Blumenthal Responds To Vietnam Allegations

[jefferson_dem]

Blumenthal Responds To Vietnam Allegations
May 17 2010, 10:51 PM ET | Comment

Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal is denying a New York Times report that he routinely lied about his service in Vietnam.

"The New York Times story is an outrageous distortion of Dick Blumenthal's record of service," Blumenthal's campaign manager, Mindy Myers, said in a statement.

"Unlike many of his peers, Dick Blumenthal voluntarily joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 1970 and served for six months in Parris Island, SC and six years in the reserves. He received no special treatment from anyone."

Previewing a campaign event tomorrow, Myers wrote that "Dick has a long record of standing up for veterans. Tomorrow, veterans will be standing up with Dick."

Blumenthal will hold a news conference tomorrow. He will be flanked by veterans.

His opponents have pounced on the report, which calls "striking" the "contrast between the many steps he took that allowed him to avoid Vietnam, and the misleading way he often speaks about that period of his life now, especially when he is speaking at veterans' ceremonies or other patriotic events."

Linda McMahon, a Republican, is claiming that her campaign's research team provided the New York Times with the tip that led to the story.

Blumenthal is -- or was -- the odds-on favorite to win Chris Dodd's seat in Connecticut. This is the type of story that Blumenthal can close off tomorrow; if he doesn't, it likely drags him down significantly.

The facts are not unambiguous. The best the Times has is statements where Blumenthal talked about "returning" or "getting back" from Vietnam, but there are plenty of instances where he acknowledges that he never served overseas. That said, he never seemed to correct the impression that he did serve overseas.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/05/blumenthal-responds-to-vietnam-allegations/56867

[Cha]

1. I know how the rw twist everything..

they do anything to win so I hope this is one of those many cases and R B can squelch it if not true.

[DJ13]

2. Reminds me of the hit job on Spitzer

Blumenthal has the power brokers worried.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. What "hit job" on Spitzer?

[Arkana]

6. What?

Are you saying he DIDN'T have sex with that high-class hooker?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. Nope. And all that cracking down on prostitution he did was just the Man setting him up.

[DJ13]

13. No, Im saying its becoming rather coincedental

that two Democratic politicians that took on Wall Street both end up with scandals out of the blue.

Maybe you think its just bad luck, but guys with money make their own luck on Wall Street.

[Arkana]

15. I...I don't understand.

So what you're saying is that the big money Wall Street boys pushed Eliot Spitzer's dick into the high-class hooker? And they hypnotized him into cracking down on prostitution while simultaneously banging said high-class hooker to make him look like a massive hypocrite?

[KingFlorez]

17. Of course the story was put out for political reasons

If there was nothing to be gained from such stories, they'd never be printed.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Parris Island was Vietnam territory back then?

Man, I've got a lot to learn about 60's geopolitics.

[jefferson_dem]

5. Here's a video of Blumenthal, with supposedly questionable exaggeration...

uncovered by Linda McMahon's oppo research - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3KgsgRfjhQ

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. It seems as though he catches himself...he doesn't really say he served overseas.

He says "when I served in the Vietnam..." and then he cuts himself off as though he just thought "shit!"

I don't think it's that big of a deal.

[jefferson_dem]

14. I agree.

This seems like rather thin oppo research gruel to me. Unless there is more accounts of him embelishing his experiences in the jungles of Vietman, this doesn't seem like there's much there there.

That being said, it is critical that Blumenthal deals with this shit in fine form tomorrow ... and you never know what triggers the feeding frenzy that never ends until they have claimed a victim.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

16. He was a Marine, right? It shouldn't be too difficult for him.

This is just another example of the double standard. Bush wasn't any marine, and he never served overseas. Yet the media never called him on his bullshit when he played dressup.

[Webster Green]

19. I don't know what video you saw.

In this one he clearly says he served in Vietnam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3KgsgRfjhQ

[SemiCharmedQuark]

31. Yep, you're right. I watched it again this morning.

[pgarrison]

21. I don't see where he cuts himself off immediately after saying "I served in Vietnam"

Where exactly?

[Webster Green]

30. You better get your hearing checked.

I've watched the video several times. He very clearly says he served in Vietnam. He never "cut himself off". That is absurd!

[Webster Green]

7. Jeez, there's video of him saying he served in Vietnam.

He needs to get up to speed on these newfangled contraptions.

