ballze

A Shameful Past
Don't play the Vietnam card with me, John Kerry.

BY LAURA BARTHOLOMEW ARMSTRONG
Monday, March 1, 2004 12:01 a.m. EST


The Vietnamization of the 2004 presidential campaign has unfortunately begun, thanks to the likely Democratic nominee. But John Kerry's service--Vietnam, in case you haven't heard--doesn't exist in a vacuum. His 19-year Senate record is at long odds with that short naval career, just as his vote to send troops to liberate Iraq is at odds with his later vote not to fund the mission. His supporters ask us to note his heroism in combat. We have, ad nauseam. But more important, and the thing he doesn't want discussed, is the well-documented though less well-known hypocrisy of those who use his service to further their antimilitary agenda.
I'm the daughter of Lt. Col. Roger J. "Black Bart" Bartholomew, a First Air Cavalry rocket artillery helicopter pilot who was killed in Vietnam on Thanksgiving Day 1968, when I was eight years old. I'm a former journalist with a military newspaper, a U.S. Marine widow, and I am appalled at Mr. Kerry's latest assertions that our president "has reopened the wounds of Vietnam." For months, I've heard President Bush talking about the present, while Mr. Kerry and the media want to focus on the past. I think we need to see the whole picture.






Liberal critics of American foreign policy have claimed they "support the troops"--but they're obviously hoping we have short memories. Many of us will never forget the hundreds of lawyers they dispatched to Florida in 2000 to make sure military absentee ballots did not get counted (some sources say that two out of three military voices in Florida were never heard). That was after the Clinton administration initiated rules making it more difficult to vote on overseas military bases.
Mr. Kerry and his party overwhelmingly oppose Pentagon funding and equipment, and make life miserable for our services on Capitol Hill. The liberals who sneered at the concept of duct tape keeping us safe last year are the same congressmen who find it acceptable when our brave and resourceful Marines must use it to hold together 40-year-old helicopters in combat. My brother Jay, a CH-46 pilot, used it during the first Gulf War, and our guys are still flying those same helicopters a decade later.
Mr. Kerry has tried to distance himself from some anti-war activists and surround himself with veterans, yet his anti-military voting record speaks much louder and resonates with those of us who are affected by the results.
Kerry supporters are the ones who would applaud my high school social studies teacher, a draft dodger who in 1976 banished me to the library for the duration of our Vietnam unit because I questioned his one-sided presentation of our troops as baby killers. Dare I say, these are the same people who spat on our guys back in the 1960s and disdained them in the '70s.
These were the people who in 1992 mocked Ross Perot's running mate, Adm. James Stockdale, a true hero and former prisoner of war, after his hearing aid (legacy of Viet Cong torture masters) gave him trouble during a televised debate. They downplayed Bob Dole's military service in 1996. And these are the same people who just last year yelled antimilitary slurs at dependents driving vehicles with Defense Department stickers--even picked on military kids about what their daddies did for a living. These are the Americans who love to enjoy the liberties of our land, yet have little understanding about those who actually risk their lives to ensure they exist. Until, of course, their candidate can claim that service on his résumé, and then they know all about us.







As the kid of a real war hero who did not come back, I'd like to comment not on Kerry's service, but his postservice activities. Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Mr. Kerry's organization of choice when he returned from his shortened tour of duty in Vietnam (and his springboard to fame), was known to me even as a child. The organization, while providing a place for angst-ridden vets to land after coming home, had an awful effect on those of us who lost our fathers.
It was bad enough to hear our dads criticized by those who hated the military, but to hear vets allege rampant war crimes and call their fellow soldiers evil before all the world really twisted the knife. Mr. Kerry led the way, proud in the company of Jane Fonda and others we believed had caused the deaths of good men. This group's testimony tarnished honorable actions. After taking the oath to preserve and protect, they grandstanded, throwing service awards in a show of defiance that diminished each sacrifice. Their stories dominated while the stories of thousands of honorable vets went untold. I don't hold it against them after so many years, but I'm dead sure I don't want their darling Kerry, the man who voted against funding our guys in Operation Iraqi Freedom, to be our next commander in chief.
In 2004, nothing is more important than continuing to protect America and fight terrorism. President Bush has led, not perfectly but earnestly. He has put much on the line to do what he believes is right. And he needs our continued support in the months to come.

