The Republican War Against Vietnam Veterans

[reprehensor]

The Republican War Against Vietnam Veterans

First John McCain, then Max Cleland, now John Kerry: the Republican attack machine says Vietnam veterans are crazy and are frauds.

First they assaulted a U.S. Navy pilot shot down over North Vietnam who was imprisoned and tortured for five long years. Shadowy Republican groups whispered he was mentally unfit to be President of the United States because he had been a POW in Vietnam. The rumor spread and spread. They said he had a Black baby and he was morally unfit to hold political office. The propaganda was sneaky and relentless, eventually undermining John McCain’s credibility and his bid to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. The winner was George W. Bush.

Then they went after a man who lost three limbs--two legs and one arm--on the bloody battlefield of South Vietnam. First in Georgia and then nationally--highlighted by Ann Coulter, a volcano of hate toward veterans--the machine proclaimed that Max Cleland made no sacrifices for America and should not be respected. The man lost three limbs in Vietnam! And Cleland lost his Senate seat to a tough Republican patriot who somehow missed the fighting in Vietnam. Those Republicans sure know how to fight a war.

Among veterans, the smearing and defeat of Max Cleland is referred to as the “Shame of George.” As for John McCain, the dirty tricks that brought him down still burn strong inside his soul. They burn on top of the torture scars from Vietnam.

In both campaigns, Republicans sought not to educate the public but to create doubt in voters, not to discuss the issues, but to undermine the character and reputation of two honorable men. Republicans twisted John McCain's and then Max Cleland's heroic service in Vietnam into a political liability here in America and rendered both men ineffective politically. Two combat veterans defeated by men who supported the Vietnam War--George Bush and Saxby Chambliss--yet hid behind deferments so they would not have to fight in the war. Two honorable American veterans defeated by a ruthless, effective Republican propaganda machine of political dirt.

snip

This is your country, not the country of these Chickenhawk Republicans. But you must be willing to fight for your country, as did John McCain, Max Cleland, and John Kerry, or it will become their country. And then America will no longer be America.

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Emailed this to my neighbor

who is a veteran and active in Veterans for Peace.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maddy McCall]

2. What an awesome editorial...

everyone MUST read this! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Sparkly]

3. Very good -- and remember they did it to Gore and Clark as well

Gore also volunteered, but because he was an army journalist, they decided he was a coward; they claimed he had a "bodyguard" (like that would have done anything anyway!); they claimed he wasn't there long, as if there was no credit in being there at all. It was easy to die there the first day.

Clark, they claimed, was an "opportunist," a word they applied to Kerry when Clark was no longer a threat. Again, they say he wasn't in Vietnam long enough (he came home on a stretcher too early to merit their respect, gee sorry!), and claim he didn't earn his fourth star but somehow fanagled it.

This is a pattern.

[Piperay]

4. Done! nt

:thumbsup:

[NegSpin]

5. Always happens

Republicans LOVVVVVE veterans so much. But get a veteran to run against them, THEN veterans are frauds, war criminals, liars.

Why in the world would any veteran go with the Republicans, especially the current generation of chickenhawks who treat them like pawns in war, cut their benefits, hide their funerals, then desecrate the flag they fought for by wrapping themselves in it?

[newyawker99]

11. Hi NegSpin!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[fdr_hst_fan]

14. As Charlie Chan would say, "Contradiction, please!"

Repukes do NOT love veterans; if they DID, they WOULDN'T be cutting veterans' benefits, now, would they? For the Repukes, veterans are a means to an end, like prostitutes or young boys!

[Democat]

6. This is the kind of thing Kerry and MoveOn need to tie to Bush

When the Swift Boat ads run, people need to see Bush attacking war veterans.

Bush is calling Vietnam Vets baby killers!

[iwantmycountryback]

7. Such a joke

None of these frauds have the cajones to go into a war they support but do have the money to avoid service, yet they demonize people who have been wounded and lost limbs in a war and have been a POW. Utterly disgraceful. How do they live with themselves?:shrug:

[rkc3]

9. They sleep at night because we let them.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. kick

[mzmolly]

10. I was just thinking this today! I think it's rather "unpatriotic" to

critique our Government and our Military in this manner. ;)

[gollygee]

12. That is an amazing article

I am going to send a link to a few veterans I know who are undecided voters.

[david_vincent]

15. Forgot one thing

When mentioning Cleland's defeat, it should be borne in mind that the results of that election stink to high heaven. Chambliss won through election rigging, plain and simple. Remember, democracy is dead in the state of Georgia. Yee haawwww!

[MadMichDem]

16. Please Help!

I want to send this article to my Repug Vietnam Vet brother in law but I can't get the link to work. Tried to cut & paste and no luck. Can anyone help me with this? Not the most computer savvy person in the world.....

Thanks much!

[NightOwwl]

17. Here is the link in text format:

Either copy and paste, or type directly into the 'Address' bar of your browser (don't include the quote marks and do not add the www prefix.) It's a slow loading site, so be patient. Hope this works for you.

"interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=840"

[MadMichDem]

19. Thanks, NightOwwl

Hopefully, I can manage to paste this. Brother in law has been sending lots of RW trash :mad: to my ABB R hubby and it's time to start sending him some facts! :)

[shraby]

20. Go to the article

then copy/paste the address. The ones on du are truncated.

[reprehensor]

18. Bump.