Stay Away - Someone convince Mitt Romney he shouldn't talk about Vietnam.

boston.com ^ | July 29, 2007 | Charles P. Pierce

[af_vet_rr]

and how often have we seen the sons of pols entering the military solely to enhance the reps of their parents — a la Gore, Jr. with his father).

George P Bush entered the Naval Reserve earlier this year.....guess it took him four or five years to think about it, although I don't think he's doing it for his parents, he's doing it for his future political campaigns.

[ansel12]

“George P Bush entered the Naval Reserve earlier this year.....guess it took him four or five years to think about it, although I don’t think he’s doing it for his parents, he’s doing it for his future political campaigns.”

Thank God. Plus what can you say after a man enlists?

[tiger-one]

There is more to Mitt's talking about his own, completely imaginary, experience in Southeast Asia.

Since Mitt has no record of being in the service, I wonder is he trying acquire Viet Nam veteran following by his so called imaginary experience?

What is next, he imagines he played for the RED SOX in 1967 or was a Stock Driver in 1963?

Recruit a following by "imagining" Mitt.

[L.N. Smithee]

also a reminder his 5 sons in their 20s - 30s have not served in the military.

...And?

Neither did Ronald Reagan's son. Neither have the Bush twins. Neither has Giuliani's college-age son. Neither has Chelsea Clinton.

Bill Clinton didn't serve in the military -- for all intents and purposes, he was a draft dodger. On the other hand, Jimmy Carter joined the Navy during WW II and was stationed in the Pacific until 1953. Fat lotta good that did the nation when he became Commander-in-Chief.

Let me remind you and guys like Michael Moore that nobody "sends their children to war" -- adults volunteer to serve in the military. If Romney's sons don't want to serve, nobody can make them do it, and they shouldn't be forced to enlist for the sake of their father's political goals. After all, the draft laws in place since WW I expired in 1973, and long before that Lincoln ended slavery.

I suppose if one or more of Romney's sons were enlisted, you would suddenly support Mitt over your other concerns about him? Fat chance. The entire "issue" is a red herring, and you know it.

[Ben Chad]

Let me remind you and guys like Michael Moore that nobody "sends their children to war" -- adults volunteer to serve in the military. If Romney's sons don't want to serve, nobody can make them do it, and they shouldn't be forced to enlist for the sake of their father's political goals. After all, the draft laws in place since WW I expired in 1973, and long before that Lincoln ended slavery.

Right you are. But I take pride in the fact that my son volunteered, went through grueling hardship to became a Marine, and served in Iraq. That was a grueling time for me.

[ansel12]

"Neither did Ronald Reagan's son. Neither have the Bush twins. Neither has Giuliani's college-age son. Neither has Chelsea Clinton. ============================================================ A dead WWII veterans son, a couple of girls, A New York liberal Mayor's son, and another girl. COOL: Start thinking you robotic Cult members.

[festus]

and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam."

So instead of "Didja know John Kerry was in Vietnam ?" we have "Didja know Mitt Romney thought he was in Vietnam ?"

[Mogger]

and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam."

While I am for Tancredo, I can understand Romney's feelings on it, if they are true on this matter.

I wanted to "get in on" Vietnam, but by the time I enlisted it was over, and I enlisted at 17.

In retrospect. I'm just as glad I didn't, mainly due to the lack of creature comforts you endure in a war zone.

[TAdams8591]

Ping!

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I’m not familiar with his Dad’s claim of being brainwashed. Can anyone explain that to me?

[frankenMonkey]

Regarding Mitt’s sons (and probably Mitt, too), LDS males at 18 tend to be more focused on church missions than the military. It makes recruiting in Utah a tough assignment.

[af_vet_rr]

I think it says a lot about how your children were raised if they volunteer to serve their country.

Of course, we are talking about politicians' kids, and when you grow up with such a privileged life, you tend not to want to do anything that's going to jeopardize that.

Even George P Bush, even though he's doing it for his future political career (the man has a great mentor, because he's doing everything he should be in preparing himself for a future run at office), selected the Naval Reserve rather than something that might expose him to harm.

