Sponsors

Who wants to be a veteran when you're gonna get trashed...? Email Print

james webb, former navy secretary under reagan, in today's nyt...
   Military people past and present have good reason to wonder if the current administration truly values their service beyond its immediate effect on its battlefield of choice.     Military people past and present have good reason to wonder if the current administration truly values their service beyond its immediate effect on its battlefield of choice.

  The casting of suspicion and doubt about the actions of veterans who have run against President Bush or opposed his policies has been a constant theme of his career. This pattern of denigrating the service of those with whom they disagree risks cheapening the public's appreciation of what it means to serve, and in the long term may hurt the Republicans themselves.

as a vietnam veteran who earned two army commendation medals (non-combat) for my vietnam service and another one for my service in the stateside army, i recall thinking to myself when kerry was being smeared, why couldn't my medals be called into question too...? then i thought, what a pile of shit... it's nothing but a political smear game... evidently webb agrees...
   The political tactic of playing up the soldiers on the battlefield while tearing down the reputations of veterans who oppose them could eventually cost the Republicans dearly. It may be one reason that a preponderance of the Iraq war veterans who thus far have decided to run for office are doing so as Democrats.

    A young American now serving in Iraq might rightly wonder whether his or her service will be deliberately misconstrued 20 years from now, in the next rendition of politically motivated spinmeisters who never had the courage to step forward and put their own lives on the line.


and just in case you might wonder whose wonderful, totally sleazy strategy this is... two guesses and the first two don't count...

yep...! KARL ROVE...!

visit my blog: And, yes, I DO take it personally


KEYWORDS: , , , , , ,

Sign up for a Complimentary Member Account... Join the community! It's fast. And it'll allow you to take advantage of all this site's great features!

< U.S.: "Very desperate" and "very worried" | Keywords are now required >
 Display:
But I wonder if those who enlist today are informed enough about politics to realize that their service is next in line to be trashed. I don't know if they are even tuned in enough to hear the smears going on, beyond the one on Kerry.

by SusanG on 01/18/2006 09:57:21 PM EST

Any veteran watching can tell that Republicans have blithely been cutting vets' benefits since Nixon gutted the G.I. Bill.
Sure, Calamity George took us to war, but rather than beef up the Veterans Administration to cope with inevitable casualties, Bush budgets have cut veterans benefits to the bone.

"Think this through with me. Let me know your mind" Hunter/Garcia

by epcraig on 01/18/2006 10:51:44 PM EST

my son and his wife both work at a va hospital and that's where i get my medical care... i know from them as well as first-hand what's happening to vets... when i'm in the u.s. and driving around, i see all these cars with "veterans for bush" bumper stickers and i just want to pull them over and ask, "what have you been smoking...?"

How do I get a transfer out of this chickenshit outfit?

by profmarcus on 01/19/2006 06:32:02 AM EST

It is ugly, isn't it?

This from the Textbook of Military Medicine [Chap 18, p.459]:

Soldiers are often simply common men driven by geopolitical forces beyond their control into the role of combatant...After wars' end, soldiers once again become civilians and return to their families to try to pick up where they left off...It is the soldier who is prized and valued, not the ex-soldier."

I think the above might offer one reason for the Right's ability to get away with this ugly behavior with many in their base. They're good at cheering for and proclaiming "Support the Troops" when it's regarding the soldier on today's battlefield, yet so casually denigrate those who served before him.

It makes no sense to me; but, obviously others don't find any problem with the hypocrisy.

On PTSD Combat | Email list | Book

by ilona on 01/21/2006 02:32:30 AM EST

 Display: