John Kerry is saying that attacks on his voting records are attacks on his patriotism.
No, Sen. Kerry, those aren’t attacks on your patriotism. They’re attacks on your wisdom, your sense of priorities, and the other things critical to being President of the bloody United States. Your votes are your votes, and they’re part of the historical record. Last time I checked this was a democracy, not a military dictatorship. Being in the service doesn’t magically make one immune from criticism. If you want to use your service in Vietnam as a shield, you’re not only being a scoundrel, you’re being something else:
A coward.
“If you want to use your service in Vietnam as a shield, you’re not only being a scoundrel, you’re being something else:
A coward.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Actually, I have said it myself, several times, usually when protesting the Iraq war, when veterans would approach me, yell at me, spit at me and occasionally swing at me or throw bottles at me. And yet, it has never stopped me from using my military ID to get a discounted movie ticket or hotel room.
But I don’t see that as what Kerry did at all. The dichotomy being drawn between Kerry and Bush is “Kerry Went, Bush Didn’t.” As a corrolary to that, several of Bush’s defenders (most notably that blonde bimbo Ann Coulter) have tried to diminish the wartime accomplishments of prominent Democrats. Kerry isn’t highlighting his exceptional combat bravery to shelter himself from criticism, he’s doing it to draw a distinction between himself and Bush. It’s necessary: Max Cleland didn’t fight hard enough against Saxby (one of the Joja 3: Zell, Saxby and Sonny–three names every Georgian can be proud of regardless of party) and got hit for a lack of patriotism. Let me try that again: triple amputee and decorated combat veteran Max Cleland got hit for a lack of patriotism. Not “his voting record is indicative of a weakness on defense,” but “he doesn’t take protecting America seriously.” There’s a hell of a distinction, and Kerry is right to fight for that inch of ground.
Besides that, as you STILL haven’t figured out, EVERY TIME THE WORD “VIETNAM” IS UTTERED BUSH IS HURT AGAINST KERRY. This is not a dead horse y’all should be flogging, because the comparison between Kerry and Bush in the Vietnam Era is not going to break for Bush in the general public. It’s not, and it’s a terrible, TERRIBLE idea for Republicans to keep pushing the issue, because now Bush will be asked about it at every campaign stop, and every time he “refuses to dignify such gutter politics” he’ll end up with a heartland headline saying he “refused to answer” questions about Vietnam. If his two big talking points end up being the ANG and gay bashing, he’s screwed sixty ways from the first Tuesday after the first Monday.