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| Why are so many leading Republicans "Chickenhawks" ? |
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Donald Trump should have been drafted during the Vietnam War, but thanks to FIVE deferments from 1964 through 1969, he avoided service. See
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/questions-linger-about-trumps-draft-deferments-during-vietnam-war/2015/07/21/257677bc-2fdd-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html#comments &
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/deferments-helped-trump-dodge-vietnam ]
Now, President Trump has several offspring and in-laws whose idea of patriotic service is posing for pictures in front of lots, and lots, of U.S. flags!
G.O.P. presidential candidate Giuliani had the gall to question the courage of Democratic war hero John Kerry. Yet,
"Giuliani did not serve in the military during the Vietnam War. He received a student deferment while at Manhattan College and another while at NYU Law. Upon graduation from NYU Law in 1968, he was classified as 1-A, available for military service. He applied for a deferment but was rejected. In 1969, MacMahon (the judge for whom he was clerking) wrote a letter to Giuliani's draft board, asking that he be reclassified as 2-A, civilian occupation deferment, because Giuliani, who was a law clerk for MacMahon, was an essential employee. The deferment was granted. In 1970, Giuliani received a high draft lottery number; he was not called up for service although by then he had been reclassified 1-A.
had come forward to serve in the war that Romney supports enthusiastically, his response was "My sons are adults. They've chosen not to serve in the military in active duty and I respect their decision in that regard. . .
And one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."
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 Dick Cheney was too smart to leave college and risk his hide like lesser Americans! |
"I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units. . . Of the many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal and owe equal allegiance to their country."
(Colin Powell's autobiography, My American Journey, p. 148)
Can you find any who served? (maybe behind the Bush)
Republican conservatives attacked President Clinton for having questioned the Vietnam War. But while liberals like Bill Clinton were avoiding service for themselves, they didn't want anybody else to risk their lives in what they viewed as a senseless war. Republican "chickenhawks", on the other hand, promoted this war as a great cause, one in which other young men in America should expose themselves to injury and/or death.– So you can call liberal Democrats "chickens", if you like; but it usually takes a cowardly conservative war-monger to be a "chickenhawk".
For those who still don't get the difference, think about the difference between Roman Catholic priests who boast about their celibacy, while secretly having women on the side, and other clergymen who marry openly. The sexual activities of Catholic priests are viewed as especially shameful because of their profession to be "holier than thou" celibates. Conservative Republicans who chose not to serve in the military wouldn't be called "chickenhawks" if they didn't profess to be such great patriots and lovers of the military.
Here are some of the higher profile, holier than thou, dishonest, hypocritical, cowardly conservatives who supported the war and argued in favor of other young Americans going off to fight and die in Vietnam, while "conserving" their own precious draft-dodging hides stateside!
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Although Sen. Lindsey Graham claimed to have been a war vet, he was a lawyer in the National Guard who served only in South Carolina. | |
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There are so many examples of the GOP mounting campaigns to replace Democrats with outstanding military records with Republicans who have avoided military service that I am going to highlight those examples here. [ Please advise me of examples that I may have missed. ]
For more information on many of the people listed on this page, check out http://www.nhgazette.com/display/?id=99 . | |
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The LIBERAL John Paul Stevens is the only recent justice who DID serve full time, (in the Navy during the 3 worst years of WW II), while the moderate Anthony Kennedy was a member of the California Army National Guard for a year (1961). | ||||
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Check out this Scroom.com "Chickenhawk Blues" song and this
great video dealing with FUTURE generations of Republican Chickenhawks |
 While most Democrats don't just say that war should be the last resort but truly believe it and try to resolve conflicts through more peaceful means, when just wars have been necessary and unavoidable, they have a long established record of putting their own lives and those of their own children on the line, rather than persuading other people to sacrifice themselves and their children:
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Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans. They have members in all 50 states and no one has done more than them to advocate for the men and women serving our country in the front lines of our current war.
Disabled American Veterans has a very similar site. They appear to have used fewer votes to do their evaluations, and the results, though not identical, are similar. While the IAVA use letter grades from A down to F, the DAV use scores ranging from a high of 100% to a low of 20%.
