Lest it be forgotten or simply not known --- here's a very timely synopsis of why America is, once again, mired in a needless war against a country that was no threat to us and which has wasted human life on both sides, bankrupted the national treasury -- saddling our children's futures with war debt, and diminished our reputation in the eyes of practically the entire civilized world. Granted - - all of that means nothing while war profiteers and big GOP donors like Halliburton, Bechtel, GE, KBR, and all of the crooked oil companies are making money hand-over-fist. If there is a God, there's a special room reserved in Hell for all of these people that have profited off of the human suffering of this evil war.
Speaking of evil -- here's the synopsis I mentioned -- a virtual who's who of flag-waving, bible-thumping, war-loving hypocrites that permeate the ranks of the GOP and right-wing media shills. Of course, they only love war as long as it's against a much weaker foe and as long as it's someone elses (preferably poor Democrats) kids doing the fighting and dying. This list is not made up. All information is culled from public records. In the end, if you find yourself surprised that practically the entire GOP leadership along with their media cheerleaders are a bunch of yellow-bellied, cowardly arm-chair soldiers --- then perhaps you ought to be very, very angry with your "mainstream" media. This information is available to all, but you'll never hear it talked about on FOX, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC or AM hate radio. The mainstream media in this country these days treats the truth and cold, hard facts like it's the bubonic plague.
Nonetheless, read this list, then tell me who the real patriots in this country are. I dare you:
Who served in the military?
Prominent Democrats:
Representative Richard Gephardt, former House Minority Leader
Missouri Air National Guard, 1965-71.
Representative David Bonior
Staff Sgt., United States Air Force 1968-72
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle
1st Lt., U.S. Air Force SAC 1969-72
Former Vice President Al Gore
enlisted August 1969; sent to Vietnam January 1971 as an army journalist, assigned to the 20th Engineer Brigade headquartered at Bien Hoa, an airbase twenty miles northeast of Saigon.
Former Senator Bob Kerrey
Lt. j.g., U.S. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam
Senator Daniel Inouye
US Army 1943-'47; Medal of Honor, World War Two
Senator John Kerry
Lt., U.S. Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, and three awards of the Purple Heart for his service in combat
Representative Charles Rangel
Staff Sgt., U.S. Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea
Former Senator Max Cleland
Captain, U.S. Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam
Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
U.S. Army, 1951-1953.
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Lt., U.S. Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)
U.S. Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91
Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC)
served as a U.S. Army officer in World War II, receiving the Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
Representative Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
Lt. Col., U.S. Army 1956-76; two tours in Vietnam, two Distinguished Flying Crosses as a helicopter pilot, two Bronze Stars, and the Soldier's Medal.
Former Representative "Pete" Peterson
Air Force Captain, POW, Ambassador to Viet Nam, and recipient of the Purple Heart, the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit.
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-CA
Staff sergeant/platoon leader with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, U.S. Army; was wounded and received a Purple Heart.
Bill McBride, Democratic Candidate for Florida Governor
volunteered and served as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam; awarded Bronze Star with a combat "V."
Gray Davis, California Governor
Army Captain in Vietnam; received Bronze Star.
Pete Stark, D-CA
served in the Air Force 1955-57
Prominent Republicans:
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
avoided the draft, did not serve.
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey
avoided the draft, did not serve.
House Majority Leader Tom Delay
avoided the draft, did not serve
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt
did not serve
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
did not serve.
Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-KY
did not serve
Rick Santorum, R-PA, third ranking Republican in the Senate
did not serve.
Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
avoided the draft, did not serve.
Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld
served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) as an aviator and flight instructor.
Served as President Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East and met with Saddam Hussein twice in 1983 and 1984.
GW Bush
decided that a six-year Nat'l Guard commitment really means four years.
VP Cheney
several deferments, the last by marriage (in his own words, "had other priorities than military service")
Att'y Gen. John Ashcroft
did not serve ; received seven deferments to teach business ed at SW Missouri State
Jeb Bush, Florida Governor
did not serve.
Karl Rove
avoided the draft, did not serve, too busy being a Republican.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich
avoided the draft, did not serve
"B-1" Bob Dornan
Enlisted only after the fighting was over in Korea.
Phil Gramm
avoided the draft, did not serve, four (?) student deferments
Democrats:
Gray Davis, California Governor
Army Captain in Vietnam; received Bronze Star.
