Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Lt. Bush Heads the GOP Hero-Wannabe Unit


There's this myth that's been perpetuated for years in conservative Washington and among the right wing press that the Republican Party is the party of strong, courageous, heroic defenders of America, while the Democrats are namby-pamby sissy-boys that cannot and should not be entrusted with the nation's security. How and when this started--although I'll give much of the credit to Karl Rove--I'm not exactly sure. But a simple look into the military service, or lack thereof, of prominent politicians and spin monkeys offers a not so surprising revelation into who the real tough guys are in Washington:

Democrats

* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. J.G. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, and Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received #311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and AirMedal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.

Republicans

* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role making movies.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Vietnam POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem, " although continued in NFL for 8 years.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* 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.

Many of these conservatives did everything in their power--including using their family's wealth and political connections--to avoid military service. No wonder then that they over-compensate for this lack of bravery by attempting to tear down the real heroes at every turn.

Entrust our security to these jokers? Puhleeeeze. I'll jump in a trench with Kerry, Cleland, Kennedy, Daschle and Gore any day of the week over Bush, Cheney, DeLay, Frist and Limbaugh. At least our guys don't have to play dress up.

20 comments:

Joe Smoe: American Citizen said...

Andy, this is great post!!! Thanks for taking the time to do the research and show these gutless WARMONGERING chickenhawks for what they are.

Anonymous said...

I ditto Joe. I like everyone else in this country support our troops, that never needs to be questioned even if you're totally against this invasion.

I'm not famous or a politician but I'm proud to say I served my country on board a Navy destroyer from 1960 to 1964 and have a metal for serving during the Cuban blockade in October of 1962. No big deal but I did my time so I can bitch about this president.

lorem ipsum said...

Found you via Priscilla at libpolrel.blogspot.com

The biggest hawk I ever knew was a guy with a harelip (surgically corrected). He would say, 'I'd be enlisting in a minute, but they'd never take me...' No such excuse for his hawk brothers either - they'd probably use the gay marriage defense: 'If they won't take someone I love, I'm out, too!'

Great work.

Jaimie said...

For more on the repug chickenhawks and their lame excuses read
http://www.nhgazette.com/news/chickenhawks/
The NH Gazette is the nation's oldest newspaper and well worth a read.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Joe, I may print out for my fat head brother-in-law (Nat'l Guard helicopter pilot no active duty) who's coming over on Thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

Gee republicans are cowards one and all, go figure. Easy to send others to fight for you, after all they have no idea what it is all about.

Jimmy said...

Read the description of "pilonidal cyst" at http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/20243-1.asp and tell me if Rush wasn't classified 4F because of a pimple on his ass.

Joe Smoe: American Citizen said...

Yeah..gutless wonders like these are always the first ones to wave the flag, call for war, and question anyone patriotism that questions their motivations. The ones that really burn my butt are the Young Republicans. They are behind the Chimp and his neo Con ambitions 100% as long it is some poor kid from Tenn. that is doing the fighting and dieing and not there coddled gutless keesters. Kinda like the Chicken hawks over at REDSTATE.ORG.

Anonymous said...

You forgot...


Ken Melman: did not serve, gay.

Anonymous said...

Nice post. Of course it would take a War and Peace sized volume to list them all.

There is one major player missing though. One who folks on the left side of the isle always leave off these kinds of lists for some reason.

I'm talking about the guy who funded the right with billions of dollars swindled from the Japanese. The guy who guided the right with his front groups. The one who funded Rove's old competitor and father of the attack ad, Terry Dolan, with several hundred thousand years ago when the 'new' right was being formed. The one who bailed out Jerry Falwell, funded LaHaye's efforts and kept afloat the likes of Richard Viguerie. The guy who said his job as messiah was to, as his operative stated, raise up the Chritian "right" for power in America and he outspent Scaife doing just that.

In short, the guy who molded the right as he funded and guided their takeover of our government, he did NOT serve.

Oooops, I forgot, he isn't even a citizen.

Bob Broughton said...

One noticeable omission from your list is Pat Robertson. He not only avoided the draft using family connections (his father was a U.S. Senator), but he openly bragged about it.

Anonymous said...

get stuff like this in the mainstream press or have the dems put out flyers or this means nothing

Anonymous said...

The Chickenhawk Law: The fervor in which you support aggressive US military action is inverse to the amount of time you or your children spent or will spend, in US Ground Forces.

Anonymous said...

Perfect law to enact when the Dems take back the Congress in '06...that is after impeachment proceedings have begun.

GOP Hater

Dave Splash said...

Excellent post. I think I might re-print it so as many people as possible will see it. This has to get out into the media more.

Anonymous said...

This is great information, but we can send this all day long to all the major media heads and it wouldn't get a lick of air time. This information was easy enough to find and post here - so anyone can get it.

It won't mean a thing. I'd pass this on to my father-in-law who did serve and is a retired Lt Col in the Air Force, but he's so fcked up as a Republican-lover that he never thinks anything this administration does is wrong. He likes to play the "I know classified information" - well I think we all know it now Pops!!

Anonymous said...

Congressman Murtha said, “I like guys who’ve never even been there, that criticize us who’ve been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments, have never been there, and send people to war and then don’t like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done.”

Murtha served 37yrs in the Marine Corp.

Anonymous said...

To all the regulars...Where is All_I_Can_Stands on this one? Hmmmm? Guess Stands has no comment for the truth surrounding the GOP liars on this bit of information.

I copied this off and showed it to family members who all came to the same conclusion... What a bunch of sh**heads in elephant costumes!

If disrepecting those that have served is their only tactic, they are one sorry-a** bunch of hypocrites!

Thanks for this list!

Anonymous said...

The truth will set you free. This list is the same as over 100 other left-wing web-site. Your just vomiting up the same lists like mind-numb facists. You forgot to mention your democRAT icon Bill (Monica blew me) Clinton forged paerwork to get his deferment. Al Gore used his fathers (the tobacoo-growing, segregationist) to get out of Viet Nam after only serving 141 days and spent all that time a safe little office. Tom Harkin lied about his where he served. Your breck-girl John Edwards DID NOT SERVE. MICHAEL MOORE DID NOT SERVE. Dick Gephardt was deferred (like Chaney. Finally you idiots, if military service is a must to lead this great nation, then shut up about Hillery in '08. The only combat she has ever seen is kicking Bill's ass for being a cheater and abusing the White House staff. signed Anonymous 21 year vet who doesn't want some of your union goons threatening my family.

Anonymous said...

You can bet all the left-wing socialitas jumping in to the fox hole with their "leaders" will make sure that hole is miles away from any real danger. Cut-and-run for personal- elitist power.