The charts below were designed by me, Ray Dubuque, from information provided by their web sites to make it easier to see the contrast between Republican and Democratic politicians. I urge you to go to the original sites, http://IAVAaction.org and Disabled American Veterans legislative research, so as to see and appreciate the tremendous amount of work that went into documenting the legislative records of every last member of the current Congress (as of 2006). I challenge anyone who disagrees with their findings to point to anything comparable to back up his or her conflicting opinions.
Republican Senators : |
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| AL: | Shelby = D 40% | Sessions = F 40% |
| AK: | Stevens = D 40% | Murkowski = D 40% |
| AZ: | McCain = D 20% | Kyl = D-60% |
| CO: | Allard = D 60% | |
| FL: | Martinez = D 60% | |
| GA: | Chambliss = D-60% | Isakson = F60% |
| ID: | Craig = D-20% | Crapo = D 20% |
| IN: | Lugar = D+60% | |
| IA: | Grassley = D 40% | |
| KS: | Brownback = D 40% | Roberts = D 60% |
| KY: | McConnell = D 60% | Bunning = D-40% |
| LA: | Vitter = F40% | |
| ME: | Snowe = C80% | Collins = C-60% |
| MN: | Coleman = D 40% | |
| MS: | Cochran = D 40% | Lott = D 60% |
| MO: | Bond = D 40% | Talent = D+60% |
| MT: | Burns = D+60% | |
| NE: | Hagel = D+60% | |
| NV: | Ensign = D-40% | |
| NH: | Gregg = D 40% | Sununu = D 40% |
| NM: | Domenici = D 40% | |
| NC: | Dole = D-60% | Burr = F60% |
| OH: | DeWine = D+60% | Voinovich = D 60% |
| OK: | Inhofe = D-40% | Coburn = F 40% |
| OR: | Smith = C 50% | |
| PA: | Specter = C 60% | Santorum = D-40% |
| RI: | Chafee = C 80% | |
| SC: | Graham = D-40% | DeMint = F60% |
| SD: | Thune = D+60% | |
| TN: | Frist = D 60% | Alexander = D 40% |
| TX: | Hutchison = D+60% | Cornyn = D-60% |
| UT: | Hatch = D 50% | Bennett = D 40% |
| VA: | Warner = D+60% | Allen = D+60% |
| WY: | Thomas = D 40% | Enzi = D-40% |
Democratic Senators : |
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| AR: | Lincoln = B+ 80% | Pryor = B 100% |
| CA: | Feinstein = B+ 80% | Boxer = B+ 80% |
| CO: | Salazar = B 80% | |
| CT: | Dodd = A- 80% | Lieberman = B+ 80% |
| DE: | Biden = B+ 75% | Carper = B+ 80% |
| FL: | Nelson = A- 100% | |
| HI: | Inouye = B 80% | Akaka = B+ 80% |
| IL: | Durbin = A- 80% | Obama = B+ 80% |
| IN: | Bayh = B+ 80% | |
| IA: | Harkin = B 80% | |
| LA: | Landrieu = B+ 80% | |
| MD: | Sarbanes = B+ 80% | Mikulski = A- 80% |
| MA: | Kennedy = B+ 80% | Kerry = B 75% |
| MI: | Levin = B+ 80% | Stabenow = A- 100% |
| MN: | Dayton = A- 80% | |
| MT: | Baucus = B 80% | |
| NE: | Nelson = B- 60% | |
| NV: | Reid = A- 80% | |
| NJ: | Lautenberg = B+ 80% | Menendez = B 80% |
| NM: | Bingaman = B+ 80% | |
| NY: | Schumer = B+ 80% | Clinton = A- 80% |
| ND: | Conrad = B+ 80% | Dorgan = A- 80% |
| OR: | Wyden = B+ 80% | |
| RI: | Reed = A- 80% | |
| SD: | Johnson = B+ 100% | |
| VT: | Leahy = B+ 80% | Jeffords (I) = B+ 80% |
| WA: | Murray = A- 80% | Cantwell = A- 80% |
| WV: | Byrd = B 80% | Rockefeller = B+100% |
| WI: | Kohl = A- 80% | Feingold = B 80% |
| As anyone can see, the lowest grade any Democratic Senator got (from the IAVA) was a "B-" and the highest grade any Republican got was a "C". (And the Republicans who earned those C's were the handful of more "liberal" Senators, whom many loyal Republicans consider "Rino's".) | ||
One of the most consistent supporters among prominent Democrats of G.W. Bush & John McCain, when it comes to his war in Iraq, is Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Joe never served in the military, which may be why he has been one of the most enthusiastic chickenhawks, although supposedly a "Democrat" (tongue in cheek).
