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[Meier]

Other tidbits..

# Kerry received Purple Heart for wounds suffered on 12/2/68...

# In Kerry's own journal written 9 days later, he writes he and his crew, quote, 'hadn't been shot at yet'...

www.drudgereport.com

 

[Tritroid]

Uh oh.

More fuel to the fire.

The thought of getting a purple heart from a self-inflicted wound is fucking hilarious though.

 

[HAOHMARU]

And the thought that that purple heart contributed to the 3 total purple hearts to get his ass out of Vietnam is even more hilarious. Or the fact that Kerry told the world for free ('71) what POWs fought against everyday from saying while they were imprissoned.

The Kerry camp will use the blame Bush tactics like they always do. That is one reason I really don't like Kerry...90% of what he is running on is that "I'm not Bush!" Who are you then? Can you not be on the fence for just a few issues at least?

 

[Tritroid]

And the thought that that purple heart contributed to the 3 total purple hearts to get his ass out of Vietnam.

The Kerry camp will us the blame Bush tactics like they always do. That is one reason I really don't like Kerry...90% of what he is running on is that "I'm not Bush!" Who are you then? Can you not be on the fence for just a few issues at least?

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Justin Bailey]

Ugh, I'm really getting sick of all this shit. Why can't we (as a country) focus on the actual issues instead of this crap that happened in the Vietnam War? Should it be discussed? Sure. Should it be the center of attention? Hell no.

 

[Incognito]

Ugh, I'm really getting sick of all this shit. Why can't we (as a country) focus on the actual issues instead of this crap that happened in the Vietnam War? Should it be discussed? Sure. Should it be the center of attention? Hell no.

WINNNNAH.

 

[xsarien]

Why is this even an issue? Is the Republican machine so devoid of things to talk about that we need to parse Kerry's war record bit for bit, word for word, injury for injury, and medal for medal?

He volunteered to go to Vietnam, he fought, he came home. I don't understand the problem here, other than Bush loyalists wanting to divert attention away from stuff that, you know, actually matters.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

Why is this even an issue? Is the Republican machine so devoid of things to talk about that we need to parse Kerry's war record bit for bit, word for word, injury for injury, and medal for medal?

He volunteered to go to Vietnam, he fought, he came home. I don't understand the problem here, other than Bush loyalists wanting to divert attention away from stuff that, you know, actually matters.

Ditto. Someone explain to me why this guy is worse than the VP that had "better things to do" than go to Vietnam?

 

[Saint Cornelius]

The fact that you fucking idiots* would even believe something that is obvious Republician smear-tactics is just like... whoa. Please don't breed.


*and you know who you are

 

[Willco]

AH, I SHOT MYSELF IN MY ASS! OH IT BURNS!

 

[Tenguman]

The fact that you fucking idiots* would even believe something that is obvious Republician smear-tactics.....

"Kerry's campaign now says is possible first Purple Heart was awarded for unintentional self-inflicted wound... "

I mean, if it comes from the horse's mouth....

 

[Kobun Heat]

Kerry brought Kerry's war record to the forefront, making it practically the central issue in his case for the nomination/presidency. He opened the can of worms.

 

[Hitokage]

"Kerry's campaign now says is possible first Purple Heart was awarded for unintentional self-inflicted wound... "

I mean, if it comes from the horse's mouth....

Well, since it's on Drudge, I'd like independent confirmation.

 

[TheQueen'sOwn]

"Kerry's campaign now says is possible first Purple Heart was awarded for unintentional self-inflicted wound... "

I mean, if it comes from the horse's mouth....

Are you implying he looks like a horse??

 

[Meier]

Ugh, I'm really getting sick of all this shit. Why can't we (as a country) focus on the actual issues instead of this crap that happened in the Vietnam War?

As mentioned, John Kerry is the one who has made the Viet Nam war and his experience the primary selling point this campaign. The fact he just happened to be possibly lying about a number of key points is no one's fault but his own and it will all continue to be scrutinized for months and possibly years to come. Just the way politics is.

 

[ghostface]

Yes, just like how the WMD issue is still hauting your lying ass president. Oh wait...

Americans only care about what's on T.V/mainstream press.

 

[DarienA]

Yes, just like how the WMD issue is still hauting your lying ass president. Oh wait...

WINNAH!

 

[HAOHMARU]

U.S., U.K. and Russian intelligence all said there were WMD and the President made his decision off of that information. It was the wrong information...but he didn't lie. He did not mislead our nation and the world intentionally. Everybody would have made the same call he did. Senator Kerry even voted to go to war and back the President in doing so.

