Dean used obscure back condition to get out of military draft

[Roon]

developing on http://www.drudgereport.com/

[Zynx]

1. This isn't news. This has been out for a long time.

Besides, he admitted he could have gone.

[pdove]

25. Everyone knows Bush is a good soldier (nt)

[Just Me]

2. This isn't a war of ideas,...

,...this is a freakin' sabotage!!! Another "inquisition" and "hunt". You may be an animal,...I am a self-aware human being!!!

[Jacobin]

3. That's nothing

I got braces on my teeth to dodge the draft

[Zynx]

4. Are you serious?

[Jacobin]

30. Completely serious

My lottery number was 15. I graduated from college in 1972 and they were drafting people like a mofo. I was marching and protesting the war. People were coming home in body bags faster than the planes could carry them. It was obvious we were losing.

I looked at Canada. Then got the volumes from a peace group on what medical conditions would get you out. Non-removable orthodontics kept you out.

I went to my physical and standing there in my shorts with fifty other guys, they read off the conditions...asked if you had one of the conditions.....in there was orthodontic appliances.

I raised my hand. Military freak asked me what was wrong with me.

I smiled.

I thought he was going to hit me. I left.

No Nam.

An Alice's Restaurant Moment.

[bushisanidiot]

5. He Didn't "Use" It To "Get Out Of" Anything. He showed up when his number

was called. The military turned him down. Drudge and the repukes can pretend whatever they want.. but he was given a Y1 by the military which means if they needed him in an emergency he would have had to serve back condition or no.. he reported for duty when called.

boil ass limbaugh on the other hand used a pitiful excuse to get out of going to vietnam. a damn boil? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Seems pretty petty compared to a back condition with X-Rays to back it up.

[caledesi]

9. Dean explained it on MTP.

He said he that Selective Service rejected him and he also said that if he had not been rejected, he would have gone.

Now we have the "hunting" of Dean. Good luck Sludge. Go back to doing what you did well - stocking cans in a grocery store. You slime!

[w4rma]

36. Dean on the 1-Y deferment that was given to him

Dean: First of all, let me say that there’s only one person who’s contending for the Democratic nominee for president who did serve in the military, nomination for president, and then let me explain the circumstances of my draft classification. I went to my physical in Ft. Hamilton in Brooklyn, which was a great deal like the scene out of Alice’s Restaurant in terms of the different sizes, shapes, colors, and all kinds of people were there. I was given an examination. I had a previous back problem, which is evidently congenital, which prevented me from doing any sustained running, a problem that I’ve had since then, since that time, which requires that when I get out of the car I often have some pains up and down my leg and back and so forth. But I have been able to exercise at—ry vigorous athletic life except for some things. One of those is long-distance running, which is how the problem came to my attention in the first place. I noticed the pain when I was in high school running track. In any case, the—after the physical, I received a one Y deferment. That’s how the United States government decided that they would use me. One Y deferment means you can only be called in times of national emergency. I didn’t have anything to do with choosing any draft deferment. I didn’t try to get out of the draft. I had a physical. The United States government said this is your classification. I’m not responsible for that. I didn’t have anything to do with the decision. That was their choice.

Russert: A military physical.

Dean: Yeah. I had a military physical. I had a draft induction physical in Ft. Hamilton. I think it was, perhaps, during my senior year. I don’t remember the exact date.

Russert: If called, you would have served?

Dean: Of course.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/912159.asp

[Langis]

6. And?

Bush fucking went AWOL. Who cares if Dean used a back condition to get out of the draft. Drudge need to jump off a cliff.

[LiberalFighter]

20. Correction

Bush is a deserter!!

AWOL = 30 days or less
Deserter = over 30 days

[shanti]

22. exactly!

also, chimpy is PUSHING this war now, and dean ISN'T. the chimp is a grade a phony.

[Klapaucius]

37. Something just struck me...

Dean didn't *use* anything. He went in, took the physical and was classified 1-Y. He didn't have anything to do with the classification that he got. People are getting confused and saying Dean *used* the condition to dodge the draft. That is both confusing and misleading.

The chickenhawks I've seen listed here *used* various conditions and excuses to avoid the draft. The difference is that Dean took the physical, but they didn't want him, at least not then. Luckily, they ended up not needing to call him up.

At the risk of sounding pedantic, we have to be *very* precise in how these things are phrased, or we run the risk of folks misunderstanding us. They're trying to generate a meme of 'Dean *used* a medical condition to avoid the draft', when the real meme should be closer to: 'Dean was drafted, went to his physical, and was classified 1-Y which disqualified him from immediate service'.

