Reply
Fri 18 Nov, 2005 09:15 am
Military Service Records Of U.S. Politicians and Opinion Leaders
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.
Paraplegic from war injuries. Served in Congress.
* 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
Soldier'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 Stark: 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 AirMedal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul
Wallenberg.
Republicans -- and these are the guys sending our 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.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non- combat role making
movies.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Vietnam POW, 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 as quarterback.
* 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.
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.
* John Wayne: 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.)
Where is that picture of the guy saying "Not this crap again!"
And mosty all those democrats in the Congress voted to authorize the President to wage war.
That must be the point of the post. Military people approved the use of military action.
Thank BBB.
House or Representatives has 95 vets, 58 of whom are Repulican. 15 combat vest, 7 or whom are Republican.
Senate has 33 vet, 18 of whom are Republican. 8 combate vets, half of whom are Republican.
You missed a few on you list of "did not serve"
Ted Kennedy
Bill Clinton
Hilary Clinton
Harry Reid
Nancy Polosi
And a few on the "did serve" list
McCain
Powell ring any bells?
There are lots more.
You padded your Rebublican list in a ridiculous manner. I could add some silly names too, like Michael Moore, for example.
I'm sure we could go on and on and on like this forever - it's a silly, useless exercise. There are fewer veterans on Congress than ever, on both sides of the political aisle. If you would like to discuss something, fine, but at least be honest in your little lists, which I'm sure you came up with all by yourself with no help from a handy cut/paste.
As for Mr. Limbaugh's "pilonidal cyst," i would note that that was an occupational hazard of truck and tank drivers in the Army, and the surgical hospitals at which i was stationed always had enough of them around for a separate ward, along with the hemorrhoid sufferers--we always called it "the dirty @sshole ward" . . . pretty damned feeble, Rush . . .
AliceInWonderland wrote:House or Representatives has 95 vets, 58 of whom are Repulican. 15 combat vest, 7 or whom are Republican.
Senate has 33 vet, 18 of whom are Republican. 8 combate vets, half of whom are Republican.
You missed a few on you list of "did not serve"
Ted Kennedy
Bill Clinton
Hilary Clinton
Harry Reid
Nancy Polosi
And a few on the "did serve" list
McCain
Powell ring any bells?
There are lots more.
BBB wrote:
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
...
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but
received #311.
...
* John McCain: Vietnam POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit,
Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
Polosi and Hillary are non-issues, since it appears that all women were ignored except for those who served.
She did not address Harry Reid or Colin Powell.
Of course you left out Republicans left and right who did serve; which, considering your usual one sided nature BBB does not surprise me. Odd how you neglected to mention Heather Wilson, Congresswoman from New Mexico or George H.W. Bush or Gerald Ford or Bob Dole or Tom Ridge or John Warner or several others. Not so odd how you neglected to mention your sweetie pie Michael Moore. What has Moore ever done FOR his country? He ought to be hung from a clothes line and whipped. Additionally it is not at all out of the ordinary for you BBB to omit names of Democrats and left-leaning commentators who never served...not one second and did not even enlist in the National Guard. Why is it you continually allow Bill Clinton his behavior in avoiding service but then attack those who at least were in the Guard?
Again, none of what you have done this round surprises me BBB; you are a bitter old anti-American full of spite and venom with no solutions nor even a willingness to be part of a solution. You would much rather sit back and whine about what you perceive as being wrong without ever lifting a finger to change it.
As for me, I was drafted and I showed up but due to a physical impairment I was dismissed. Did I quit or run? No. I looked to see what I could do for my country and I became a civilian employee for the Army for a period of four years. Again BBB, I need to know, what have you done to help or show support.
Why the Chickenhawk Point Is Valid
Why the Chickenhawk Point Is Valid
Stephen Kaus
11.18.2005
Rep. John Murtha made a widely reported speech Thursday about Iraq. Whether or not you agree with his call for immediate withdrawal, he was certainly correct with his disdain for Cheney, Wolfowitz and the others who conceived the war, but had never been in the military themselves. This is the AP description:
"Underscoring the rising emotions of the war debate, Murtha uncharacteristically responded to Vice President Dick Cheney's comments this week that Democrats were spouting "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges" about the Bush administration's use of intelligence before the war.
"I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there," said Murtha, a former Marine. "I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."
The warbloggers went crazy. Hugh Hewitt said, "That's fever swamp stuff, the old "chickenhawk" charge that would be equally applicable to hundreds of Democrats in Congress as well as great war time leaders like FDR. It discredits the Congressman, not his targets. Murtha's 30+ years in the Marines make him a great American. But he's a lousy Congressman today and a cheap shot artist to boot." (Instapundit linked to this earlier today, but for some reason the link is gone.)
Let me try to explain this. It appears that those who pushed and operated this war were very cavalier with the lives of our servicemen. First, there was a rush to war that was not necessary for its stated purpose, but could be explained by the neo-cons' near-religious belief that a good ass-whipping of Sadaam would be a panacea for the Middle East undoubtedly synergizing with the President's pique at the assassination attempt on 41. Second, there were too few troops with too little protection. Third, continuing the faith-based theme, there was virtually no planning, it appears, for what to do as occupiers beyond the belief expressed on Meet the Press by Vice-President Cheney that "we will be greeted as liberators."
So, the point is that it is particularly galling when the people who have put American lives at greater risk than necessary have never taken the risk themselves. That is not to say that one must have been in the service to be a war-time leader. It is to say that the leaders who botched this war should have been as concerned about our soldiers' lives as they previously were about their own. Additionally, as far as I know, Cheney has never discussed his failure to serve beyond saying that he had "other priorities." We know considerably more about Bill Clinton's attempts to smoke hashish.
Sturgis
Sturgis, the list is not mine; I only posted it.
You and anyone else is welcome to add the names and service status of anyone they wish that might not be on the list I found.
BBB
Interesting (but not at all surprising) how once more BBB ignores what has been said to her.
I spoke too soon...
sort of....
Sturgis
Sturgis, no problem. I'm sometimes guilty of speaking before my brain is engaged.
BBB
There is definite problem in the political system that let cowards get to the top of the food chain where by natural selection they would be at the bottom of the food chain.
talk72000 wrote:There is definite problem in the political system that let cowards get to the top of the food chain where by natural selection they would be at the bottom of the food chain.
Well that is what I always said about Bill Clinton...
Sturgis
Sturgis wrote:talk72000 wrote:There is definite problem in the political system that let cowards get to the top of the food chain where by natural selection they would be at the bottom of the food chain.
Well that is what I always said about Bill Clinton...
Hold still while I wash your mouth out!
BBB :wink:
When we change the rules for being the commander-in-chief to include past military experience, lists like this may actually mean something. Until that time it remains a testament to vapid partisonship and a poor understanding of what America is really about.
I take back what I said earlier, BBB - it's better when you just cut and paste.
http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,Galloway_062304,00.html
Who speaks with more authority?
On how a television works: Someone who's watched TV, or someone who's repaired one?
On what it's like to compete in the Olympics: Someone who took gymnastics in college, or someone who's actually competed?
On the process of writing: An editor, or an author?
There are some things that are worth the lives of American soldiers. I do not happen to think that reconstructing Iraq is one of them.
There are some things that are so morally reprehensible that I cannot even begin to imagine how someone might undertake them. Presenting intelligence that is known to be flawed as if it were gospel in order to start a war in furtherance of a political agenga is one of them.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace