Posted on 09/25/2004 4:02:24 AM PDT by kattracks
As a young Navy officer in World War II, I was one of the first Americans to see Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. That experience lives with me today, and it helped to shape the view I held during my public service career: a view that war is wrong in nearly every circumstance.As Oregon's governor, I was the only governor in the nation who refused to sign a statement supporting President Johnson's Vietnam War policy.
As a senator, I joined with Sen. George McGovern in an unsuccessful effort to end that war. I was the only senator who voted against both the Democrat and Republican resolutions authorizing the use of force in the 1991 Gulf War.
In my final years in the Senate, I opposed President Clinton's decision to send American troops to Bosnia.
During my 30 years in the Senate, I never once voted in favor of a military appropriations bill.
I know that this record will cause many to wonder why I am such a strong supporter of President Bush and his policy in Iraq. My support is based on the fact that our world changed on Sept. 11, 2001, a day on which we lost more American lives than we did in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I know from my service in the Senate that Saddam Hussein was an active supporter of terrorism. He used weapons of mass destruction on innocent people and left no doubt that he would do so again. It was crucial to the cause of world peace that he be removed from power.
Having seen atrocious loss in World War II, I understand the devastation of armed conflict. We have paid dearly with American and Iraqi lives for our commitment, but we cannot afford the alternative. Nor can we afford a president who puts a wet finger in the air and turns over his decisions to pollsters.
President Bush has indeed taken heat for his resolve in pursuing the war on terrorism and efforts in Iraq. His steadfastness and resolve in the face of his critics are deserving of praise.
As terrorists continue to plot against our country and our interests, the American people must choose between action and inaction, between security and insecurity.
I believe the choice is clear. I will proudly cast my vote for President George W. Bush.
Mark O. Hatfield served as a Republican U.S. senator from Oregon from 1967 to 1997.
Geez, that's a suprising blast from the past! Guess you can get wiser as you get older...
ping
My MY...This is a shock!
Has hell frozen over?
The only other persons I would be more shocked to see supporting George Bush would be John Kerry and Muqtada al-Sadr
We apid dearly, in part, because this excremental dolt resisted keeping America strong. He fought against a militarily strong country until the wolf was through the door and now is all for destroying the wolf.
The wolf should never have become bold enoug or strong enough to attack us.
Game Master: "Mr. Kerry, would you please remove the Oregon Piece from the game board?"
Has hell frozen over?......
Good question. Who do we know down there to check it out?
Spoken by a man of strong principle. I had heard of this man, but who could imagine such a super-pacifist republican in the first place, but of course, now he's sees the real difference between "then" and "now".
Next, perhaps WWII vet McGovern will endorse Bush.
why isn't this up on drudge?
Good point!
Not only Hatfield, but in the Oregonian?
...I've been looking for Dorothy and her little dog ever since...
OMG...this...for a baby-boomer who well remembers Hatfield..is one hell of a shock. This is an important endorsement- Hatfield was always known by his integrity and principles.
Good question. Let's send ol' Matt a link to the story.
Welcome to FR! You're coming up on your first month anniv.
Having a good time yet?
Dang,
Guess I can be proud once again to say I'm from Oregon. Well, almost as I'm sure Ashland will be mostly john-john in November.
Sako
LOL!
Will wonders ever cease?
Ya think there's an army of private dicks and paid researchers digging through Hatfield's past for dirt yet? He just said "kick me".
I have been a Denizen of the internet for some 14 years now, starting with a long since dead service. I remember promises of the internet delivering something like this Free Republic at several times during that span of more than a decade.
This place and concept leaps ahead of newsgroups and IRC and chatrooms by recombining the strengths of each to create a "Discussion of Record" with certainly lots of chatter but also real intellectual and news firepower.
There is a system of recognition that reinforces good postings and kicks the butts of folks of making stupid mistakes. But in a good natured way. With facts.. I had my hat handed to me the other day with a series of pdf's. It was humbling but at the same time delightful.
I do web development for a living.. so I am intensely curious about this place. I made some small suggestions about how the interface could use some minor tweaks.. promptly ignored.. bet these folks are inundated with all sorts of "suggestions". LOL. Anyway.. this is fine. It needs a few things.. but what great thing doesn't. The interface is much better than DU.. and I think that this is one reason FR is more effective.. lol.. cheers..
Poor Mark Hatfield. He got booted from the Senate for chasing a woman around his desk. I agree that sexual harrassment should not be tolerated!
But along comes Bill Clinton who ... well, we know. And Barney Frank, William Kennedy Smith, etc.
