Military One-Upmanship [LA Times says it is time to "move on" re Vietnam]

LA Times ^ | 2.13.04

[ambrose]

EDITORIAL

Military One-Upmanship

February 13, 2004

Now that the White House has released a copy of a Jan. 6, 1973, dental exam with a chart of President Bush's teeth when he was at the Dannelly Field Air National Guard base in Alabama, it must come as a relief to dentists ? and other Americans ? to learn that Bush was taking good care of his choppers as a young man.

This is the so-called best that the still-young presidential race is offering. The White House desperately tries to rebut Democratic charges that the president failed to fulfill his service in the National Guard. Republicans seek to portray Vietnam vet John Kerry, who won a Silver Star, as a traitor for joining the antiwar movement. The loser is the public.

[ambrose]

So, after a couple of weeks of being pounded nonstop, the Republicans finally hit back and point out Kerry's treasonous activities after the war. Now the Slimes wants to call a time out.

Right.

They're so freepin' transparent at times...

[Fledermaus]

This was the Kerry strategy from the beginning...get ugly on Bush and then when Bush fights back, call a "time out" and "drop it all" so Bush (and his stupid new tone) won't get any traction attacking Kerry's IMMEDIATE post-Vietnam stance!

It won't play. Not as long as Rush and Hannity and Liddy and others are hammering it home.

[weegee]

The media was dragged into this fight regarding John Kerry's post-service Vietnam War activities.

They ran with the disproven AWOL allegations (again initiated by Terry McAuliffe) without hesitation.

The photos of Kerry and Jane Fonda are uncovered (and validated by both) and now Big Media wants to drop this story to cover another tale of adultery.

The Democrat faithful will dismiss a sex scandal but yellow dog veterans may have had a hard time voting for a man who branded the US military as "baby killers" with his testimony before Congress.

[onyx]

I actually wasted my time reading the whole article, when all I really should have done was to read your comments.

In two sentences, you summarized their entire rant.

[weegee]

These photos were being seen by the public:

Let's keep it up.

[onyx]

YES! A photo is worth, how many votes?

[goldstategop]

What's sauce for the Democratic goose is gravy for the Republican gander. No wonder the Times is upset the guns are swinging back on John F Kerry. Awww... and its only the tip of the proverbial iceberg!

[weegee]

I don't know how many votes but a photo like that is worth at least a thousand words more than an LA Times editorial.

[FairOpinion]

There is another interesting excerpt from the article: "But whom did it help to have Clinton crony and Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe accusing Bush of being "AWOL" during his Guard service? "George Bush," he said, "never served in our military in our country." But Bush did serve and was honorably discharged. The only thing ever in question was whether he showed up for the final months of his term.

Lost in the charges is that a president's use of military force can't be accurately predicted on the basis of his military record. Clinton didn't serve in the military but sent troops into major interventions abroad, including in Bosnia and Kosovo. Bush has sent troops to fight wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

What ought to matter are what candidates propose for today's troops and what presidents do with them in order to avoid new Vietnams.

[FairOpinion]

"What ought to matter are what candidates propose for today's troops and what presidents do with them in order to avoid new Vietnams. "

==

And we know what Kerry would do:

"I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations."

-- John Kerry, 1970 Harvard Cromson interview
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1075941/posts

"I will treat the United Nations as a full partner -- not as an obstruction to get by -- not only in the war on terror, but in combating other common enemies, like AIDS and global poverty. We must seek not only to renew the mandate of the U.N., but to reform its operations and revitalize its capacity. And if I am president, the United Nations will be seen as the asset that it is, not a liability to a safer America. "
-- John Kerry, Dec. 3, 2004 in speech to Center for Foreign Relations

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1076567/posts

[goldstategop]

December 3rd 2004 - has Kerry just become President-Elect? LOL!!!

[weegee]

I would say that Bill Clinton's "I loathe the military" letter should also have been a factor in people deciding if he should be commander in chief.

He showed his disrespect for the troops when he deployed troops on the phone while receiving oral sex.

[weegee]

"We will not quickly join those who march on Veterans' Day waving small flags, calling to memory those who died for the "greater glory of the United States." We will not accept the rhetoric. We will not readily join the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars---in fact, we will find it hard to join anything at all and when we do, we will demand relevancy such as other organizations have recently been unable to provide. We will not take solace from the creation of monuments or the naming of parks after a select few of the thousands of dead Americans and Vietnamese. We willl not uphold traditions which decorously memorialize which was base and grim." - John FTA Kerry

[FairOpinion]

"December 3rd 2004 - has Kerry just become President-Elect? LOL!!!"

==

Oh, dear, that would be the WORST Christmas present! I mistyped, obviously meant Dec. 3, 2003. But one thing you can be sure, it was NOT wishful thinking, or Freudian slip!

[marron]

What ought to matter are what candidates propose for today's troops and what presidents do with them in order to avoid new Vietnams.

And if I may be so bold, you avoid new Viet Nams by fighting your enemies at the gates of their cities, instead of fighting them at the gates of your own. You drive into Hanoi, rather than continue fighting them in the suburbs of Saigon, for instance; you fight them in Baghdad rather than Kuwait City or Khafgi, you fight them in the mountains of Pakistan so you don't have to face them in Kabul. Or New York. Or Washington DC.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

[LA Times says it is time to "move on" re Vietnam]

The home of conscientious objectivism proves once again that cowardice is a meal best served with pacifistic relish its OK that Kerry is a war hero
war hero
war hero
war hero
war hero

But when Adultery hits the scene Oh how Appendage's shrivel up and wilt away !

Having Kerry as a president would just prove to the rest of the world once again the same thing that clinton did

That sex is a driving force not real content of character!

Mr Kerry drop the sock and back away you have 20 seconds to comply

[weegee]

Looks like the LAmeTimes doesn't practice what they preach.

Hidden Details on Bush's Guard Form Revealed

[FreedomPoster]

>>I actually wasted my time reading the whole article, when all I really should have done was to read your comments

>>In two sentences, you summarized their entire rant.

That's pretty typical. And I'll admit to sometimes doing exactly that, just reading the comments. It's time-efficient, and any time I've double checked, FReepers have been spot-on. And if the comments are confusing, I'll go back and read the piece. In that case, it's usually *really* confused writing.

[onyx]

Reading the comments instead of the article is a better use of time, especially when the source is as predictably biased as LAT.