Like I told somebody else, my daughter has probably been shot at more times in the past month than all of Romney's kids combined, will be in their entire lives.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Another day another Mitt bashing thread.

This kind of hate is like oxygen to some types.

[ansel12]

“”Regarding Mitt’s sons (and probably Mitt, too), LDS males at 18 tend to be more focused on church missions than the military. “”

They could have done what I did.

Fight the draft for two years because I didn’t believe in it.

Beat the draft, win a permanent deferment, and then enlist in the army and go airborne.

That is a pretty arrogant cult that says we send our men on two year recruiting tours and that is as good as them serving your nation. If it is so important to teach their males to be door to door salesman can’t they also enlist afterward?

As the powerful son of the anti-war presidential candidate, I believe that Mitt Romney was continuing his families anti-American traditions.

The issue isn’t whether an individual served, it is that as you start digging into the Romney’s, you will find that they have a deliberate relationship with America that only includes their personal gain and seeking power.

The Romneys do not and will not put on that uniform, ever.

What is that quote from Romney about how his sons ARE serving by working on his campaign?

[13Sisters76]

Very frankly, I don’t care WHO does it- someone should remind us all, and educate the younger members, as to just what happened in VietNma from 1973-1975 and how the demonRATs want to do to Iraq what they did to SVN. How they turned their backs on an ally after WE lost “a brace of kinsmen” to keep them out of communist hands; how the dems HANDED SVN to the North (I believe they wanted the north to win all along- fellow travelers, don’cha know); how, in one fell swoop, they made the loss of 58000 soldiers absolutely meaningless (I think they wanted THAT, too); and how they set SE Asia up to be a killing field- ALL in the name of Marxism; and how they have used the ghosts of VietNam to beat our “American-ess” nearly to death.

Yes indeed- I am ALL for ANYONE bringing up THAT history.

[Ben Chad]

Personally I don’t blame guys for not volunteering for military service, but for those who do, I think we should have a parade.

[ansel12]

“Handsome, energetic, and tremendously successful at everything he did, Romney was thought to be the GOP’s best hope at capturing the White House—until September 4, 1967—40 years ago today—when his candidacy suddenly imploded.”

“Romney, on the other hand, was a relatively liberal Republican who had openly refused to endorse Goldwater, criticizing him as an extremist, and who had led a 10,000-person civil rights march in Detroit in 1965 to protest the events of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama. And many party leaders in 1967 were in no mood to listen to the party’s growing conservative wing.”

” George Romney was cut from different cloth. A devout Mormon who didn’t smoke, drink, gamble, or use strong language, he had served as a missionary in Great Britain before moving on to a successful business career, first with the Aluminum Corporation of America and later as head of American Motors, a company he rescued from near-bankruptcy with his introduction of a new fuel-efficient car, the Rambler. “

“In 1962 Romney, a lifelong Republican, won the first of three terms as governor of Michigan. He soon became known as a voice of racial reconciliation and an advocate for moderation in a party that was drifting rightward.”

“By late 1967, however, he was having second thoughts. In a program taped on August 31 and broadcast on September 4, he told a Michigan television interviewer that he no longer believed that the U.S. could win in Vietnam. And then he made his big gaffe. He said top military officials and diplomats in Saigon had given him a “brainwashing” in the fall of 1965, misleading him into thinking that America was sure to defeat the Communists.”

“The public reaction was swift and merciless. Though Romney tried to qualify his statement, explaining that he had not been subject to a “Russian-style but [rather an] L.B.J.-style brainwashing,” the damage was done. His admission suggested both naiveté and weakness when the country was looking for strength and certitude. On November 18 he formally declared his candidacy, but his campaign got nowhere, and late the following February he withdrew from the race. “
http://www.americanheritage.com/people/articles/web/20070904-george-romney-brainwash-richard-nixon-vietnam-lbj.shtml

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Thank you for the information.

[ansel12]

It is interesting isn’t it.

Romney, a powerful Mormon leader that did not serve in WWII, and the only time he claims to have been “brainwashed” was by the United States Military.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

That’s irony right there.