Posted on 10/27/2006 11:43:18 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A Democratic Vietnam veteran running for Congress lashed out at his Republican opponent Friday after a series of Republican-financed attacks questioning his support for U.S. troops.
In a rare display of anger, retired Air Force Maj. Charlie Brown called Republican Rep. John Doolittle (news, bio, voting record) a coward who is "hiding behind the flag" and slammed him for failing to serve in Vietnam.
"While I was being shot at in Vietnam, John Doolittle was practicing his tennis game at (the University of California) Santa Cruz," Brown said during a news conference as he was surrounded by fellow veterans.
Brown, 56, left the Air Force in 1998 after 26 years of service. His wife, Jan, also served in the Air Force as a nurse and his son, Jeff, is an Air Force captain who will begin his fourth tour of duty in Iraq in December.
Doolittle campaign spokesman Richard Robinson said the campaign was "thrilled" Brown decided to bring attention to such issues.
"He is not who he says he is," Robinson said. "He says he is supportive of our troops, but he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with left-wing activists at a rally sponsored by (the women's peace and social justice group) Code Pink. We think it's important for the public to know that."
Robinson did not directly address Brown's claims about Doolittle's military service record.
In his first bid for public office, Brown has given Doolittle, 55, his toughest challenge since Doolittle was first elected in 1990. But the Democrat faces a struggle in the 4th Congressional District, which stretches from Sacramento to the Oregon border. Republicans hold a 48 percent to 30 percent registration edge over Democrats.
Brown decried recent newspaper ads, radio and TV commercials, and campaign mailers that accuse him of harming troop morale and linking him to anti-war activists like Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan and Sean Penn.
The accusation stems from Brown's appearance in January at an "Out of Iraq" forum in Sacramento, during which Penn and Sheehan were surprise guests.
Brown said he greeted Penn and Sheehan at the event but is "not associated with them." He said he has had no further contact with them and has not accepted campaign money from them.
"He is hiding behind the flag saying he is defending this country, but I'm the only candidate in this race with real national security experience," Brown said.
Democratic Congressional candidate Charlie Brown, left, talks to reporters after appearing with retired Army General Wesley Clark, right, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Sacramento, Calif., in this October 2, 2006, file photo. Clark attended the event to show his support for Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, who is running against eight-term incumbent Republican John Doolittle. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli/FILE)
"A Democratic Vietnam veteran running for Congress "
John Kerry?
I hope somebody has done some serious checking up on this scumbag's war record.
Col. Hunt just outed himself as a Democrat on H&C tonight.
We can no longer take him seriously.
It takes all kinds to make up a branch of the military. When I was in the Navy, I knew some good folks, some great folks, and some real low-lifes. I don't know anything about this guy, but I do know that a good person doesn't protest his own guys while they're fighting a war, retired LCol or not.
That Charlie even showed up at the forum in question is enough to convince me he is not worthy much less capable of representing a district that is heavily Republican. saying Penn and Sheehan were surprise guests is pretty weak.
T'was another antiwar activist event to the max..
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/12/30/17931831.php
.. organizers of the town hall forum included The Sacramento Coalition to End the War in collaboration with Sacramento for Democracy, Progressive Democrats of America and Peace in the Precincts
"Charlie Brown"??? What's his dog's name, Snoopy?
Progressive Democrats of America , http://pdamerica.org/about/board.php , the board of same includes John Conyers, Medea Benjamin, Cindy Sheehan and Maxine Waters just to name a few.
In 1972 Joining the air force is what you did to stay out of the army and marines, on the other hand, why don't republicans serve their country?
I love Michael Medved and he responds with some some story about avoiding Vietnam, but I've never cared what war he did or didn't want to serve in.
My question is, why didn't you enlist? Medved had about a 14 year window he could have pulled his hitch in, the word Vietnam, or Desert Storm, or the Korean war , or Afghanistan , have nothing to do with it.
Pull a hitch and for the rest of your life, people can't attack you.
I support conservatives, but I've been defending my favorites and their reasons for not serving since this became an issue almost 20 years ago, that is two decades, I'm getting tired of it, I pushed my son into the 10th mountain, now he is an artist that can call himself a veteran if it comes up, and in New York city it comes up.
That's for sure.
ugh...Waxley
That's a pretty broad generalization. Some don't (or didn't) but many certainly did.
What was it Soros gave Clark? $75K?
Pull a hitch and for the rest of your life, people can't attack you.
Tell that to the Pendleton 8.
lol.. I missed the Peanuts halloween special tonight, Darn, Thanks!
"That's a pretty broad generalization. Some don't (or didn't) but many certainly did."
I know that, and this was meant to be among friends, but it does so often become an issue for conservative politicians.
Almost all my favorite conservatives are non veterans, George Allen is my choice to be president of the United States, I started listening to Rush the third day he went national in 1988, I accept he had a medical deferment, but couldn't he have lied to get in? Medved, Hannity, almost all my favorite right wing writers from National Review.
In the 1930s, before WWII the military was seen as pretty much white trash, in 1935 Reagan signed up for an army officer's correspondence course, in 1937 he enlisted in the army calvary reserves, in 1941 he became an active duty officer in transportation, as we all know he was in time transferred to the movie making part of the army and left the service in 1945 or 6.
To me me it is clear that Ronald Reagan was a conservative that wild horses could not have kept from serving in the American army (he had to conceal his medical problem the whole time).
George W was an enthusiastic fighter pilot, Tom Selleck served, Arnold Schwarzenegger served, etc., etc., I keep up with this stuff, but all the men need to serve.
So how come dodging the draft was OK for Clinton, but now all the Dems are criticizing the Republicans for "not serving".
"So how come dodging the draft was OK for Clinton, but now all the Dems are criticizing the Republicans for "not serving"."
Because they own the media, the only draft dodger in American politics that I am aware of is Clinton.
To conceal Clinton's draft dodging, the media started calling anyone that had a legitimate deferment a draft dodger.
Gingrich and George W are now labeled "draft dodgers",
well Newt was a 27 year old PHD, married, with kids, he had a deferment, President Bush was a fighter pilot in the military, so he wasn't dodging.
Dodging the draft meant you you were lying, cheating, falsifying documents, any illegal thing you could do to keep from responding to your draft notice, that is what Clinton did.
But aside from Clinton, it is legitimate to ask why right wing, pro defense, pro war, pro military, pro aggressive foreign policy, etc, etc, patriotic men feel no impulse to pull their hitch in the military.
I was drafted to serve in Vietnam. I was rejected due to severe asthma in high school (but not at the time of my induction physical.) During college I served 7 years as a police officer to make up for not having served in the Army. Am I disqualified to be a conservative?
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