Ms. Armstrong is a freelance writer in Atlanta and mother of two.

tecoyah

That is so one sided it is almost funny,almost.

__________________
Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha

ballze

Do you know of any war heros????

I know 3 and they don't think it one sided!

shakran

Well I do. He's a former SEAL who's done shit I can't even imagine, and he thinks this anti-kerry crap about his vietnam record is bullshit, as do I.

The republicans LOVE to snip at the democratic candidates when they haven't served in the military, but when the facts are reversed, suddenly it's mean-spirited, dirty, and unethical.

The two-facedness of the republican party is astonishing in this campaign. Not only are they being hypocritical about the vietnam issue, but they've found another issue to be hypocritical about too. When he didn't realize his mic was still on, Kerry made a comment about the crookedness of the people he's running against. Bush quickly came out and lambasted him for it, saying it was "un-presidential." How, then, does Bush explain the fact that he called NY Times reporter Adam Clyner a "major league asshole" (to which Cheney agreed heartilly) when HE didn't realize the mic was on? It's OK for Bush to do it, and he can still be presidential, but Kerry can't say what he said? I note with interest that Kerry's language did not dip to the crude levels of Bush's remark.

This is just another example of the typical republican attitude that whatever they want to do is great, but if the other side does the exact same thing, they're wrong for doing it.

Peryn

Well, it definately has a spin on the facts, as does any political peice. But, imo, they chose the wrong facts to spin. Instead of spinning his war record, they should have focused on this part - "his vote to send troops to liberate Iraq". His anti-war speeches and his vote to send them there seems like a much more important aspect in my mind than how involved he was or wasn't in Vietnam.

__________________
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reconmike

Does anyone have any information on how Kerry came to be in Vietnam?

I personally know 3 sailors who where there, all joined the Navy to avoid combat in Vietnam.
Well 2 were assigned fast boat duty as was Kerry and one was a corpsman. So my point is they're plan to avoid "action" only put them smack into it.

I know also there will not be very many Kerry votes coming out of my VFW post. What does that tell you?

And who do you think the VFW, American Legion, or other assorted Vet related organizations are going to support?

__________________
Where is Darwin when ya need him?

filtherton

So you're saying that since veterans won't respect someone who tried to avoid action in vietnam they are going to vote for bush?

Interesting.

But i find it very unlikely that you speak on behalf of all, or even most, veterans when it comes to the november election.

Sparhawk

He was a PA officer for a year on a destroyer (yawn) before he volunteered for fast boat duty. And he was initially assigned to the "easy" AOR, and once again he volunteered (repeatedly) for the more dangerous area of responsibility.

As for who the Vet organizations are going to back, I guess we'll see, won't we?

__________________
"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."

yatzr

I don't think the vets dislike him because he "tried to avoid action". I'm pretty sure the whole vvaw thing is what pissed them all off. I also have yet to see a vet that KNOWS about vvaw and the winter soldier thing say they like kerry.

__________________
Mechanical Engineers build weapons. Civil Engineers build targets.

tecoyah

intersting choice of words.

To answer your question, Yes....I do.
And neither of them would accept the "HERO" label you have attached. Both just told me of the intent to vote Kerry, and one actially laughed at your post.

__________________
Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha

maximusveritas

Here's an interesting article on the Vietnam vets' role in the upcoming election:
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/sto...12013008.shtml
It points out that the vets are a diverse group with race, age, and rank all playing a large role in how they vote.

But the quote that really stuck out to me was:
I know alot of vets like Hutchinson who are generally conservative and have voted Republican on the perception that they are stronger on defense.
But now we have a Republican president who has sent our military to fight an unnecesary war under false pretenses while simultaneously refusing to fund veterans' health care programs.
If the Democrats can reach more people like Edward Hutchison, they could get a big boost in this election and the years to come.

pan6467

The VA hospital in Brecksville is closing, leaving 250 VETS HOMELESS as subsidized housing is full and they only have disability, if they are lucky. There are VETS here in Akron/Canton checking lawyers out wanting to get involved (and rightly so) in the lawsuit against the government for withholding benefits promised to them. Bush is no friend to them. Talk to them READ the local papers around here.

These VETS aren't voting for Bush they will be voting for Kerry. And yes I know this for a fact because I deal with some of them as this is where the VA detox and compulsive gambling rehabs are among other much needed clinics. Well needed to everyone but Bush.

