...and darned lucky to have survived. LOLOL
Posted on 10/07/2007 7:01:45 AM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
Talker Rush Limbaugh is under fire for being falsely accused of saying that any U.S. soldier who comes out against the war is a “phony soldier.” He did not, of course, say such a thing. Rush was actually talking about a man named Jesse Macbeth who was touted by anti-war activists as a soldier who came out against the war, but it turned out later that Macbeth never served in the military at all.
Still, despite that Rush is utterly innocent of these scurrilous charges, members of the Democrat Party and assorted extreme leftists like Media Matters, a far left opinion group focused on the media, have used the “phony soldiers” line as a rallying cry against the right. These far left advocacy groups are desperately trying to lead people to imagine that conservatives, Republicans and war supporters are disingenuous with their support for the troops. These far left groups are at the same time trying to say that it is they, rather than the right, who really respects the troops and they who would never support “phony soldiers.”
But, a quick look back in history reveals quite the opposite. In fact, three cases of Democrats linked to phony soldiers are instructive of how Democrats feel about the military.
In 1997 a body was quietly removed from its grave in Arlington Cemetery, the nation’s military burial grounds. It was the body of M. Larry Lawrence, a long time campaign donor to president Bill Clinton. Lawrence was such a big donor, in fact, that Clinton rewarded him with the Ambassadorship to Switzerland as a payoff for his generosity.
But, there was a dark secret in M. Larry Lawrence’s past. He lied about being a Merchant Marine in World War II. It wasn’t just a white lie, either, for M. Larry Lawrence parlayed his lie into many sorts of honors during his lifetime. He even cajoled the Russian Federation into bestowing a medal upon him for his “heroism” under fire -- a heroism that never occurred.
As The New York Times reported in 1997:
"Mr. Lawrence said he had been serving in the United States merchant marine. He said he was thrown overboard into the icy Arctic Ocean after a German torpedo hit his ship as it headed for the Russian port of Murmansk."Bill Clinton stood by this man’s false legacy for a long time until his fake war record was finally brought to light. Then he simply forgot about Lawrence and moved on pretending he’d never heard of him.
"But Congressional investigators with the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations found that Mr. Lawrence's name did not appear in the Coast Guard's records of merchant seamen. His name also did not appear in any official documents related to the 1945 voyage of the Horace Bushnell, including the ship's list of passengers."
Bill Clinton stood by a phony soldier because of the large amounts given to him. Clinton also heavily rewarded this liar with prestigious appointments and special dispensation to be buried among REAL heroes in Arlington Cemetery.
During the 2000 election campaign, Democrat Party nominee Al Gore didn’t just stand by a phony soldier, he created one from his own family!
During one of the presidential debates, Al Gore claimed his uncle had been “gassed” in Bosnia during WWI. When fact checkers went back to verify Gore’s claims, no one could find any Gore’s that had even been in WWI, much less had been “gassed” in Bosnia.
As Charles C. Thompson and Tony Hays reported on Oct. 6th, 2000.
”According to an Associated Press report, the uncle Gore referred to in the debate was his late uncle, Reginald. After the debate, the Gore campaign contacted the National Archives seeking any World War I records to support Gore's assertion. Apparently it came up empty-handed in the quest for confirmation from official sources, since, as the Associated Press story reports, the campaign fell back on the uncle's 1959 newspaper obituary. It said he had been treated for illness caused by being gassed as a soldier in France (not in the Balkans). Newspaper obituaries are typically based on information provided by the family, with no effort made by the newspaper to verify its accuracy.Al Gore lied about his family member and created a phony soldier out of whole cloth.
Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa was one of the first Democrats to come out to excoriate Rush Limbaugh for his comments -- you know, the ones he didn’t make? Harkin claimed to be incensed over Limbaugh’s “phony soldier” comment.
Harkin would know a little something about phony soldiers. It turns out he IS one. At various times during his political career, Harkin has been heard to boast about his service as a Navy pilot during Vietnam. He has made all sorts of contradictory claims, but at one time he claimed to have flown “combat air patrols.”
In 1991 The Wall Street Journal wrote a piece detailing Harkin’s lies about his own service wherein they determine that Harkin’s claims to have been on combat missions is a fabrication.
”That clearly is not an accurate picture of his Navy service. Though Mr. Harkin stresses he is proud of his Navy record -- ‘I put my ass on the line day after day’--he concedes now he never flew combat air patrols in Vietnam.”So what did he really do?
”He was stationed at the U.S. Naval Air Station at Atsugi, Japan. Damaged aircraft were flown into Atsugi for repairs or sometimes flown out of Atsugi to the Philippines for more substantial work. Mr. Harkin says he and three other Navy pilots flew these ferry flights. And, when the planes had been repaired, he and his fellow pilots took them up on test flights. ‘I had always wanted to be a test pilot,’ he says. ‘It was damned demanding work.’”So, the question becomes; why are Democrats so mad at Rush about “phony soldiers?” After all, they never had any problem the big money Clinton contributor that lied about his non-existent military service. They never worried much about the false service of Al Gore’s uncle that he boasted about during the 2000 election. And they’ve never taken much time to scold one of their high profile, attack dog Senators for repeatedly lying about his own service.
