On Sep 30, 2005, at 2:47 PM:
This was sent to me by a friends...Interesting and disgusting both.
Is it true???
And if so, does anybody see any hypocrisy here?
Democrats:
* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star &Bronze Star, Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and Sol dier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
*! Pete St ark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star &DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received #311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.
Republicans -- These are the guys sending people to war:
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not! serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem," although continued in NFL for 8 years.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role making movies.
Pundits &Preachers:
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
* Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
* Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot back.)
* John Wayne: did not serve.
Please keep this information circulating.
Sen. Howard W. Carroll
The above is true -
Many have been hollering about this since 2000, but few seem to pay attention. If you are prepared to really be disgusted, have a look at the campaign that Saxby Chambliss ran against Max Cleland in Georgia for US Senate in 2002 - and won. Saxby, who never served his country (had a "trick knee"), infamously ran campaign ads comparing Cleland (who lost three limbs in Vietnam) to Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. Unfortunately and unbelievably, too many rednecks believed his hypocrisy to see thru the fraud:
In my opinion, our country is in grave danger and on the precipice (along with Britain) of becoming a totally fascist corporate state, dedicated to the unholy profits of the unaccountable, greedy few who are well on the way to enslaving the rest of us if they can get away with it. Try exercising your US citizen rights, guaranteed by the constitution in Washington (and many other places) to protest these days, and you may be hustled off to jail as Cindy Sheehan just was on some technicality or other. And, in Britain the other day, an 82 year old delegate to a Labour Party convention was grabbed by a couple of security 'toughies' after he had the unmitigated gall to shout the word 'nonsense' in protest as the British Foreign Secretary tried to justify the British presence in Iraq. He was then briefly and absurdly detained under the British "Terrorism Act". (Hint: Watch the video!)
The point is that the powers that be these days are desperate to hold onto control and stifle dissent any way they can, both here and in Britain. Unbelievably, we have become the draconian "Russia of the new millennium"! In other words:
" . . on this very ground, with small flags waving and tiny blasts of tiny trumpets, we have met the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us."
- Pogo (by Walt Kelly)
To many, including sometimes myself, these words seem like some kind of polemical diatribe - but really, I am apolitical. I have never classified myself as "Democrat" or "Republican" - and never liked labels. And, if I tallied all my voting over the years (I've never missed even once, and always split my ticket - until recently), I am sure I would find that I have voted for more Republicans than Democrats.
But, I am for "truth, justice and the American Way", none of which seem to be much in evidence these days. Problem is, not many people take the trouble to seriously look into this hypocrisy, or "check under the rocks" - and many get all caught up in the flaming rhetoric pumped out by these lying, deceitful fraudulent bastards. The hope is now it has gotten so very bad that even the dummies are waking up. I have right many 'right wing' friends who are appalled at what is being done in our name, to our country by the people now in charge.
"It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry for blood, more vengeance. More desolation."
- William Tecumseh Sherman
"Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot back.)"
ReplyDeleteIn all fairness to Ted, he has, as a libertarian, publicly taken the position that no one should be forced to serve, nor should the U.S. commit forces to any conflict other than in response to unprovoked assault against the U.S. territory (which hasn't happened since, oh, I think the War of 1812 . . .)
You're right about the vast majority of Republicans, though; the hypocrisy of their position on war is absolutely nauseating. Ditto for the brainless American masses who worship Smirking Chimp, the vast majority of whom have never served either and are all too happy to see someone else's sons and daughters die to liberate the Middle East for cheap oil.
I should be clear that I don't hold anything against those who have refused to serve (I say this as someone who spent nearly two decades in the USN). If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't, given that most of what the U.S. armed forces do has nothing to do with legitimate national defense. Those who refused to serve, but who do not demand that others put themselves in harm's way at least have a shred of integrity. Where I do get draw the line, however, is with the neocon chickenhawks who dodge service, then demand that others make the sacrifices they themselves refused to make. There's a special place in the bowels of hell for creatures such as these.
Amen. I too must agree with Mr. Nugent that no one should be forced to serve. I wasn't of this exact opinion during the Vietnam years, but have had a good bit of time to rethink things since then - and my position has mellowed considerably.
ReplyDeleteNow, I am willing to consider that maybe some of those who refused to serve and even left the country to avoid serving might have been a little more politically clued into the facts than me, big dumb jarhead that I was.
But the absolute heighth of hypocrisy are those who were never motivated to do their bit when they might have, and actively avoided doing so, and now have the unmitigated gall to insist on sending today's young troopers off on this futile mission - and even condemn as 'unpatriotic' those who object to this utterly stupid war in Iraq.
Unfortunately, too many from both major parties are all too guilty of this, though there does certainly seem to be a high preponderance from the "Neo-Con" wing of things these days. I will never forgive any politician of either party who has supported this illegal and unnecessary war.
Perhaps one answer might be that no politician should be allowed to vote on sending anyone into harm's way unless they themselves, or one of their own children were in line or in the military and subject to being sent. It is appalling that only one member of Congress has a child serving as an enlisted person in the military today! Only ONE!
And, if I a choice to serve over again, I wouldn't either - except for the unsurpassed comaraderie developed by brothers in arms - two many of mine who fell in SE Asia while serving in place of today's bleating Chickenhawks!