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John Kerry is finding out again that Howard Dean can be more of a liability than an asset. Dean, once mocked by former rival Wesley Clark as a draft-dodging ski bum, said during an appearance with Kerry today at George Washington University, "Who would you rather have in charge of the defense of the United States of America, a group of people who never served a day overseas in their life or a guy who served his country honorably and has three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star from the battlefields of Vietnam?" Uh, does that mean he voted for...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday the all-volunteer military "raises serious questions in a democracy, both (about) how we define ourselves (and) what the real risks politically and militarily of taking action might be."

Clinton AWOL and desertion

On Thursday night, CNN dedicated the entire hour of its 8pm EST Paula Zahn Now to “2 Men, 2 Choices,” a title which appeared beneath old black and white photos of John Kerry and George Bush in military uniforms. But in 1992, well more than a week after news broke about Bill Clinton’s underhanded efforts to avoid the draft by misleading the chief of his local draft board, CNN aired a profile of Clinton during a prime time special on the candidates, yet failed to mention his draft avoidance. The MRC’s Tim Graham reminded me of this paragraph from the...

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Wednesday night wondered aloud why Bush’s National Guard service is such an issue after three years of his presidency when Bill Clinton’s avoidance of any Vietnam-era service “never got revisited again after that first campaign, despite the fact that he wrote the letter admitting he got help in dodging the draft, despite the fact that everybody knew he lied, basically, to Colonel Holmes.” During the February 11 Hardball segment with NBC News reporter David Gregory, Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank and Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus, the MRC’s Geoff Dickens noticed how Matthews intervened in the midst...

Folks, Whereis either Bill or Hillary documented for having said that they "loathe the Military". This claim is passed off fait'accompli, but I would like to document this for the benefit of a liberal friend who says that neither Bill, or Hillary, ever said this.

BEVERLY HILLS -- Now, let me get this straight. The Democrats are all down on George W. Bush because he did not fight in combat in Vietnam but was instead in the Air National Guard. This, they say, proves that Senator John Kerry, who did fight in Vietnam, in the Navy, is a superior human being and Bush is a coward, or a "deserter" as one of them said recently. So, then what is Bill Clinton? He not only did not join the National Guard but actively lied to avoid the draft. Are the Democrats now saying that he was...

Sen. John Kerry and his media boosters are hoping bogus allegations that President Bush went AWOL from the National Guard will catapult him into the White House - but during the 1992 presidential campaign, Kerry angrily denounced Bush's father for raising Bill Clinton's Vietnam draft record. In fact, back then, Kerry called those who wanted to make Vietnam service an issue "cowardly." "I'm here personally to express my anger, as a veteran," Kerry told National Public Radio two months before the 1992 election, "that a president who would stand before this nation in his inaugural address and promise to put...

138 Cong Rec S 2479, * Congressional Record -- Senate Thursday, February 27, 1992; (Legislative day of Thursday, January 30, 1992) 102nd Cong. 2nd Sess. 138 Cong Rec S 2479 Vol. 138 No. 25 VIETNAM INSERTED INTO CAMPAIGN SPEAKER: Mr. KERRY [*S2479]  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I also rise today -- and I want to say that I rise reluctantly, but I rise feeling driven by personal reasons of necessity -- to express my very deep disappointment over yesterday's turn of events in the Democratic primary in Georgia. I am saddened by the fact that Vietnam has yet again...

Note: George Bush joined the Guard in Texas and transferred to Alabama. He did political work and made an arrangement to miss some meetings. He made up those meetings and received an honorable discharge. He has proven his love and respect for those serving their country. The men and women respect their commander in chief. He understands the nature of evil and the importance of using U.S. power in the world without getting the permission of the stinking Germans and French. On the other hand, here is the story of a true draft dodger. Here is the story of a...

