Do As I Say .Bush lets down his Guard

[jbfam4]

Do As I Say
Bush lets down his Guard.
By William Saletan
Posted Thursday, Sept. 16, 2004, at 10:42 PM PT

http://slate.msn.com/id/2106833/
This week, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry addressed the annual conference of the National Guard Association. Neither man talked about Bush's service in the Guard, and the officers in attendance made clear that they wanted to hear about Iraq, not Vietnam. But one issue leads to the other. Bush's abuse of the Guard in Iraq is what makes his abuse of the Guard during Vietnam an important consideration in this election.



In short, Bush has pulled Guard troops away from their homeland security duties to fight and die in a war unrelated to the service for which they enlisted. A guardsman who did less than he signed up for is coercing other guardsmen to do more than they signed up for.
Most Guard officers, however, refuse to admit that their institution is being abused. They gave Bush standing ovations on Tuesday when he told them that "you're fighting terrorist enemies in Iraq" and that the war was "necessary to defend America."

Kerry brought them a different message. "Far too many of you have been on the ground for far too long, much longer than was expected or promised," he reminded them Thursday. "Many of you are our first responders here at home: fire fighters, police officers, and emergency medical technicians. To take you out of your communities is to take down our critical first line of defense. That's no way to protect America." What response did Kerry get? Silence.

Those brave, loyal, hoodwinked guardsmen. They think Bush is one of them. They don't understand that the only presidential candidate who's done the job they're doing now—risking life and shedding blood—is the guy on the other side.

[glitch]

1. Silence sometimes indicates deeper thought - I wouldn't go by it

"Many of you are our first responders here at home: fire fighters, police officers, and emergency medical technicians. To take you out of your communities is to take down our critical first line of defense. That's no way to protect America." What response did Kerry get? Silence.

And I would've titled this
"Bush Lets Down Our Guard"

[jbfam4]

4. "Bush Lets Down Our Guard"

Much better title The author's title is misleading. I hope you are right about "Silence sometimes indicates deeper thought."

[Catfight]

2. I like that headline: Bush lets down his Guard. He sure did, and his

country.

[smirkymonkey]

3. This just depresses me beyond belief.

I am sorry, but this nation is under the strange, horrifying spell of George W. Bush* and I don't know if I can take it anymore.

[knowbody0]

5. the guard

these guys are absolutely disciplined and completely committed to THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF. that is on the outside. they are very intelligent. have faith in your fellow man. bush's war games are critiqued, you can bet on that. same as the guys on the ground. im from the viet nam erra, and it took so long to end our idiotic occupation there, but now you can't get OUT of the service, and this war has far too many casualties. they all question what the f they are there for. trust that.

[KoKo]

6. It took us over 20 years to get out of Viet Nam! How long do you think

this one will take? :crazy:

[northzax]

7. of course * got a standing ovation from the Guard

he's their commander in chief. it's basically their job to applaud him for putting his pants on the right way forward. It's the military, respect for command is drilled in from day one. We have an increasingly politicised military, the one thing the founding fathers feared more than almost anything, a political military. Once that process starts, the military becomes more and more powerful, and less and less accountable to civilian oversight (if it's a republican, they are trained to salute and applaud, if it's a democrat, the same pressures apply in the other direction. Remember this is a self selecting group. Not only are these people in the Guard, they bothered to go to the convention, and they are not the ones in Iraq. Why risk pissing Bush off and having your unit be the next one sent to some godforsaken part of the world to get shot at?