To be fair, the Republican Party has its war heroes as well. Among prominent Republicans there's Sen. John McCain of course, Sen. Chuck Hagel (who supports Obama for President), former Sen. Bob Dole and former President George H.W. Bush, who are combat vets with distinguished military service records.
Contrary to his many public lies about Vietnam and his claim to have "a secret peace plan" to get us out of it much earlier, we now have a tape of Republican President Richard Nixon saying to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the Watergate tapes :
"The only place you and I disagree . . . is with regard to the bombing. You're so goddamned concerned about the civilians, and (but) I don't give a damn. I don't care." . . . "I'd rather use the nuclear bomb. . . Does that bother you? I just want you to think big."
A. Bush Administration cuts $1.5 billion from military family housing. The Bush Administration cut $1.5 billion for military family housing, despite Department of Defense statistics showing that in 83,000 barracks and 128,860 family housing units across the country are below standard. ("Nothing But Lip Service," Army Times, June 30, 2003; "House Appropriations Committee Approves $59.2 Million for Ft. Hood," U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards Press Release, June 17, 2003)
B. Bush Republicans support millionaires instead of military veterans. Bush allies in Congress stopped efforts to scale back the tax cut for the nation's millionaires by just five percent – a loss of just $4,780 for the year – in order to restore this funding for military family housing. ("The Tax Debate Nobody Hears About," Washington Post, June 17, 2003)
C. Bush Administration underfunded veterans' health care by $2 billion. The Bush Administration's 2004 budget underfunded veterans' health care by nearly $2 billion. ("Vets Health Low on Bush's Priority List," The Hill, September 17, 2003; "Support for Troops Questioned," Washington Post, June 17, 2003; U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs, September 2002)
D. Bush Administration proposal would end health care benefits for 173,000 veterans. More than 173,000 veterans across the country would be cut off from health care because of Bush Administration proposed budget cuts and its plan requiring enrollment fees and higher out-of-pocket costs. ("Support for Troops Questioned," Washington Post, June 17, 2003)
E. Bush Administration budget cuts force more than 200,000 veterans to wait for health care. Over 200,000 United States veterans have to wait more than six months for a medical visit because of health care shortages. ("VA Health Care Funding Alert," Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Press Release, January 31, 2003)
F. Bush Administration opposed plan to give National Guard and Reserve Members access to health insurance. Despite the war efforts of America's National Guard and Reserve Members, the Bush Administration announced in October 2003 its formal opposition to give the 1.2 million Guard and Reserve members the right to buy health care coverage through the Pentagon's health plan. One out of every five Guard members lacks health insurance. ("Bush Opposes Health Plan for National Guard," Gannett News Service, October 23, 2003)
G. Bush Administration cuts $172 million allotted for educating the children of military personnel. The Bush Administration's 2004 budget cut $172 million of impact aid funding. Impact aid funding assists school districts by making up for lost local tax revenue from tax-exempt property, such as military bases. These education cuts will especially affect school-age children of troops serving in Iraq who reside on military bases. ("Support for Troops Questioned," Washington Post, June 17, 2003)
H. Bush Administration tax cut denies military families increase in child tax credit. The families of 262,000 children of military personnel do not receive the child tax credit increase because the plan fails to cover taxpaying families with incomes between $10,500 and $26,625. According to The Washington Post, the House version of the Bush Administration plan "wouldn't help many of those serving in Iraq." One soldier who will not benefit is Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson, the soldier and single mother who was wounded twice in the same convoy as Jessica Lynch. ("Ex-POW's Family Accuses Army of Double Standard on Benefit," Washington Post, October 24, 2003; "The New Senate Child Credit Legislation – What It Does and Does Not Do," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, June 25, 2003; "Whose Child Is Left Behind," Children's Defense Fund, July 23, 2003)
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Rayosun@IToldYouSo.info