Posted on 05/17/2010 7:58:00 PM PDT by MissesBush
At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life.
“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”
There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.
The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.
In 1970, with his last deferment in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive.
Many politicians have faced questions over their decisions during the Vietnam War, and Mr. Blumenthal, who is seeking the seat being vacated by Senator Christopher J. Dodd, is not alone in staying out of the war.
But what is striking about Mr. Blumenthal’s record is the contrast between the many steps he took that allowed him to avoid Vietnam, and the misleading way he often speaks about that period of his life now...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Horse manure.
This is a case of stolen valor, and this p.o.s. Blumenthal should go to jail.
If he was a Republican, he would.
If John Kerry was a Republican, he would be in jail now.
Hang him out to dry. There’s no wiggle room in the phrase “I served in Vietnam”. If he’s so mentally impaired that he can unintentionally make that clear and colossal a mistake, then he’s obviously too mentally impaired to serve as a Senator (or as a state Attorney General). Much more likely, he’s just a bald-faced liar, which is also a disqualifying characteristic.
>>> ((Psssttt it was quite fashionable for well connected young men to find a safe slot in a Reserve or National Guard outfit - See Bush, George W.)
pssst. Pilots died flying the F102, which was integral to the continental air defense system. As far as I know, nobody ever died collecting for Toys for Tots.
GWB served honorably in the ANG, and this Blumenthal idjit served honorably in the USMCR. Blumenthal only becomes an idjit when he tries to pawn off his USMCR time as being “in Vietnam”.
Otherwise, and that’s one huge otherwise, I see scant difference. I knew a kid who got killed changing a truck tire in the peacetime reserves...does that mean wrench turners should be revered more than longshoremen or cooks?
It was a stupid system that let the NG and Reserves become a haven from the draft and deployment. Everybody who did time as a Guardsman or Reservist back then has to answer to their own conscience according to their own motivations for joining.
There are currently a lot of Marine reservists doing Toys for Tots in between deployments, and more than a few former toy collectors who have given their all.
I’ll admit it rankles to see the Toys for Tots thing used as a pejorative, but I get your drift. That Blumenthal character is an idjit, alright.
One must prove ones self as a LIAR when one is a true democrat. It shows the public that lying about anything makes no difference to the media or to democratic supporters.
There is only one sin for which the democrat party will excommunicate; that is the sin of unelectability.
Obey, Dodd, Torricelli, and others were/are major dirtbags, but were not given the heave-ho until the polls turned and stayed negative.
I did BCT in a mixed company, NG's AR's, US's and a few of us RA's.
All the NG's and AR's admitted both sober and drunk, they were seeking to avoid VN.
Volunteered? Great, a infantry unit would have loved to had him in it.
I cannot climb in his brain, but he knows what is there.
So why didn't he keep an active (Private) pilots license after discharge?
If John Kerry were a republican he would have been executed for treason decades ago.
So, everyone who served in the Navy or Air Force was a draft dodger? How about those in supply units or the artillery?
If you can't climb into his brain why do you make the assumption of the worst.
He was a Yale grad in 1968 with a highly connected father and granddad. If he wanted to avoid aggravation, unpleasantness and danger he could have found an easier way of doing it without looking bad than flying jets.
“
Bottom line here ... speaking as a Marine from that era ... I give Blumenthal
some credit ... he survived boot camp at Parris Island.
“
I would say the same, being a never-served civilian.
Too bad the honorable Marine indoctrination (and I say that as a positive),
with the vow to “keep our honor clean” just didn’t stick.
Fortunately, the dishonor is all his, individually.
Marine boot camp whether Parris Island or San Diego is the most challenging of any basic training regimen in the U.S.. Some say the world ... Blumenthal could have joined the Air Force, Navy or Coast Guard.
Politics/Elections US: ConnecticutExtended News
I kind of want to add to breaking news, but the Admin Moderator might not be happy with me.
We need to give this publicity for the sake of our Vietnam Vets. Cowards like this turkey needs to tossed from office...
As another poster mentioned, the F-102, was designed for "Continental Air Defence', hence the likely hood of V-N being in the rotation was slim. Ya ya ya - a few - tiny number went overseas.
I would agree with that.
However, flying jets has a hazard -- they sometimes crash.
How often do we read of a military jet or helicopter crashing with everyone killed -- normally many times a year.
If you get some bozo in your platoon/squad who is very inept, you might get shot or blown up.
For example, in the Clint Eastwood Heartbreak Ridge that was a foulup in the Recon Platoon that almost killed that football major that Clint Eastwood referred to as a cluster F***.
Screwups in the military with weapsons can kill you.
But if you fly jets, you might get killed by a bad mechanic...
Do you have a source for Blumenthal going through Parris Island? It's possible he went through San Diego, but my guess is that he did the "Platoon Leader Class" and went into the reserves as a second louie.
Thank you for posting this. THE NYT article is the most complete.
I am quite surprised at the tenor of this news story, considering it is the NYT.
Good. Blumenthal HAS to go. He has an uphill climb thanks to this revelation. Wonder what other dirt there about the pretty boy.
Of course this is from a docent at the Evergreen Air Museum, in McMinnville, Oregon, who stated he had x,xxxx hours behind the stick of it and it's descendant the F-1xx.
Of course, I cut the National Guard boy no slack, he's trying to destroy my Nation.
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