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.
Again, I’m no political supporter of Cleland, he can roast in his own fire.
Those that try to graduate their war record as a pass for political defects won’t get my sympathy.
Thanks for the post on his comments, he was wrong to compare any political injury to losing your limbs, sounds like a cheap attempt at attention and sympathy. Doing so demeans the honorable sacrifice he made in Viet Nam.
Even if Cleland won’t continue to fully honor his sacrifice, I will because he represents all the wounded warriors struggling to overcome their loss for the rest of their lives.
That loss doesn’t ever evaporate any more than they can get their limbs back.
For example, you can put Duke Cunningham in prison but that never diminishes his heroism, patriotism, or sacrifice.
I advise both Cleland and Coulter to stay with their core values and honor what can and should be honored and not allow ideology or political gain to smear and taint patriotic sacrifices.