Why would any phony soldier row upset the Democrats now?
lib/dems were for the phony soldiers before they were against them!!!
What fascinates me about the military experts the dems choose to make their profound military pronouncements is they choose losers like Kerry, Murtha, Harkin, McBeth etc.
Kerry, is that you???
I just read the LBJ/Silver Star account. I agree, laughable.
Bahbah:
I absolutely agree with you. It just seemed to me that the author appeared to be saying he was never IN the military.
"appeared", that is the key word. The libs pick apart the words used, and re assert the emphasis.
They are masters at being word-smiths. Remember "W" and those 16 words?
Anyone that followed the news knew he was repeating a report from the UK intelligence agency.
The NYT's, WaPo and the rest made it appear that was "W's" speech and feelings.
WE have to be vary careful how we phrase every single comment or report, they don't.
Unfortunately, this is incorrect, although it was for a mere 40 to 44 days, depending upon the account one reads.
Actually it may be technically correct.
Boot Camp (USMC) is three months or approx 90 days. You are not considered a Marine nor are you called a Marine until graduation day.
Not sure about the Army.
Yeah! Now I remember. When I was on liberty in Japan and Okinawa.
Those cute bar girls kept plying me with "Singapore Slings" until I was gassed out of my mind. 8>)
I would not mind being corrected. I don't think what McBeth did or had in mind was "service" to this country.
Precisely.
Democrats Chastise Limbaugh for Insulting Troops
Oct. 6, 2007
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has introduced a “Bill of Attainder” against conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh for “usurping the prerogatives of congress.” The flap started when Limbaugh characterized self-proclaimed war hero and war critic, Jesse Macbeth, a “phony soldier.”
“It is not for Mr. Limbaugh to say who is or isn’t a soldier,” Reid said. “Nor should he be casting aspersions on brave men like Jesse Macbeth for their outspoken opposition to the atrocities committed by our troops. Congress is the judge of these matters.”
Reid asserted that “the testimony of soldiers like Macbeth has been corroborated by many others.” “Senator Kerry (D-Mass.) has informed me that our troops have been terrorizing women and children in the dead of night,” Reid went on. “Congressman Murtha (D-Pa.) pointed out that our Marines have been killing civilians in cold-blood. I have heard similar stories from Senator Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senator Obama (D-Ill.).”
As it turns out, Macbeth who claimed to have been an Army Ranger was in the Army only 44 days and never served in Iraq or Afghanistan. The lack of actual participation in the war did not stunt Macbeth’s imagination. He described how he and other U.S. Army Rangers slaughtered Muslims as they prayed in a Baghdad mosque.
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) cautioned that we “not rush to dismiss Macbeth’s account of atrocities just because he embellished his war record.” Harkin said boasting about one’s military service is “a harmless vice” akin to “fishermen’s tales of the one that got away.”
Harkin once claimed to have flown combat missions in Vietnam, only to later be forced to admit that he only flew into Vietnam on a few occasions to “sample the ‘killer weed’ and get some action with ‘hot Asian babes.’”
Reid’s bill calls for Limbaugh to be permanently banished from the airwaves and to perform two million hours of community service helping non-English speakers register to vote.
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
Ellis had earlier rejected the allegations that Thomas Jefferson had fathered Sally Hemings' children, but just before the 1998 elections, at the height of the Lewinsky scandal, he suddenly decided he believed that Jefferson had had the affair. Trash Jefferson to enhance the stature of William Jefferson Clinton.
In the case of Kerry and Murtha they have refused to disclose their service records.
Clintoon the Sex Predator, Gore the Buffoon, Kerry the Traitor makes up quite a cast!
lefteous it is then
Actually that's not quite right either. MacBeth washed out of basic, spending 44 days as a private at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003, but was released "for issues related to entry-level performance and conduct," he didn't serve on active duty long enough to be considered a "soldier" much less a "veteran".
Incidently, his birth name was Jesse Adam Al-Zaid. Here's the Court Record of his name change. It was a long time ago, July of '86, so he would have been pretty young, maybe only a few years old. Still something that probably bears looking into.
Even though he was being disingenuous , Harkin was technically correct. When I was on active duty, I was assigned to the engineering division of an Air Force depot. It is “putting your ass on the line” to fly aircraft after the civilian depot monkeys get done with them. I also used to work with a former Army Officer who flew every sort of helicopter the Army had, after they underwent maintenance, and not even at the depot. He said much the same. The only one that really scared him was the Chinook series. He knew “too much” about the mechanicals in those.
"Fake but accurate" raises it's ugly socialist head once again.
I guess Harkin knows all about "embellishing" events which never happened into the historical record.
...and darned lucky to have survived. LOLOL
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