The guy sounds just like a rethug. Making idiotic statements that are easily refuted by watching earlier video. :rofl:

[jezebel]

10. That is not much of a reply to the allegations, more like a deflection. nt

[KingFlorez]

11. What a mess

[Cha]

12. Something is gnawing at my memory..

Wasn't there someone else running for office or a writer who did something like this? Saying he served in Vietnam and it was a lie? Maybe it was writer?

[Arkana]

18. No, I think you're thinking of every Republican chickenhawk warmonger ever.

[Cha]

20. I found it..

<snip>

"SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (AP) -- Joseph J. Ellis, the Pulitzer Prize-winning history professor who admitted lying to his students about serving in Vietnam will be suspended for one year without pay and will give up his endowed chair at Mount Holyoke College, the school announced Friday.

"I strongly rebuke professor Ellis for his lie about his military experience," President Joanne Creighton said.

"The year away should give him and the college time for reflection and repair," she said. "This sanction is consistent with our honor code for students and its emphasis on education, reflection and ultimately restoration to an honorable place in our community."

Ellis, 57, became a popular professor at Mount Holyoke in part by sharing his experiences in Vietnam. In June, The Boston Globe reported that Ellis never went overseas."

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies58.htm

And, the actor Brian Dennehy is someone else who lied about serving in Vietnam..

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20149507,00.html

[Mass]

22. It will be a big deal because the media will make a big deal out of it.

But of course, they will ignore Rand Paul wanting to get rid of ADA.

I just wonder which hurts people more? :sarcasm:

Apparently, having a slip of the tongue because it makes a better oratory effect is worse than wanting to deprive people of their rights.

[jefferson_dem]

24. “I served during the Vietnam era..."

Even the NYT piece includes this bit. And during his March debate, Blumenthal clarified that he did not go to Vietnam. But it doesn't matter. The media smell blood and many/most low-info voters won't ever know the truth.

[depakid]

23. Yet another one caught up in the culture of lies

Sorry Dick, sometimes even in these days it's best to try to keep closer to the actual facts.

You're not a Republican after all- and your opponents have obviously had you on this for a long time.

[jefferson_dem]

25. They may have "had him on this" for a long time but...

i'm not so sure they all wanted to unload it this early. I think McMahon was feeling desperate to make a splash for her own political intersts. Since it's come out now, however, the CT Dems still have a tiny window to find a new candidate to run in November if they need to -- a "Doomsday Scenadio". I predict, he will knock this shit down today and stick it out, for better or worse.

[depakid]

29. I agree- though I think the Republican timing was well calculated

The tiny window really really sets the state Dems to scrambling- or not scrambling- or just wandering about not knowing what to do.

Looks ugly, but there's not much of an alternative really other than to stick it out.

All in all, he's not so bad a guy on the policy levels, but seems to have just got caught up in the "say anything is Ok" attitude that's become so pervasive in the states.

[Mass]

32. The CT Democratic Convention is Friday. It would likely have set Blumenthal as the candidate,

avoiding primaries, while the GOP would have had to fight difficult primaries.

This is a perfect timing to avoid this.

[hulka38]

26. People should not purposefully create false impressions.

Politicians do this when they think it will benefit them. This guy got caught doing it and has been rightly called on it.

[Jennicut]

27. I will ask around here and see if it effects votes. Something tells me there are other issues that

people in CT are effected by...but we never know. Look what happened to John Kerry and he never exaggerated or not corrected something. Blumenthal has a rep in the state as being a stand up, fight for the little person kind of guy. Linda McMahon is getting a rep as trying to buy the election. We shall see if it becomes the most most important thing in CT. If you don't know this state, we have had the most corrupt idiots for mayors (mayor of Hartford possible going to jail)and for Governor (John Rowland went to jail and our current gov Jodi Rell took over). We even once had a mayor be convicted of molesting kids a few years ago. This may seem small in comparison and may not effect the race.

[jefferson_dem]

28. Is McMahon the favorite?

I was thinking it was Simmons. McMahon would be better for Blumenthal's fate. She's a real nutjob and voters might hold their nose and vote Blumenthal in spite of this dust up.

[Jennicut]

33. She has pulled ahead Simmons in the polling.

Simmons was a former rep who lost to Joe Courtney in 2006. He is not exactly an exciting politician. McMahon has also used tons of her money to run constant ads...it has helped her, no doubt. It also has pissed some people off, she IS trying to buy her way into a seat.

[The Damned]

34. At least they won't be able to Swiftboat him!

K&R