SACRAMENTO, CA - Gen. Eric Shineski, the Army's chief of staff, recently issued an order that, as of June 11, 2000, the black beret of America's elite commando forces, special force, and airborne units will become the standard issue headgear for the nation's armed forces. The Army bills it as a fashion decision but there's a principle involved that extends far beyond the military.

On Omaha Beach, the Ardennes, Inchon, Da Nang, and the sands of Kuwait, the United States has learned by
experience that if you don't go into combat with your best, you have two choices: bluff or fold. So you go
with the best. Unfortunately, not all members of the United States military can be the best, a seeming
stranglehold on the obvious but necessary to state in the age of political correctness.

"This is the dumbest decision the Army has made since Custer's last stand," said Jim Grimshaw, a retired
major and president of the U.S. Army Ranger Association. "This [the black beret] is a treasured
symbol you should have to earn versus just giving it away." He should know.

Those who wear the black beret earned it by being better marksmen, stronger, faster, smarter, and tougher
than the rank and file. The U.S. Army Rangers not only must excel at every facet of warfare but be able to
survive off the land by eating rats, snakes, and insects. These are the people you send when you want
the job done right. You don't get into this group by being the son of a general or a politician, or by being
Hispanic, white, a Pacific Islander, or "other." You earn your spot though merit and performance that simply
cannot be faked. This kind of excellence can't be given away or made more widespread through an order, which is what the Army is trying to do. "It is time for the entire Army to accept the challenge of excellence that
has so long been a hallmark of our special operations and airborne units," said Gen. Shineski in his order.
It's the equivalent of the Dodo's dictum in Alice in Wonderland that everybody has won and we all must have
prizes. It is as though David Stern decreed that all National Basketball Association teams will be
champions, and every player an all-star. It is the equivalent of social promotion, advancing undeserving
students to the next grade lest they not feel good about themselves.

Equality before God and the law are desirable but otherwise no two human beings are equal. Jeanne
Kirkpatrick is a better diplomat than Strobe Talbot. Tiger Woods is a better golfer than David Duval. Thomas
Sowell is a better writer than Molly Ivins.

And as recent events show, those who earn the black beret are smarter than those now running our military.
They would never, for example, send soldiers to guard the USS Cole without issuing them with ammunition and
orders to fire on terrorists armed with a boatload of explosives. The actual sentries had neither, and this
is why terrorists were able to cripple the ship and kill 17 Americans.

Maintaining the security of the United States is one of the primary roles of government. But political
correctness is now a matter of life and death.

- K. Lloyd Billingsley