Boston Globe Editorial: Big Lies for Bush (Excellent!)

[kskiska]

IMAGINE IF supporters of Bill Clinton had tried in 1996 to besmirch the military record of his opponent, Bob Dole. After all, Dole was given a Purple Heart for a leg scratch probably caused, according to one biographer, when a hand grenade thrown by one of his own men bounced off a tree. And while the serious injuries Dole sustained later surely came from German fire, did the episode demonstrate heroism on Dole's part or a reckless move that ended up killing his radioman and endangering the sergeant who dragged Dole off the field?

The truth, according to many accounts, is that Dole fought with exceptional bravery and deserves the nation's gratitude. No one in 1996 questioned that record. Any such attack on behalf of Clinton, an admitted Vietnam draft dodger, would have been preposterous.

Yet amazingly, something quite similar is happening today as supporters of President Bush attack the Vietnam record of Senator John Kerry.

The situations are not completely parallel. Bush was not a draft dodger, but he certainly was a Vietnam avoider, having joined the Texas Air National Guard rather than serving in the regular military.

Kerry, on the other hand, may have done more than Dole to qualify as a genuine war hero. Although his tour in Vietnam was short, on at least two occasions he acted decisively and with great daring in combat, saving at least one man's life and earning both a Silver Star and a Bronze Star. That's not our account or Kerry's; it is drawn from eyewitnesses and the military citations themselves.

more…
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2004/08/22/big_lies_for_bush?mode=PF

[dw]

1. "Now Bush should call off his dogs."

Both parties do it, but Republicans are developing a shocking expertise. The smearing of John McCain in South Carolina in 2000, the reprehensible attack to oust Senator Max Cleland of Georgia in 2002, and this utterly cynical campaign against Kerry by Bush's False Squad deserve only condemnation.

Kerry has faulted a few of his own supporters who lampooned Bush's National Guard record. Now Bush should call off his dogs.

[madrchsod]

3. kerry should ask bush to show where he was

during his lost year..i know kerry wants to take the high road but enough is enough

[madrchsod]

2. the largest newspapers in the usa

has blasted these guys this week...but just watch the television networks "praising" these guys and slyly call kerry a lier..i watch headline news at work and that is how they are framing the story...

[xxqqqzme]

4. it was pointed out on

last night on 'NOW' w/ Bill Moyers, by the woman from the Annenberg Project (I can't remember her name - that more people have now seen this ad because the whoreporate media runs it by covering it as 'news'. She said relatively few people - swing states - would have actually seen the ad but now the entire country has been exposed 2 it many times over.

Can anyone say Howard Dean Iowa speech?

[sandnsea]

5. Draft dodger - Vietnam avoider???

Excuse me, but what the hell's the difference? Clinton got a deferment, Bush joined the Guard. Same thing. That's what you did then. The rest of the article is good, but why can't these damned people call it the way it was. Bush was a draft dodger.

[Democat]

8. Do they call Cheney a "draft dodger" - how about Rush?

What the fuck is with the Globe calling Clinton a draft dodger, but not saying the same thing of Republicans?

[meow2u3]

9. Repug double standards

It's not what's done; it's who does it. That's the Republican way.

[delete_bush]

6. There's also the story that Poppy,

rather than being a war hero, might have been responsible for the deaths of Jack Delaney and Ted White.

These young men were killed when pilot George H. W. Bush abandoned his plane when it was hit by enemy fire. An eyewitness to the event tells us otherwise: Chester Mierzejewski, who was the turret gunner in another plane, had an unobstructed view.

He states that he saw a "puff of smoke" come from Bush's plane and quickly dissipate. He states that the plane was never on fire and that Bush never attempted a water landing, which was standard procedure, and which would have given Mr. Delaney and Mr. White a chance.

Leave it to the cowardly chimp to pit veteran against veteran. What really happened is pure conjecture after 35 or 60 years have elapsed. Bush Sr, Dole, and Kerry all served honorably IMO, and this is all that matters.

[dumpster_baby]

7. Dole was older and crippled

Remember that the media is very convervative, and quite traditional. They would never do anything to offend one of their core audiences--older people. Kerry, OTOH, is quite nimble and athletic, and acts and behaves much younger than his age. So the same rules of propriety and etiquette do not apply to him that applied to Dole.

Also, of course, the GOP is tied into and in control of the mass media in a way that the Dems can only DREAM of....