In article m,
Mark & Juanita wrote:
In article ,
says...
In article ,
"Kevin Singleton" wrote:
Laisser-faire attitude toward serving in the National Guard?
Better than running off to merry old England to avoid service, ain't it,
Andy?
Vietnam was the crucible which tested able-bodied male Boomers' metal.
Clinton's studying with Carroll Quigley, at Georgetown, may have
informed him of the criminal nature of our country's role there. While
his later proven lack of character can be attributed to his unfortunate
and dysfunctional upbringing, only God knows whether it was wisdom or
cowardice which got him to a correct response on Vietnam.
... so since Clinton is "your guy", his moral failings weren't his
fault, it was OK for him to play games with the reserves and write how
many like himself "loathed the military" (parse it as you will, I'm sure
your parsing of the phrase will be most favorable to Bill), and go to
England and participate in anti-US protests on foreign soil. For all
these things you are willing to provide Bill with an excuse and overlook
those failings.
Clinton ain't "my guy." Your factionalistic "divide and conquer" false
dichotomy only serves to cloud the discussion of proper values in
leadership. Each of the two major parties is rife with corruption. Face
up to it.
Whether rationalization or inspiration Clinton was against Vietnam.
He was not a hypocrite, therefore, when he dodged.
And he was correct in opposition to an egregious, irrefutably proven
crime against the American People and humanity.
Those who sent us to Vietnam after Lyndon Johnson "took" office lied to
us, got us killed, and are to blame for the deaths of millions of
innocent lives. This is not an abstract notion to be passed over in idle
chitchat. The "knitting" must be unravelled and the errors "corrected"
for American justice to be restored. Those unconcerned or opposed to a
reckoning on Vietnam within the Nation are in error.
Say whatever ill you wish of Bill Clinton - he certainly deserves to be
scorned - but the fact of the matter is he was smart enough to know at
the time we should not have been there.
Bush, on the other hand, violated an American taboo: with his
Congressman father's assistance he cut past the front of the line after
LBJ had ordered that no further Guard or Reserve units could be called
up for duty in S.E.Asia, and admittance had been closed.
Let's see, George Bush Sr. served as a congressman from 1966 to 1970,
LBJ was president only during 1966 to 1968, Richard Nixon was president
for the last term Bush Sr served as a congressman. Bush Jr didn't go
into the Guard until after he graduated in 1968, the final year of Bush
Sr's term, during which he was running for a Senate seat in Texas. LBJ
was no longer president, so your statement about not being called up for
duty in SE Asia seems irrelevant relative to who was in charge.
You seem to have negelected the son of another prominent
congresscritter whose daddy made sure he did not see combat, but was
able to serve as a correspondent rather than as a normal soldier. While
he did go to Vietnam, his tour was short and his duty was in as safe a
place as was possible.
Your quibbles and errors are manifest. Bush cut in line through "elite"
cheating. This is un-American. There is no equivalent to honorablly
serving the country under arms. Righteous leadership makes the
difference between cannon fodder and "Dulce et Decorum."
Bush has gotten away, so far, with the basest conduct any American man
during Vietnam could have chosen. If it were even a close call I'd look
in the library and refer you to a book or play to help you understand
"patriotism," " loyalty," "pride," "honor," "duty," "betrayal,"
"hypocrisy."
Gore, like Bush and Clinton, is also imperfect. He was, however, a
legitimate Vietnam Vet. He, unlike Bush, made the show. Other thousands
also served in his MOS. Do you wish to denigrate them as well?
Unlike many millions of others confronted by the same challenge, Bush
has no DD214 and his "Honorable Discharge" is not from the U.S. Armed
Forces.
Any veteran of the era might easily imagine this was critical in his
staying drunk for the next twenty years.
What, no excuses for him here or any other of the "passes" you were
willing to give Billy-boy above?
His father was "elect" at the time sending others to risk their lives in
Vietnam. Only the morally blind fail to see the "disconnect" when he
cheated his own son into a Vietnam-free pseudo-military charade.
His moral and patriotic failure at that time, while "other" Americans in
uniform bled for a lie his father helped develop,
LBJ escalated the war and then instituted such convoluted, self-
defeating rules of engagement that we never stood a chance of emerging
from that conflict victorious; Bush Sr. was only a congressman the last
two years of LBJ's term. How did Bush Sr exactly help "develop" this
lie?
LBJ was a "kept man." Do a little more study as to the power hierarchy
to which he was obedient. The Bushes are plugged-in a number of levels
above.
is only compounded by
his unmilitary lack of responsiveness to the events unfolding on the
morning of September 11, 2001...particularly since without WMD it stands
as the "reason" middle-aged Weekend Warriors, institutionally exempted
from combat while Bush got free flying lessons, are now being sent by
him to kill and die in Afghanistan and Iraq.
[...]misdirection snipped as unresponsive.
You are grossly "off-the-mark." Is it intentional? Why not honestly
respond to my last paragraph and ditch the casuistry?
No amount of Limbaughesque blather is going to change Bush's sow's ear
into a silk purse. Lies and delusions aren't "fun" when they get
innocent people killed and America in trouble. Those who got us into the
mistake and crime of Vietnam with lies and "tricks" are the same ones
running the present administration fronted by the worst of the Vietnam
dodgers...a coward so stupid he actually may think the vast majority
don't fully recognize him for what he is: a complete fraud.
You know what kind of people have no problem with crimes and lies?
Criminals and liars.
Birds of feather...
America must do better for our childrens' (particularly our sons')
sake.
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