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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (2556)	2/14/2004 8:56:54 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 173976

Coulter got completely disem-voweled by The Progress Report yesterday: americanprogress.org Use the original website for lots of live links....... <COPY> VETERANS Will President Bush Tolerate This? Facing more questions about the President's National Guard duty, conservative allies of the White House did the only thing they could do: disparage triple amputee Vietnam war hero Max Cleland, a man who only a year and a half ago the White House and its allies likened to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein in television ads. In a column posted on the conservative Heritage Foundation's Web site, Fox News contributor and White House ally Ann Coulter unleashed an attack on Cleland's service to his country, claiming that the triple amputee/decorated war hero displayed "no bravery" in Vietnam. The politically motivated assault came after Cleland appeared at events critical of the Administration, once again showing the conservatives pattern of impugning the patriotism of those who question their policy. It comes just after President Bush himself nominated Cleland to the Export-Import Bank and after Bush called Cleland "a good Democratic senator out of Georgia." The attack highlights a new pattern of behavior from the White House and fellow conservatives: they wrap themselves in the flag, while slashing funding for veterans health care, military families, and soldier pay – all while disparaging the honored service of those who defend America. If you don't like what you are about to read, e-mail the President of the Heritage Foundation to tell him to stop publishing Coulter's work, and e-mail Fox News to tell them to stop putting Ann Coulter on TV. SAYING AN AMPUTEE VET 'DIDN'T GIVE LIMBS FOR HIS COUNTRY': Coulter wrote, "Cleland didn't give his limbs for his country or leave them on the battlefield" because she says he lost his limbs in a "routine, noncombat mission where he was about to drink beer with his friends." But as the 8/1/99 Esquire Magazine notes, Cleland lost two legs and an arm in Vietnam when a grenade accidentally detonated after he and another soldier jumped off a helicopter in a combat zone. SAYING A SILVER STAR WINNER IS NOT A "WAR HERO": Coulter said people "should stop allowing [Cleland to be] portrayed as a war hero" – despite the fact that, in a separate incident four days before he lost three limbs, Cleland won a Silver Star - one of the highest honors for combat courage the U.S. military gives out. The congressional citation which came with the medal specifically said that during a "heavy enemy rocket and mortar attack Captain Cleland, disregarding his own safety, exposed himself to the rocket barrage as he left his covered position to administer first aid to his wounded comrades. He then assisted in moving the injured personnel to covered positions." The citation concluded, "Cleland's gallant action is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army." SAYING CLELAND WAS "LUCKY" TO HAVE LIMBS BLOWN OFF: Coulter said, "Luckily for Cleland…he happened to [lose his limbs] while in Vietnam" and said that had he been injured "at Fort Dix rather than in Vietnam, he would never have been a U.S. Senator." Of course, Cleland probably would not have been dealing with live grenades and enemy fire in the save haven of Ft. Dix. But, then, many top conservatives might not know this because they do not have firsthand knowledge of a combat zone. President Bush did not go to Vietnam because he was in the Texas National Guard. Vice President Dick Cheney did not serve in the military, saying, "I had other priorities in the '60s than military service." According to the Houston Press in 1999, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) "tried to blame minorities for his lack of military experience" saying, "so many minority youths had volunteered for the well-paying military positions to escape poverty and the ghetto that there was literally no room for patriotic folks" like him. And Rush Limbaugh avoided service by apparently claiming his "anal cysts" prevented him from defending the nation. See more conservatives who attack veterans while avoiding military service themselves. NOT THE FIRST TIME BUSH & ALLIES DISPARAGED CLELAND: Just a year and a half ago, President Bush and his allies aired a television ad equating Cleland to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. The ad was originally sponsored by Rep. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), a man who told Georgia Public Television on 8/16/02 that he was kept out of Vietnam because of a "bum knee" and a handful of student deferments yet, by some incredible miracle, still found a way to play baseball in college and even plays in the Congressional Baseball games today. Newspapers and veterans groups were outraged over the ad. But instead of repudiating it, President Bush actually embraced Chambliss and the ads, repeatedly visiting Georgia to support him. THIS SOLDIER CAN TAKE THESE ATTACKS: The NYT reports that Cleland is responding to attacks from conservatives in kind. "This is part of an overall slime-and-defend strategy," he said. "They don't want to talk about Vietnam, and they don't want their candidates to talk about veterans' issues because it hurts the president." One Republican running for statewide office in Nevada said he attended a meeting where officials from the Bush re-election campaign urged Republican candidates not to talk about Vietnam. "Basically, they're saying don't bring up veterans' issues and don't bring up Vietnam; our surrogates will take care of it," said the candidate, Ed Gobel. LA TIMES RESPONDS TO THE ATTACKS: In an editorial, the LA Times chastised the Heritage Foundation and conservatives for their attacks on Cleland: "The Heritage Foundation posts an Ann Coulter column saying...Vietnam vet and former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, 'did not give his limbs for his country' because the grenade that injured him was not hurled in combat. How absurd and insulting to all veterans." That has not stopped the attack from being republished and trumpeted in conservative journals throughout the country. It now appears on the website of Human Events Magazine – the self-described "national conservative weekly." It also appears on the conservative WorldNet Daily website.