I am no fan of John Kerry or Max Cleland politically, at all, I am a Goldwater conservative, Reagan was too liberal for me.
That has nothing to do with my comments here. I am only concerned that wounded warriors not be made fun of due to the nature or origin of their wounds.
That is out of line for you or Ann Coulter or anyone else.
We can bang the conservative Republican drum all we want but there are patriot values that are not negotiable.
I have no time for John Kerry. But it is undeniable that he faced enemy fire many times and attacked into that fire.
Yes he may have been given awards and decorations that were not fully earned, that happens to all kinds of vets Republican and Democrat.
At the time and place that Kerry was on the field of battle and did his duty, I honor and respect him. Of course he later lied to Congress and has not held up our national interest. For that I do not honor him and wish he were out of politics.
We have to be careful here on FR not to get so caught up singing with the choir that we forget our basic patriotic values.
Honoring of any vet is always conditional and limited. Just because they served honorably in wartime does not make them a good and honorable person.
If you wish to deride Cleland and Kerry, do it based on the ideology you rightfully dislike and don’t soil your comments with cheap shots about war injuries.
Fair enough, but it was Cleland himself who equated his political career with his war time service.
After he was defeated by Chambliss, he whined about the tactics of his opponent, (then) RNC chairman Ed Gillespie, and Tom Delay. He tried to hide behind his military record, which had nothing to do with his loss.
In the campaign, he was attacked for not supporting the patriot act because he wanted more guaranteed union protection for TSA workers. They never said anything about his service.
Concerning his defeat, he had this quote in The Atlanta Journal Constitution:
"It was like the trauma of being suddenly and traumatically blown up, and I in effect relived all that hell of 35 years ago," Cleland said in an exclusive interview from his new office at Washington's American University. "It's been very tough to recover."
Oh, please. The two aren't even close. Would you rather have a Senate seat or all your limbs? Whatever sympathy or respect anyone had for him should have evaporated with that utterly ridiculous statement. He either really believes it, or it's a calculated ploy. Either way, it's pathetic.
Want me to separate the military career from the politcal? Tell Max, first.