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i'll side with the traditionally left leaning posters in defending kerry's war record because no matter the circumstances they (his medals) were awarded to him... he still put himself in harms way for a while, more than many in his generation were willing to do. even if you could prove that he did it for a political future, that still takes guts whatever the motivation.
i'm just confused why this is all of the sudden a positive aspect of kerry's campaign. since when did democrats push military service as a positive factor in political leadership?
Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush Senior and GWB have all performed military service and i've not seen these two things come from that...
1. i've never seen a liberal cede the point that their military service makes them more qualified for office.
2. i've never seen any of the aforementioned men make their military service a campaign talking point like kerry has used his.
if you want to talk about heroes... talk about Bob Dole. there is a humble man who has more to boast about than nearly every politician this century... yet did not allow it to be exploited when people tried to make a big deal of it in his run for the presidency.
all this to say: i don't think anyone has the right to delegitimize kerry's service, but i think the way kerry has used it in his campaign is vulgar compared to how presidential candidates of the past have treated theirs.
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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
~ Winston Churchill
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