He isn't some war monger like the people that are way left try to make him out to be. Let's not forget that President Clinton bombed the fuck out of Iraq during his Presidency...people seem to forget that.

 

[GG-Duo]

Yes, just like how the WMD issue is still hauting your lying ass president. Oh wait...

Americans only care about what's on T.V/mainstream press.

Point well articulated.

 

[Meier]

Yes, just like how the WMD issue is still hauting your lying ass president. Oh wait...

Were you of the mistaken opinion that scrutiny only comes from the public?

 

[Justin Bailey]

As mentioned, John Kerry is the one who has made the Viet Nam war and his experience the primary selling point this campaign. The fact he just happened to be possibly lying about a number of key points is no one's fault but his own and it will all continue to be scrutinized for months and possibly years to come. Just the way politics is.

Primary selling point? Not so much. Something to mention to make him look better than his opponent? Yeah, I can see that. Should we be focusing on this with the election a little over 2 months away? No. Hopefully this isn't the main issue everyone's focusing on come November.

I don't really care what "just the way it is" is, this is "just the way it should be."

 

[DarienA]

U.S., U.K. and Russian intelligence all said there were WMD and the President made his decision off of that information. It was the wrong information...but he didn't lie. He did not mislead our nation and the world intentionally. Everybody would have made the same call he did. Senator Kerry even voted to go to war and back the President in doing so.

That's funny I keep hearing that UK and Russian intelligence were coming back as inconclusive of whether there were actual WMD's there.... Senators in general don't have full access to the data that the president uses or doesn't use to make his decisions.

He isn't some war monger like the people that are way left try to make him out to be. Let's not forget that President Clinton bombed the fuck out of Iraq during his Presidency...people seem to forget that.

...awesome comparison... bombing specific targets vs. full invasion. Hey which action had the support of many of the rest of the nations on this globe? Kudos to you.

 

[Flynn]

If Kerry's "past" is so important why hasn't someone created a campaign revolvoing around Bush's cokehead days?

I think having a history as an addict is a much bigger smear on ones record than there being conflicting stories over an incident that took place during an already fucked up war.

 

[Outlaw Pro Mod]

U.S., U.K. and Russian intelligence all said there were WMD and the President made his decision off of that information. It was the wrong information...but he didn't lie.

WINNAH!...

 

[HAOHMARU]

That's funny I keep hearing that UK and Russian intelligence were coming back as inconclusive of whether there were actual WMD's there.... Senators in general don't have full access to the data that the president uses or doesn't use to make his decisions.

I haven't heard that yet. Also, I'm pretty sure that if you are a Senator or Representative you had access to this intelligence information before you voted to go to war.

...awesome comparison... bombing specific targets vs. full invasion. Hey which action had the support of many of the rest of the nations on this globe? Kudos to you.

Well, Clinton half-assed his war with Iraq. He should have invaded...and if you really want to get down to it George Sr. should have finished the job in the first place. That was probably the U.S.A.'s biggest fuck up right there.

I'm pretty sure the world support-hate ratio for what Clinton did was about the same as it is now.

 

[xsarien]

U.S., U.K. and Russian intelligence all said there were WMD and the President made his decision off of that information. It was the wrong information...but he didn't lie.

The fact that Bush wouldn't let the UN verify the information on the ground before committing to an invasion speaks volumes. His itchy trigger finger is what enrages me, less so the crutch of "flawed intelligence."

Couple that with the blatant lies in the British intelligence (e.g., Iraq could mobilize and strike within 45 minutes), the gross exaggerations (The number of people found in mass graves are in the thousands, not the hundreds of thousands), and you can start to connect your own dots. Either we have some criminally stupid people in our intelligence agencies, or someone was cooking the reports to fit an agenda.

I'm really hoping it's the former, because we're all royally fucked if it's the latter.

 

[Catchpenny]

Kerry brought Kerry's war record to the forefront, making it practically the central issue in his case for the nomination/presidency. He opened the can of worms.

Kerry made it a selling point, Republicans are trying to poke holes in that record and make that the issue of the campaign. So you're mostly right.

However, it is very amusing that conservatives seem to have nothing better to talk about. Hell, just go to Bush's website. Much of the front page is devoted to Kerry. Bush's issue pages are a joke, focusing on what's been done and offering form letters for supporters to send to newspapers supporting Bush. There's very little detail on what he's going to do over the next four years. His platform so far seems to be this:

-terrorism is evil
-taxes are evil
-gay marriage is REALLY evil

Does Bush actually have a plan? Or is he just going on autopilot and letting his subordinates attack Kerry, hoping that more Americans will dislike Kerry than dislike him?

