In Colorado Springs on Wednesday, Barack Obama issued a call to national service. He lamented that after 9/11 “We were ready to step into the strong current of history, and to answer a new call for our country. But the call never came.” “We need to ease the burden on our troops, while meeting the challenges of the 21st century. That’s why I will call on a new generation of Americans to join our military, and complete the effort to increase our ground forces by 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines,” said Obama. In May, Obama delivered the commencement address at Wesleyan University on the theme of public service, but, as William Kristol wrote in the New York Times: