Why 'Nam Is An Important and Key Issue in This Campaign.........

[ItsMyParty]

Bush showed total contempt for the US Military and the United States of America when he decided he didn't have to fulfill his military obligation to the Guard. BUT more importantly, he obviously feared no discipline or retribution for his actions which any other Guard member (especially during that time of war) did. He considered himself above the laws of the land, he felt he owed nothing to this nation as others fulfilled their duty, and he felt a status of privilege over fellow young men. Look how it translated into the modern day:

It took contempt for the US Military and the American people to look into the tv camera lens and lie them into a war which sent 1,000 of them to their deaths. It took a sense of privilege and contempt to break all the election laws on record, deny citizens their vote, and steal a Presidential election. It's about character. Bush did not have any then and he does not have any now.

[kentuck]

1. "...a sense of privilege and contempt .."

I agree. He does think he is above the law because he has been successful at it.

[CHestonsucks]

2. Viet Nam is a backdrop rather than an issue here.

I agree completely with your characterizations of the asshole and his conduct viz a viz the war in Viet Nam however the horror of that awful war is not and will not be an issue as such. Unfortunately, that war is being used as a prop, particularly by the Swift Boat Frauds, as a staging area for specious and slanderous accusations against Kerry.

In my opinion, the worst aspect of this cynical appropriation of the conflict in Indochina, aside from the fact that no one has yet uttered a single word of contrition for the innocent Vietnamese farmers who were murdered for the crime of being Vietnamese, is the fact that military service continues to be confused with the necessary bonafides for the position of President of the United States. Quite frankly, it isn't and never has been. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the presidency of Ulysses Grant is generally considered to be of low calibre, the administration of Eisenhower is characterized by how often he played golf, and the only military man ever to have a significant career as President was named George Washington. True, Kennedy distinguished himself in both war and peace but I would submit that the list of the greatest, most effective Presidents since July 4, 1776 is conspicuously free of career military types.

[ItsMyParty]

3. Ike and US Grant didn't protest the wars they fought in

and Kerry wasn't a General----hell, they give him enough grief over a silver star; could you imagine what they would have given him if he wore several on his shoulders????? Kerry wasn't in this war because he loved it. He came back and tried to tell Americans how sick it was. It's a backdrop in this campaign as a definition of character. I'd have no problem with George if he did not serve because he got a deferrment or he was out protesting, etc. That wasn't the situation. He deliberately used privilege to cover his ass and then he couldn't be devoted enough to his country to even serve his time in a peaceful setting. That's why 'Nam is now very, very, very related to what makes this arrogant scum tick.

[blalock]

4. I may be crazy but

I don't think anyone should be criticized for going awol or doing anything to get out of vietnam.
Also, nobody gives a crap if someone did or didn't go.
Clinton was the best President since Kennedy and nobody cared that he didn't go to Vietnam.

[BillZBubb]

7. You fail to grasp the central issue of character.

Bill Clinton OPPOSED the war. Bill Clinton didn't want to go and used whatever legal recourse he had to not go. That is a perfectly respectable, ethical, and consistent position.

George W. Bush*, the great conservative patriot, SUPPORTED the war. He also supported candidates who believed like him that the very future of the United States hinged on success in Vietnam. Yet in spite of the supposed importance to patriots like himself, he did everything he could to avoid serving there. That includes using his family influence.

To make matters worse Bush* didn't even bother to fulfill his safe-haven commitment to the guard.

Bush*s actions were unethical, underhanded, and ignoble. He hasn't changed a bit since then.

[TankLV]

9. Nice that you are trying to regurgitate repuke talking points.

Now that more evidence is there that will prove that bunkerboy was AWOL and a DESERTER - you and the rest of the repukes are now trying to agree that the war was wrong and there were lots of us who condemned it and therefore refusing to go is OK - EVEN IF AWOL is the new moniker for our current commander-in-thief!

One word about that, tho: C-O-W-A-R-D!

and another one: L-I-A-R!

As countless others have posted here, and you should damn well know, bunkerboy and the other CHICKENHAWKS rabidly supported that war and lied and got us all into another war! That makes it a BIG issue - and VERY TIMELY!

But, according to you and the other treasonous thugs in this misadministration, it's perfectly OK to support something AS LONG AS SOMEONE ELSE BUT YOU DOES THE PAYING AND DYING, right?

[IronLionZion]

5. how about his DUI and blow days too?

Much of Bush's life was lost in a chemical haze up through the 80s. And why does nobody care that he was a miserable failure in business and was investigated by the SEC and only got away cause Poppy was president? Or his sacking and pillaging of the great state of Texas?

Kerry also toked up once in a while and we could delve into his distinguished career as a prosecutor and as Lieutenant Governor.

Why is the media harping only on Vietnam? These guys had lives before as well as after that period.

[PaDem]

6. Bush defined this election long ago........

He established the parameters of this race before Kerry wrapped up the nomination. Bush is running on 9/11 and "The War on Terror". He certainly can't run on education, healthcare, the environment or anything else really. The attacks on the Dem primary candidates came early, and one theme that was developing was that the Dems, Dean in particular, had no foreign policy experience and would be "soft on terror". Kerry was the nominee in part because people thought he would not give up as much ground to Bush on "The war on terror" as other candidates. A big part of that, fair or not, was Kerry's war service. Kerry must play to his war experience to have any shot. He needs to be seen by clueless America as tough against the "forces of evil". Kerry has no other choice but to make his Vietnam record part of this campaign.

[IronLionZion]

8. I imagine the good Generalissimo Clark would get raked over the coals

for just about everything in his honorable and distinguished career. Ann the man would say he was a wimp for coming home in a stretcher after getting shot 4 times. And she's say boy George was a big hero for no apparent reason.