Posted on 04/15/2007 3:02:41 AM PDT by Liz
.... Rudy Giuliani carries a lot of baggage - but it's his draft-dodging past that may prove the biggest drag, prominent veterans tell New York magazine in tomorrow's issue. Speaking about terrorism and the Iraq war last week, Giuliani boasted, "It is something I understand better than anyone else running for president." But it was draft deferments that kept Giuliani, 62, out of Vietnam while he attended law school. He was granted a 2-A occupational deferment for his job as a law clerk in 1969 after his boss, the late Manhattan federal Judge Lloyd MacMahon, wrote a letter to the local draft board - a move criticized years later as rare and questionable. Law clerks were not on the 1968 list of critical jobs that qualified for occupational deferments. Giuliani "has made it clear that if he had been called up, he would have served," Giuliani spokeswoman Katie Levinson told New York magazine. He was opposed to the war in Vietnam on "strategic and tactical" grounds," she added, although she wouldn't offer specifics.
"If Giuliani is the nominee, we're going to hammer him with ads, and it's going to be easy because the issue is simple: He's a draft dodger," Jon Soltz, an Iraq vet who served as a captain and runs VoteVets.org, a left-leaning version of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth .......a sense that a candidate can handle the role of commander-in-chief remains important to most Americans.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
If you think strapping a fighter jet or bomber on you ass is draft dodging then you are truly stupid. I dare say you would piss on your self on launch.
Your statement is somewhat true. "Some" rich kids and also a whole lot of non rich kids joined the National Guard. In any event, tell me what was wrong with joining the Guard. I looked into it before getting drafted.
Ido!
Practically every politician today is a draft dodger...
All the more reason to support Duncan Hunter! He is a decorated Vietnam veteran!
If it means so little, why are you wasting your time defending Rudy?I don't particularly care about Rudy. What I do care about is the hypocrisy of the whole draft dodger thing. If people didn't have an axe to grind already do you think this would be an issue?
And some of them went to Viet Nam anyway.
Riding on dad’s coattails means “jack shit” Jane Fonda’s father played an officer in war movies.You asked. I answered.
Nonsense! Even if you were only a year old, you could have joined an infantry troop!
(Bad-a-BING!) Thanks, ladies & gents, I'm here all week...
Well, at least we won’t be seeing him doing a phoney salute and saying “Rooty, reporting for dooty.”
I did’nt know that the National Guard was exclusive for the rich.
All the more reason to support Duncan Hunter! He is a decorated Vietnam veteran!Now this I can agree with. If it matters to you vote with your heart. But one question, who did you vote for in the 2000 primaries? Bush or McCain? and what did you think about both of them?
I reluctantly voted for Bush.
I have serious reservations about McCain’s mental stability.
Six years as a POW took a toll on him, IMHO.
Had Hunter been in the race then, I’d have taken him over both Bush and McCain.
LOL!
ANY Republican is a threat to the left. Being left is primarily WHO rules. Ideology is important but secondary to the integrity of the Party. Someone who is 100% in accord with Teddy Kennedy but has a Republican label is anathema to the left because when their policies are implemented by someone else it is organizationally a threat to the party, even more serious than an ideological opponent being elected. The Bolsheviks hated the Trotskyists more than any other enemies because they were so close in ideology. They competed for the same authority and rule, the same godhood.
I did’nt know that the National Guard was exclusive for the rich."I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units...Of the many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal and owe equal allegiance to their country." Colin Powell, My American Journey 1995 p.148
I reluctantly voted for Bush. I have serious reservations about McCain’s mental stability. Six years as a POW took a toll on him, IMHO. Had Hunter been in the race then, I’d have taken him over both Bush and McCain.I respect your opinion. I wish there were more Americans like you.
And regarding President Bush...
I’m disappointed in that his “compassionate conservative” claim turned out to be more compassionate and much less conservative.
This is kind of the same thing Rudy is trying. Playing himself off as having conservative positions on judges and fiscal policies.
I just don’t buy it.
Within ten years there won’t be anyone young enough to run for office who even lived through the times when we had a war and a draft.
Then I suppose we will be able to criticize the “non volunteers” who failed to sign up for military service. Male AND female.
Be careful not to cut your thumb as you test the edge of your own.Feel free to knock down my glass house.
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