Burnt Orange Report

absent without leave?

Will you be posting anything about the TYD convention this weekend?

Seems to me that these people making comments all had duty in Vietnam. They can make comments about Vietnam service. Especially when ones comments were used to demoralize some of the others while being detained in a pow camp.

i did not hear Sam Johnson or others question any of John Kerry's records.

I take strong issue with what you said, peter. Was John Kerry bound to ignore his responsibility as a citizen to speak his conscience? Would the POWs have been cheered up by Americans NOT saying anything remotely critical of the war, cowered into blind obedience by Vietnamese "terrorists?" If it weren't for people like John Kerry, how many more American POW would have been captured?

As a decorated veteran, Kerry was especially qualified to critique the Vietnam War. Except for hardline ideologues, many of whom are "chickenhawks", most Americans agree that the Vietnam War was a tragic mistake.

I don't know much about Sam Johnson other than that he's an airhead Bush minion representing the silver platter capital of Texas.
It's hard to say which is worse: if Johnson is making such statements out of malice, or merely out of sheer stupidity.

Sam Johnson is a bonehead. Even the local VERY CONSERVATIVE Dallas Morning News endorsed his opponent in the Republican Primary because Sam Johnson is such a nut. You know it's bad when a conservative paper turns on an incumbent.

calliman, what i said is that people who had duty in Vietnam can comment on others who had duty in Vietnam. As a matter of perspective, you'al seem to be cherry picking your decorated veterans. You want us to herald a vet who spent 4 or 5 months in theater and disavow a vet who spent years in a pow camp. You're in a "whose experience is more valid?" trap.

There were more than 500 thousand troups in Nam at one time; more than 58 thousand killed, 22 a day! There are a lot of decorated veterans. There are a lot of purple heart decorated veterans. I was never there, too young.

Why weren't our veterans acorded a heroes welcome when they returned? Why were they spat upon? Why were they shamed of their service to our country? The anti war people poisoned the environment stateside. These were our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers.

Look, World War I was known as Mr. Wilson's war,
WWII as Mr. Roosevelt's, Korea was Mr. Truman, and so on. Weren't there opposition to those wars? Yet, the vets came home as heroes. Veterans from the Desert Storm came home as heroes. Our heroes from Iraq are being welcomed as heroes. General Clark said it best: Politics should stop at the waters edge.

Please note the absence of veteran opposition to Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. Those returning are willing to go back. We are doing good in Iraq. We still have free speech. Freedom isn't free.

I find it interesting that another POW, McCain has not said similar things agains Kerry (correct me if I'm wrong).

I seriously do not think Sam Johnson knows what our country is truly about. Yes, it is sad that he spent years as a POW. But it isn't as if Kerry was happy about that, Kerry wanted to prevent it from happening to more people. To say that simply speaking out about the war and the atrocities of war is unpatriotic is proof enough for me that Johnson doesn't even know what he was fighting for.

But I agree about the treatment of the soldiers. I wasn't around then, but it makes no sense to me to blame them for the actions of their superiors and the government's policies.

Sam Johnson is nothing but a lackey to the Republican Establishment and would sell his own grandmother if Tom Delay or Karl Rove told him to.

Like I said, when the conservative Dallas Morning News says an incumbent Republican has got to go, you know he's a major f**k-up

"Please note the absence of veteran opposition to Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom."

...unnoted due to lack of searching.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/

Most Iraq veterans are still in the military or are even still in Iraq due to Bush extending their deployment there. Those on active duty are far less likely to speak out than those who have been discharged.

BTW, this is the first time in months I've heard the term "Iraq Freedom" used to describe the quagmire in Iraq. This is in spite of the Bushies describing their opponents as people who "hate freedom".

Because of people like Sam Johnson, some of you who speak so demeaningly of him, are free to do so. I doubt if any of you have courage, integrity
character, and intelligence that could compare to
his! Sam Johnson has every right to criticize John Kerry, and if you were so smart, you would do a little research and find out why John McCain is not criticizing Kerry...but Sam Johnson does not need to be ashamed, but the author of the article certainly needs to be ashamed of his remarks and attitude. He owes a helluva lot more to people like Sam Johnson than Sam Johnson owes the likes of him!