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To: KevinDavis
Yup. Clinton was a dodger too. So it goes.
28 posted on 12/05/2002 2:21:30 PM PST by MineralMan
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To: MineralMan
The difference is I don't recall Cheney ever saying he loathed the military or showing contempt for it as Clinton did for 8 long miserable years.
36 posted on 12/05/2002 2:25:17 PM PST by KyBushBabe
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To: MineralMan
Cheney, if qualified for the draft would have been drafted prior to the Berlin Call up. Before that there weren't many people being drafted. The former POTUS however was an outright "Draft Dodger" 1st Class. I also have my doubts about Sp5 Gore too. (Volunteered? for 16-18months duty?) Made E-5 within that period for writing for a Bn or Bde newspaper? Something really stinks there and it isn't the rice paddies.
46 posted on 12/05/2002 2:28:55 PM PST by Bringbackthedraft
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To: MineralMan
Please don't waste anyone's time comparing Cheney to Clinton. That will only prove your ignorance.
53 posted on 12/05/2002 2:32:20 PM PST by Republic of Texas
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To: MineralMan
Cheney had multiple deferements, mostly student, but also a fatherhood deferment. He may have worked the system, but I don't think so. Unlike Clinton who activelly avoided being drafted by fraudulently pretending to sign up for ROTC. Now that is draft dodging. AFAIK, Cheney never got a draft notice. There is spectrum of draft dodging/avoidance. At one end is the person who joins voluntarily, so as not to be drafted, into a specialty that pretty much guarantteed they wouldn't get into combat, like Navy cook for instance to the person who got a draft notice and ran to Canada. The first is difficult, if not impossible, to tell from the true volunteer who just always wanted to be in the Navy. The other end is criminal. The person who took advantage of legitimate deferments, due to activities he would have undertaken anyway, and never volunteered for service is close to the "good" end of the scale, the person who ran off to England after (probably) postponing being drafted by pretending to join ROTC is pretty close to the criminal end.

In any event, Cheney, born in 1941 was slightly on the old end of the prime Vietnam era draft population. He graduated from college in 1965 at the age of 24, a bit older than normal and past prime draft age. So if he "avoided" the draft, it was before the larger draft cohorts anyway. A lot of folks had other priorities than military service in the 60s (A quote that comes from a Washington comPost reporter FWIW), but if they got a draft notice they went. Cheney never got one.

Clinton OTOH was right in the middle of the prime draft age population, born in 1946, he did get a notice and used his political contacts with Senator Fulbright to be allowed to enroll in ROTC, at least long enough for the required change of status to be sent to selective service, but not long enough to have taken the enlistment oath. (ROTC cadets, at least those in the last two years of the program, or with scholarships are enlisted into the reserve, if they fail to complete the program, fail out or drop out of school, they can, and were activated) Instead Billy Jeff went to England...and to Moscow. If he had taken the enlistment oath, he'd have been AWOL. Too bad, with that on his record, he'd never have become the White House SinkMeister.

156 posted on 12/05/2002 3:26:27 PM PST by El Gato
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