There ARE two Americas! There is a set of rules for Republicans and another for Democrats. The Republicans are held to higher standards and Democrats are not held to any standards.
Ditto this statement! From the viewpoint of us baby-boomers this is a much more important endorsement of Bush than former NY mayor Koch's or Sen. Miller's. It is also important in that he states that his view on terrorism, and his support of Bush, is shaped by his visit to Hiroshima shortly after the bomb was dropped, a perspective held by only a few people. The overwhelming majority of us do not share that perspective (9/11 is our worst memory) and Hatfield is reminding us that the potential is so much worse. Also, remember the famous 1964 "Atomic Bomb" commercial used by LBJ against Goldwater's aggressive stance? (A little girl picking a flower when a nuke expodes.) An effective RNC print commercial today would be a photo of a nuke followed overlaid with a couple of paragraphs from Hatfield's statement:
I know from my service in the Senate that Saddam Hussein was an active supporter of terrorism. He used weapons of mass destruction on innocent people and left no doubt that he would do so again. It was crucial to the cause of world peace that he be removed from power.
Having seen atrocious loss in World War II, I understand the devastation of armed conflict. We have paid dearly with American and Iraqi lives for our commitment, but we cannot afford the alternative. Nor can we afford a president who puts a wet finger in the air and turns over his decisions to pollsters.
When that pair was around they were the liberal male west coast pair of RINOs the likes of which are seen today on the east coast in the embodiments of Snowe and Collins from Maine.
" The interface is much better than DU.. and I think that this is one reason FR is more effective.. lol.. cheers.."
Actually, the reason FR is effective is the diversity of views and the ability to correct error. DU and other sites tend to reinforce error, rather than correct it. Which, BTW, I am all in favor of, since it is aiding in the decline and fall of the dem party- and I was once a proud member.
Hatfield is another Jimmy Carter, looking to get his name in the papers one more time.
Great. Another lib who FINALLY gets it. Stay this way for another 30 years and we'll call it even.
'I know from my service in the Senate that Saddam Hussein was an active supporter of terrorism. He used weapons of mass destruction on innocent people and left no doubt that he would do so again. It was crucial to the cause of world peace that he be removed from power.'
That must be repeated until it sticks.
Losing the battle for Iraq in the War on Terror (WWIV) will have a devastating impact on the whole free world. The fact that much of the free world doesn't recognize that is irrelevant. They will be saved in spite of themselves if they simply get out of the way of the courageous in the pursuit of genuine peace.
Welcome to FR!
Mark Hatfield, wasn't he a carpet Salesman in Oregon?
Got whacked in the head last week and now he sees the light. Guess the crash dummies are right, "Fender to the forehead, works every time"
FYI
Looks like 9/11 woke up Mr Hatfield.
This needs to be spread all over Oregon. The peace senator backs GW.
Thanks, k. I mailed this to my aunt in Ca. She will spread the word.
I still recall the faces of those kids when we toured the Vietnam Memorial. I was looking up some of my best friends who died in Vietnam. One team member, a very talented young man, was so overwhelmed he had tears running down his face.
Thanks for the ping.
I was posting my reply as you posted your ping.
This should have a lot of impact in Portland with the so called uncommited voters who are afraid to say that they might be for GW.
Also, around here.. we are already way on warning that folks are lurking to find fault. Its a maxim that folks should stay with the facts.. and not get caught in wild speculations. Its insane how fast folks around here get to the nub. DU is not used to having the press pick their ideas apart. If the document forgery story had been against the Reps.. it would have been.. front page news without all of our work to strain out fonts and proportional spacing and such.. the standard we have to live with is "Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt." DU lives in world where the standard is "It Might Be Reasonably Supposed."
This can't help but disburse energy in lots of false tangents. I am thinking of all of the effort they waisted on Bush's Unit Citation.. arrf.. what a load of crap.. if someone had brought that up around here.. they would be promptly told.. so what... and it would die.. but they went after this for weeks..
Tellin' it like it is! I hope he has a quick recovery from his injuries.
He gets it. The war on terror is a fight for our survival.
This is good to see!
Oregon Ping
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Ditto!
bump
I'm in the camp of those who believe him when he says the 9/11 changed everything for him.
I hope this gets some national coverage.
You're right about Carter, though. He's a total fraud who used 'religion' to get ahead politically, when many of his views were antithetical to Christianity.
Hatfield, I believe, was truly a pacifist......a viable, though wrongheaded Christian ideology.
And I believe he genuinely means what he has said here.
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