Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Re “The
Technicality Generation,” by Larry Pressler (Op-Ed, May 19):

I doubt that I am the only reader to be offended by Mr. Pressler’s
dismissal of principled resistance to military service during the war in
Vietnam. Idealism and self-interest might have converged for many young
Americans, but Mr. Pressler has no claim to judge anybody’s motives.
Apart from conscientious objector status (granted only on fairly narrow
grounds), one’s other choices were expatriation, hiding or prison.

Many idealistic people, opposed to the war, believed that they could do
more for their country by staying to work legally in good causes, rather
than leaving or becoming criminals at home.

It’s wrong to suggest that Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of
Connecticut, who is running for the United States Senate, represents a
generation that hid behind an inauthentic but convenient idealism. If
there’s a tragedy, it’s that he felt compelled to construct a false
biography when the truth was perfectly honorable.

David Sabritt
Seattle, May 19, 2010