 

[DarienA]

Well, Clinton half-assed his war with Iraq. He should have invaded...and if you really want to get down to it George Sr. should have finished the job in the first place. That was probably the U.S.A.'s biggest fuck up right there.

Well at least we agree on everything from George Sr. foward. I believe Clinton didn't invade because he didn't have support from many of our allies.... hey that sounds familiar....

I'm just curious as to why this has become such a huge issue... I mean hell where do we start with looking at the "good" (yes that's sarcasm) that Bush Jr. has given to us through his presidency.

 

[ghostface]

Were you of the mistaken opinion that scrutiny only comes from the public?

And are you still of the horribly mistaken school of thought that thinks "scrutiny" from the "non-public" is for something other than show for (that's right, you guessed it) the public?

 

[KingV]

Why is this even an issue? Is the Republican machine so devoid of things to talk about that we need to parse Kerry's war record bit for bit, word for word, injury for injury, and medal for medal?

He volunteered to go to Vietnam, he fought, he came home. I don't understand the problem here, other than Bush loyalists wanting to divert attention away from stuff that, you know, actually matters.

To be fair, the left had no remorse about questioning Bush's National Guard Service, and that charge was on very flimsy ground. Though I think the medal debate is a sidetrack to any real issue, turnabout is fair play.

 

[SolidSnakex]

U.S., U.K. and Russian intelligence all said there were WMD and the President made his decision off of that information. It was the wrong information...but he didn't lie.

Yet, US weapons inspectors were in Iraq for several weeks and never could find any WMD's.

 

[Phoenix]

Yet, US weapons inspectors were in Iraq for several weeks and never could find any WMD's.

And yet still no one can account for the weapons which WE gave Saddam back when we were buddy buddy with Iraq. We know there are weapons out there *somewhere* either that or someone is smoking some REALLY bad crack right now.

 

[Azih]

Dude Phoenix, he used most of them. He did have a decade long bloody as hell war with Iran you know? AND he invaded Kuwait as well. AND he gassed his own people up the yinyang.

Crap like that uses up the ammo.

Edit: And i can't find these tidbits from the drudge website at all. link?

 

[firex]

Kerry's "self inflicted" wound is similar to something Bob Dole suffered, i.e. shrapnel from a grenade from his unit (one of Dole's injuries came from a fellow soldier's grenade that wound up bouncing off a tree).

You see, by not giving all of the facts (a common tactic among news organizations like Fox News and Drudge) it makes it sound like Kerry shot himself in the foot to get out of the war.

I don't get this either, anyway. Why are people so fucking gullible? You realize these kinds of accusations, which have either been proven false or shown to come from questionable sources, are started by an administration featuring a guy who didn't even go overseas during Vietnam and hardly took his duty seriously (AWOL, pilot's license not being kept up while on duty) right? This is the equivalent of the Clinton administration making a big issue of Bob Dole's war record and questioning his actions from 50 years ago.

Is it such a big deal to all you Bush supporters because if you were presented with real issues concerning yourselves today, you'd have no way to logically support Bush?

 

[FightyF]

Assuming that Kerry is lying about his service, I think that it's wrong and the appropriate actions should be taken. If it is true, he should be ashamed and punished.

But compared to Bush lying about Iraq, which cost the lives of thousands of people, and has created and bolstered the terrorist ideology, is far greater crime. A suitable punishment for these actions should be impeachment IMO.

 

[Mandark]

"As we approached the enemy, there was a brief exchange of gunfire. I took a grenade in hand, pulled the pin, and tossed it in the direction of the farmhouse. It wasn't a very good pitch (remember, I was used to catching passes, not throwing them). In the darkness, the grenade must have struck a tree and bounced off. It exploded nearby, sending a sliver of metal into my leg--the sort of injury the Army patched up with Mercurochrome and a Purple Heart."

- Bob Dole

Meier, you're really, really not doing a good job here. It's just coming off as desperate.

Phoenix: He used some, and the bombing in 1998 took out a bunch of stuff, and Iraq was giving the UN lots of paperwork to show they had gotten rid of stuff, which might not all be lies.

Still though, taking inventory of what we actually gave him and comparing it to what we've accounted for would be good from a security and proliferation standpoint. Not so great from a domestic political standpoint, so I wouldn't expect it to happen, at least not publicly. (Given the total disregard for policy work in the current administration, I can't say I have faith it's being done privately either)