Chuck Robb, US Senator from Virginia
served in Vietnam
Howell Heflin
Silver Star
George McGovern
awarded Silver Star & DFC, dozens of Allied bombing missions during WWII.
Pete Stark, D-CA
served in the Air Force
Former President Bill Clinton
avoided the draft through student deferments
in the autumn of 1969, Clinton entered the draft but received a high number (311) and was never called to serve.
Former President Jimmy Carter
most recent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, seven years in the Navy
Except for his fellow service-academy graduate Dwight Eisenhower, no President of the twentieth century spent more years in uniform than Carter.
Former Vice President Walter Mondale
U.S. Army 1951-1953
Former Senator John Glenn, D-OH (1974-1999)
Served in WWII and Korea; extensive military commendations include the Distinguished Flying Cross on six occasions, and the Air Medal with 18 Clusters.
Congressman Tom Lantos, D-CA
Did not serve in the US military; did serve in the Hungarian anti-Nazi underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg, is the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress.
Republicans/Conservatives:
Political
Senator Don Nickles, R-OK
Oklahoma - Biography does not list military service
However, CNN lists Army National Guard service 1970-1976.
Senator Richard Shelby
did not serve
Senator Jon Kyl, R-AZ
did not serve
Senator Tim Hutchison, R-AR
did not serve
Rep. Christopher Cox, R-CA
fifth-ranking Republican in Congress
did not serve.
Representative Saxby Chambliss, Georgia
did not serve
had a "bad knee" (yet somehow feels he had a right to attack Max Cleland's patriotism)
Former Representative JC Watts
did not serve
Jack Kemp
did not serve (was unfit because of a knee injury, though he heroically continued as a National Football League quarterback for another eight years)
Former Vice President Dan Quayle
avoided Vietnam service
got a slot in the journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard when the unit was at 150% capacity (at least he showed up for his duty, unlike GW)
Eliot Abrams
did not serve
Paul Wolfowitz
did not serve
Former Representative Vin Weber
did not serve
Richard Perle
did not serve
Rudy Giuliani
did not serve
Michael Bloomberg
did not serve
George Pataki
did not serve
Spencer Abraham
did not serve
John Engler
did not serve
(1
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
website used to claim service as a "Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran."
A current biographical website makes no such claim.
In reality, was a National Guard lawyer who never left South Carolina uring the Gulf War.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA
did not serve
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA/49th
there were some problems with his service.
Rep. John M. McHugh, R-NY
avoided the draft, did not serve
Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA
went AWOL from his Austrian army base to enter a bodybuilding competition
George Herbert Walker Bush
pilot in WWII.
Shot down by the Japanese; was lone survivor out of airplane
Tom Ridge
Bronze Star for Valor in Vietnam
Representative Sam R. Johnson
combat missions in both Korea and Vietnam
POW in Hanoi from April 1966 to February 1973
Senator Ted Stevens, R-AK
WW II pilot
two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals, and the Yuan Hai medal awarded by the Republic of China.
Congresswoman Heather Wilson, R-NM
served in the Air Force 1978-1989
Former President Gerald Ford
served in the Navy, WWII
Senator John McCain
McCain's naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross
Why did the Bush campaign smear him so? At least Senators Cleland (D-GA), Kerry (D-MA), Kerrey (D-NE), Robb (D-VA) and Hagel (R-NE) defended him.
Former Senator Bob Dole
an honorable man.
Chuck Hagel
two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, Vietnam.
Senator Jeff Sessions
U.S. Army Reserves, 1973-1986
Representative Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD)
served in USMC in Vietnam; wounded in action
Punditocracy and Preacher-types:
George Will
did not serve
Bill O'Reilly
did not serve
Paul Gigot
did not serve.
Bill Bennett
Did not serve
Pat Buchanan
did not serve
Rush Limbaugh
did not serve
Michael Savage (aka Michael Alan Weiner)
did not serve
John Wayne
did not serve
Pat Robertson
claimed during 1986 campaign to be a "combat veteran." In reality, was a "Liquor Officer."
Bill Kristol
did not serve
Kenneth Starr
did not serve
Antonin Scalia
did not serve
Clarence Thomas
did not serve
Ralph Reed
did not serve
Michael Medved
did not serve
Charlie Daniels
did not serve
Ted Nugent
did not serve
Ollie North
Convicted in the Iran-Contra scandal, at least he served.
Source: www.awolbush.com
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