of the “c-in-c,” and George H. W. Bush, who, unlike Reagan, had actually been in combat, continued the tradition. Son George W. was a war evader rather than a war hero, but history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce, right? And so now we are treated to the farce of the Republican candidates bellowing over whose ass is badder, what they’ll do when they’re c-in-c, when none of them has ever worn a uniform, and none of them knows what it’s like to be shot at.¹