Posted on 11/13/2002 2:27:19 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., didn't sound too happy during a home-state Wednesday morning radio interview over the fact that his party had lost control of the Senate, especially when he called one of the incoming freshmen Republican senators who will soon take over a "a draft dodger."
Responding to a caller on WVMT Burlington's "Charlie and Ernie Show", Leahy complained that President Bush had won the Senate by supporting the Republican candidate in Georgia, who, Leahy added, "was a draft dodger who attacked Sen. (Max) Cleland on his patriotism."
In one of the biggest upsets of last week's election, Rep. Saxby Chambliss, R- Ga., defeated Cleland, a victory that left Democrats stunned.
The Vermont left-winger, who will loose his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee within weeks, went on to attack Chambliss as someone who had "avoided the draft several times."
In fact, Chambliss never received a draft notice. Instead, like millions during the Vietnam war era, the Georgia Republican took advantage of student deferments and eventually received a medical deferment due to a knee injury.
Leahy leveled the "draft dodger" charge after a caller asked if Democrats were likely to return to the bipartisanship that dominated Congress immediately after the 9/11 attacks.
A recording of Leahy's comments obtained exclusively by NewsMax shows the top Senate Democrat fuming:
"I don't think anybody agrees more with the fact that we need to work together. I have been disappointed in both ends of Pennsylvania Ave. The president has to make efforts also to do that. As you know, the president and his own advisors have said they took the most partisan attempts ever in an election, and it paid off for them. He won a lot of seats.
"He supported a man, for example, in Georgia who was, well, the best way to put it - was a draft dodger who attacked Sen. Cleland on his patriotism. And the president joined in that. Sen. Cleland lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam. But the man who avoided the draft several times won.
"Now, it's going to take a little bit to get over that kind of partisanship. In this case the president won his point but I think you have to ask, at what cost? And I think that attacking the patriotism of one of the most decorated war heroes in our country - doing these kind of things - that's going to take a little bit for that to wear off."
Leahy looks like a Senator -- the $1,000 suit, the rimless glasses, the wispy white hair. But if his political reality were visible, he'd be as ugly as Michael Moore, or Hillary!, or even James ("Cobra") Carville.
The faster this miserable excuse for a Senator is forceably retired to "Ranking Minority Member" status on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the safer the US Constitution will be.
He will owe an apology to his new colleague, Saxby Chambliss, in January. But then he already owes apologies to all of his honest colleagues, and some of the dishonest ones, as well as to the people of Vermont, the people of the United States, and to generations of Americans as yet unborn, for starters.
Congressman Billybob
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).
That should read "Claimed Religion".
Saddam Hussien is a better Catholic than Leahy.
Maybe those in VT should email Leahy and inquire about Clinton.
It is one thing to see "loose" for "lose" when posting on a forum, but it does not reflect well when used in a column on a purported news-site.
Having said that, Leahy is scum, no doubt about it.
Note to Leahy:
STICK your idea of "partisanship", you panty-waisted little pr*ck.
YOUR party's concept of "partisanship" is anything that goes against what YOU want.
YOUR party's concept of "bipartisanship" means "doing what WE want".
Democrats..........lordie, how I hate 'em.
You're (mindlessly) repeating democratic lies in your effort to try to play the democrat's "everybody does it" game.
Bush was an interceptor (high altitude, high-speed ANTI-BOMBER) fighter pilot for many years - at a time when some 20% of the ejection seats ever made were being used: over time, you had a 1 in 5 chance of having to eject to save your life if you flew fighter jets.
Plus, you could crash just flying too .... Much LESS SAFE than Gore's (fake) back-door newspapaer reporter job for a few months in Nam to make his dad's Senate campaign look good.
The myth that the democrats repeat endlessly is that Bush didn't go to Vietnam deliberately, but rather spent time in AL working on election jobs.
On ONE WEEKEND, at ONE MONTH'S Air NAtional Guard drill in AL while Bush was instate for a republican's political campaign, Bush says he went to the LOCAL (AL) air base for duty time, rather than return home to TX.
He says he was there, the base's logs are not available to confirm it. The airbase CO cannot confirm it.
(I've had weekend duty days sponsoring otehr reserve officers like that: I DID NOT then, nor would not now, call the base CO just to tell him somebody had signed in for the weekend and was doing the books.)
So, other eyewitnesses (girl friend, etc.) says he made the duty weekend, and "did something" on the base: (check maintenance records, audit fire drills, count library books, make changes in techmanuals, read flight operations manuals, look at the sky, serve as flight ops, who knows? Who cares?)
Somebody who successfully flies fighter jets has my recommendation over somebody who writes Army newspapaer stories to make his dad look good.
Actually, by the time he went to Alabama for Guard duty, he was long finished training in the Delta Dagger (F102). The truth is that he spent hundreds of hours flying a plane that was notoriously difficult to fly. I dare say it was more dangerous being an F102 pilot in the states than being an army journalist (with a bodyguard) in Vietnam.
Er, assuming the army journalist remembered not to point his gun at his head...
In this instance it seems Mr Leahy was not able to contain himself and got carried away. Maybe that's the type of "spirit" his side is seeking. Then again maybe it demonstrates even further who he really is. As you mentioned, the nomination didn't receive ample coverage.
All Leftists are liars. If they exposed their true desires they would not be accepted by the voters. Closet politics, living with the pain of ambitions which can be achieved only through deceit.
Bad news, Senator Leaky, nobody cares whether you "get over" it. Hold your breath til you turn blue, refuse to eat your dinner, roll on the floor screaming and kicking all you want, come next Judiciary Committee Meeting it will be Chairman Hatch, and all those qualified judges are gonna start moving through.
Ain't it cool!
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