Coulter Attacks Cleland's War Record (ann coulter)

11Alive web site ^ | February 13, 2004 | John Shirek

[anncoulteriscool]

Coulter Attacks Cleland's War Record

Columnist and television commentator Ann Coulter, in a column published this week, said former Senator Max Cleland, who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam, is no war hero.

Cleland, as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, is saying President Bush’s military record is inferior to Kerry’s service in Vietnam.

“The question should be: Where were you in the war of your generation? Did you take your place in the line? Or did you escape and avoid, by political means, and then cut short your tour of duty to go to Harvard Business School? I mean, John Kerry volunteered,” Cleland recently said on “Hardball With Chris Matthews.”

Coulter countered that Cleland is no Vietnam war hero, just a victim of a tragic, accidental grenade explosion who plays up his amputations for political gain.

“If Cleland had dropped a grenade on himself at Fort Dix rather than in Vietnam, he would never have been a U.S. Senator in the first place. Maybe he’d be the best pharmacist in Atlanta,” Coulter said in her column, published on February 11.

“He didn't ‘give his limbs for his country,’ or leave them ‘on the battlefield,’” Coulter said. “There was no bravery involved in dropping a grenade on himself with no enemy troops in sight.”

Cleland was wounded picking up a grenade that someone else had dropped.

Rusty Paul, a Georgia Republican Party strategist, said Coulter crossed the line with her comments.

“You can't take away from Max Cleland his record of service to this country and the sacrifice that he's made, regardless of the circumstances. To me, that's out of bounds to talk about that,” he said.

Paul, however, said attacking the politics of Cleland and Kerry was well within those bounds. “I think the voters would much prefer to talk about what George Bush’s view for the future is versus John Kerry’s rather than what happened 30 years ago,” he said.

Cleland was on his way back to Atlanta Friday night and was not available for comment. He is scheduled to spend Saturday in Georgia and then rejoin the Kerry campaign on Sunday.

[MEG33]

See my #157 Welcome to FR and this particular thread,Apu

[johnb838]

If he wants to play politics his amputations must become a non-issue. No way should people have to treat him with kid gloves because he doesn't have a leg to stand on...

[johnb838]

Thank you and thanks to your brave brother,

What the hell did she do? It's not like she was the long-suffering wife, for pete's sake. It had nothing to do with her.

[johnb838]

I was impressed by Bob Dole on War Stories last night when he said he was bummed about his arm until he thought about people who REALLY had it bad -- the ones with worn out hearts, etc.

[johnb838]

It should be noted that Coulter said he picked up the grenade on his way TO drink, not coming back.

[jackbill]

From another thread, quoting a Boston Globe article:

Finally, the battle at Khe Sanh was over. Cleland, 25 years old, and two members of his team were now ordered to set up a radio relay station at the division assembly area, 15 miles away. The three gathered antennas, radios, and a generator and made the 15-minute helicopter trip east. After unloading the equipment, Cleland climbed back into the helicopter for the ride back. But at the last minute, he decided to stay and have a beer with some friends. As the helicopter was lifting off, he shouted to the pilot that he was staying behind and jumped several feet to the ground.

Cleland hunched over to avoid the whirring blades and ran. Turning to face the helicopter, he caught sight of a grenade on the ground where the chopper had perched. It must be mine, he thought, moving toward it. He reached for it with his right arm just as it exploded, slamming him back and irreparably altering his plans for a bright, shining future.

and further on...

The tragic events there brought him some glory, marred though it was. After the explosion, the Army gave Cleland the Soldier's Medal, for shielding his men from the grenade blast (no one was nearby, he says), and the Silver Star, for coming to the aid of wounded troops the night of the Khe Sanh rocket attack (something he says his men did, but he did not do).

[MEG33]

#157 g35x is a fraud

[JusPasenThru]

Did any of you guys know that Kerry served in Viet Nam?

[LoudRepublicangirl]

He is only fooling himself if he thinks he won any arguement with me. Better yet, let him try to take Ann herself on. She would mop the floor with him.

[MCFujiTanker]

Sorry I'm reading this late, but I'm overseas and takes me longer to get on line. That KERRY faked being Irish really tee'd me off (I am Irish). My Grandfather received a Purple Heart when his Destroyer went down off Utah Beach in WWII. He lost an eye and all his teeth to German shelling...but he survived by a miracle. Where are KERRY's wounds?? I have Marine buddies with Purple Hearts who can lift up their shirts and show heinous scars. Where are KERRY's?? Did he write himself up for all of his medals?? Sounds like "Gundecking" to me!! Up until today I always believed the illusion that Max was a wounded in combat...I didn't know some knucklehead had dropped a grenade around him. I'm a retired USMC Tanker who works overseas now as a DOD civilian. I vote absentee in Virginia. Semper Fidelis!!

[dennisw]

Thanks. Your post is the first one on this thread that tells it like it is. Cleland's injuries are a non issue except when he shamelessly inflates them to gain and retain political office.

He is not a war hero but an accident victim of his own ....stupidity...... picking up a live hand grenade.

[dennisw]

That KERRY faked being Irish really tee'd me off (I am Irish).......

I assure you this is the case. I lived in Massachusetts. He never denied being called Irish. Because many voted for him because of this perception. Reality, he is 50% Jewish and 50% Boston Brahmin. A clown and faker from the get go.

[Apu Nahasapeemapetilon]

Cleland's account of how he lost his limbs:

"I remember standing on the edge of the bomb crater that had been my home for five days and five nights, stretching my six-foot, two-inch frame, and becoming caught up in excitement. The battle for Khe Sanh was over, and I had come out of it unhurt and alive! Five terrible days and nights were behind us. In spite of dire predictions, we had held Khe Sanh. I had scored a personal victory over myself and my fears. ... My tour of duty in Vietnam was almost over. In another month I'd be going home. I smiled, thinking of the good times waiting stateside.

"On April 8, 1968, I volunteered for one last mission. The helicopter moved in low. The troops jumped out with M16 rifles in hand as we crouched low to the ground to avoid the helicopter blades. Then I saw the grenade. It was where the chopper had lifted off. It must be mine, I thought. Grenades had fallen off my web gear before. Shifting the M16 to my left hand and holding it behind me, I bent down to pick up the grenade.

"A blinding explosion threw me backwards."

Ann Coulter calls this "a routine non-combat mission where he was about to drink beer with friends," and says "there was no bravery involved."

[Afro_conservative]

I am sorry but for coulter to mock him is completely wrong she portrays herself as more of a b!tch than she already is.

[cyborg]

She's giving the DUmmies a taste of their own medicine. They can dish it out but can't take any of it.

[Liberty Ship]

When Cleland was head of the V.A. under Carter, he initiated typical liberal cost cutting measures at the expense of the health and lives of the military veterans under its care.

He earned the nickname "The One Armed Bandit."

Then, there was the Phone Sex Scandal when he was Secretary of State for Georgia...

[Miles Vorkosigan]

Anyone who got an F from Gun Owners of America is no hero. I don't just want to defeat these people. I want them to hurt as much as I do knowing that they are controlling our nation (even if the GOP is nominally in power at the present moment).

If Cleland were a Republican amputee, you can bet that the Democrats would assign someone to push him out of his wheelchair and beat him up. (Just as they've spent so much time trying to ruin the lives of Bush's daughters: Democrats run from men, but terrorize women). Maybe it's time for us Republicans to use Democrat strategies with this traitor.

[anncoulteriscool]

LOL!!!!! Your worthless, gutless & cowardly comments were removed by the moderator...appropriately so!!!!!

[ConservativeMan55]

The beautiful Ann Coulter!