Make up any excuse you want, Bush has turned his back on them as have many GOP.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

flamingdog

I don't understand why being anti-war suddenly disqualifies you for office.

Strange Famous

I refuse to take seriously any journalist who signs her articles "the mother of two" - this is the worst kind of misrepresentation of ordinary American's.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Kadath

By the by.

__________________
it's quiet in here

Lebell

My comment was just a general mod comment on posting articles w/o inserting your own thoughts.

If you are asking my own comment however, I think that vets are just another group of voters and each candidate will appeal to them in varying degrees.

As to my own experience, I know several vets and none support Kerry, even as they are unhappy with Bush.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Kadath

My point was only that ballze posted this without adding comments of his own, and, when pressed, contributed two lines.

__________________
it's quiet in here

Lebell

*shrug*

What do you want me to do?

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Kadath

Apply your cruel totalitarian rules with an even iron fist!

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it's quiet in here

Lebell

I'm sorry.

I'm scheduled to get my iron fist balanced and rotated next week.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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pan6467

Damn hate when that happens. Do they give you a silk stump glove while your Iron Fist is in the shop?

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Kadath

Haha! I salute you, sir.

__________________
it's quiet in here

Lebell

No.

I have to make due with a crusty old athletic sock.

How it got crusty, I'll leave up to you to guess.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Superbelt

Laura Bartholomew Armstrong, hosted by WorldNetDaily.
It should be pointed out (but wasn't by the thread originator) that she is not just a columnist. She is exclusive to Ultra conservative, republican groups who's only goal is to prop up Republicans and their causes and tear down democrats, liberals and the associated issues.

Her and this opinion paper are exactly the kinds of people pointed out by Kerry as:

mml

This is America, and she is entitled to her opinion, as am I. In my opinion she is off base and blinded by partisanship.

Reality is that Kerry has played the Vet issue and he will have to deal with the consequences, both good and bad. I said it on another thread, no group as diverse as veterans will ever be monolithic in their thought process. Many like him, many don't, many are unsure. I can give you examples of all three.

__________________
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
-Douglas Adams

ballze

It's not Bush that turned his back it was Clinton. Do you realy think that Bush would do this. Clinton cut so much for the defence and vets that it's very hard for Bush to recover from it. I mean realy look at the oil BS now. It's Bush's fault! Wrong, how about that billion barrel deal that Gore did back in the day. Thats right he sold oil from our reserve to China. What about that?

Superbelt

Why do you think he wouldn't?

The bush admin supports rescinding lifetime health benefits for World War II and Korean War veterans.
This decision, admittedly was made by Clinton in 1995. But bush supports it.

Kerry opposed it in 1995 and wants to reinstate the free lifetime benefits for the veterans and their dependents if he gets elected.

The VA hospital in Brecksville closing is a result of the last couple years of budget cuts to Veteran affairs. The 2004 budget was passed with a 25 billion reduction to veterans benefits over the next ten years.
This includes hospital funding, prescription drugs. It means many veterans will be forced onto Medicare and have to pay a monthly premium of 60 dollars a month. Schools and scholarships for veterans children are seeing huge cuts as well. Funding was cut for upgrading military housing too.

The bush Whitehouse opposed a doubling to 6000 in benefits paid to families when a soldier dies in combat. bush also rolled back the monthly imminent danger pay. (Which is pay increases for being in a warzone.)

All this was done under bush.
There's alot more too. Just hop on google and search for it.

iccky

Totally off topic, but when people post articles and editorials, could they also post what news source they come from?

Annabella

I think the main task for all of you should be to make shore that John Kerry would never be elected as an president..

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Milloin vaan voi kiihoittua!!

Sparhawk

(granted, i am drunk rigt now...)

__________________
"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."

Lebell

Share the wealth and pass the bottle.

I could use a stiff one as well.

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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Please Donate!

reconmike

Just to update on the veterans in NJ situation, Saturday night Rolling Thunder who is a Vietnam veterans motorcycle club voted 197-14 to support Bush, which means 2k dollars from the club will be going to his campain fund.
I was there because I bartend at my VFW and thats where they held it.

Next week we have our post's vote stay tuned.................

__________________
Where is Darwin when ya need him?