Audie Murphy, John Wayne and My Dad By Christopher Pritchard My father flew 57 combat missions in a B-26 during World War II. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in that war and won the Medal of Honor, John Wayne and Bob Hope never served a day in the military. Yet they all served their country. Today liberals are trying to destroy the memory of John Wayne by calling him a draft dodger. The same way they impugn anyone who supports America’s War on Terrorism that did not serve in the military. Service to country does not only come...

<p>ALL THE RAGE: His blunt talk's propelled him to the top, but some Democrats worry that Dean's shoot-from-the-hip style and shifting views might doom him in November. The doctor's ills—and how his foes plan to exploit them.</p> <p>NewsweekJan. 12 issue - The murmurs of doubt are faint, barely audible above the background hum of the Internet cosmos, but they are worth listening to at the moment, for the doubters don't seem to be "trolls"—provocateurs in digital disguise—and they express concerns about their favorite son, Dr. Howard Dean, in the bosom of his own blogosphere.</p>

Breaking News from NewsMax.comWesley Clark is sorry he made fun of Democrat rival Howard Dean for dodging the draft and skiing with a "back injury" while Clark recovered from wounds suffered in the Vietnam War. Really he is."I didn't have as much practice skiing as the governor did. He was out there skiing when I was recovering from my wounds in Vietnam," Clark said in November on WNTK radio in Manchester, N.H. But the retired general told Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday: "Let's put it in context, Tim. I was asked in a radio call-in about having...

Dean expected in city Jan. 10 Candidate to speak at AFSCME meeting By JOHN REYNOLDS STAFF WRITER The race for the White House is expected to cut through Springfield next week when Democratic frontrunner Howard Dean comes to town. Henry Bayer, executive director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, said Wednesday that Dean is expected to speak to the union's legislative conference Jan. 10. The event is not open to the public, but about 500 union members are expected to attend the event at the Hilton Springfield. "Most of our members haven't seen him in...

<p>Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean parried energetically last night with cable news television host Chris Matthews, defending his exemption from the Vietnam draft for back problems and showcasing his new book before a largely student audience at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.</p>

<p>MANCHESTER, N.H. — Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (search), who is running for president on his four-star military credentials, assailed Democratic front-runner Howard Dean (search) for spending time on the ski slopes after getting a medical deferment (search) for a back condition to avoid being drafting during the Vietnam War.</p>

(excerpt) 3. This reaction to Dean’s deferment from Kerry supporter, Vietnam vet and former Sen. Max Cleland: “Now, at a time when young Americans are being killed and wounded by President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq... Our country can not afford to have another leader who took the easy way out like George W. Bush who hid out in the Houston National Guard. We can not afford to have a leader who weaseled out of going to Vietnam on a medical deferment for a bad back and wound up on the ski slopes of Aspen like Howard Dean.”

WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has admitted dodging the Vietnam draft, obtaining a medical deferment for a back condition and then spending 10 months skiing. Asked if he could have served 33 years ago despite his back condition, Dean told the New York Times: "I guess that's probably true. I mean, I was in no hurry to get into the military." Dean's candor may not have been wholly voluntary. With his campaign under intense scrutiny from Democratic rivals, it was only a matter of time before attacks focused on his remarkable recovery from spondylolesthesis,...

In a press release issued by Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign on Sunday, former Sen. Max Cleland slammed front-runner Howard Dean for dodging the draft during Vietnam - the war that turned Cleland into a triple amputee. "At a time when young Americans are being killed and wounded by President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq, we don’t need another governor who ran from going to Vietnam and leading our country," Cleland complained. "We cannot afford to have a leader who weaseled out of going to Vietnam on a medical deferment for a bad back and wound up on the ski...

<p>November 23, 2003 -- Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean yesterday shot back at insinuations he was a draft dodger, saying a high school back injury was serious enough to keep him out of military service but not severe enough to make him miss out on a normal life. Armed with X-rays and a letter from his physician, Dean said he took a military physical in 1970, only to be classified as ineligible to serve, the candidate said.</p>