If the first meme is the one that catches, they'll smear him as a draft dodger. If the second one catches, people will understand that he had no hand in determining his classification. I'd much rather that they understand that second meme, which is the truth.

[JackSwift]

7. And Bush committed a felony to get out of the last year of

his commitment. Sorry, but the public doesn't care what people did to get out of Vietnam.

[Scott Lee]

8. The rightards are getting a jump on attacking Dean

I think they finally got scared enough by Deans advances. This is a GREAT sign.

[rolodomo]

10. Are they running out of ideas?

This is a good sign if they are already hitting the re-cycling bin. You would have thought someone would have told them "don't go there" (aWol) but I guess the chance to label someone unpatriotic is just too hard for them to resist.

[arcane1]

11. bring it on, repubes...

you'll only draw attention to AWOL Bush's record

[hlthe2b]

12. EXACTLY!!!

I say, bring it on...

[DivinBreuvage]

13. The bad thing is...

it doesn't matter what really happened. The only thing that matters is what the press and punditry say happened. And given the "cult of personality" that has grown up around Bush (e.g., photos of him with a halo, with his head on Mount Rushmore, or with a crown and the word "Lord" over his head (all pics posted here on DU), and the perverse aggressiveness with which his handlers and their lackeys in the press deliberately impose the mirror image of the actual truth when the actual truth is embarrassing, I wouldn't be surprised if we wind up with a significant percentage of the American public believing that Dean ran shrieking to Canada while Bush singlehandedly flew a strafing mission into Vietnam which may possibly have led to the rescue of John McCain.

Françoise

[aquart]

24. I don't mind a cult of personality for a charismatic leader.

It's freaky but I understand it.

But George? What on god's earth are they worshipping? His heartlessness? His cowardice? His gaucherie?

This tin god has clay feet up to his hair.

[DivinBreuvage]

27. Neither do I, really, although I'd say that in a democracy

it's wrong to focus too strongly on an individual personality. Ultimately a John Dean doesn't amount to anything without an army of supporters behind him, pushing him forward and getting the job done for him (Neither did Hitler or Stalin, of course, but they didn't live in a democracy that is supposed to believe in the inherent dignity and worth of every citizen -- not that I'm comparing Dean to them).

Karl Rove is known to have studied Nazi propaganda -- I recall reading an article about how he gushed about the similarity to a Nazi rally when Bush appeared to wild applause in a football stadium -- so I'm sure he's done some reading about good old Uncle Joe as well. Whatever works, you know.

As to what they're worshipping, it's his honor and integrity, his leadership, his upstanding Christian values and so on. It doesn't have to be true; you only have to make people believe that it's true. One of Hitler's biggest advantages as a leader was that for a very long time most Germans, when they were shocked, disgusted, or angered by something the Nazi government did, couldn't bring themselves to lay the blame for it at Hitler's door. "If only the Führer knew," they would say, "he would put a stop to all this swindling and thuggishness!"

(That's a good line BTW about the tin god's clay feet!)

Françoise

[grytpype]

14. This is one big reason I give Clark the edge over Dean.

With Clark, we can make Bush's draft-dodging an issue.

With Dean, the issue is neutralized.

[maggrwaggr]

15. And Bush, by comparison ........

need I say more?

[meisje]

16. It's a valid argument if he did say that

If he could have served and did not because he did not feel like it and admits to it now that he is running for president. Not a good thing!

[Military Brat]

17. Do you want a fellow soldier's back going out in combat?

That's the reason that someone with Dean's condition isn't drafted. Try to imagine the heat of battle, or the intense physical labor of setting up camp, and then picture the soldier beside you falling because of incapacitating pain or simply being unable to move. That soldier becomes a liability and places everyone else in harm's way, as his comrades attempt to help him.

This is a non-issue.

[Bozola]

19. You pose an ugly image for Rush...

UGH!!!!!

Image if Rush's ...I dare not contemplate it... ruptured during combat. The poor, poor medic....the horror, the horror.

Ugh!!! The mental grief self-inflicted by the Rush's stress lanced boil is overwhelming! I need my alcoholic crutch! Where's my scotch!

[leesa]

18. Irrelevent. Every time a get out of the draft argument is raised, the

Republican Chickenhawks will lose hands down. The Cheerleader in Chief is the primary AWOL coward...there is nothing they can say.

[LittleDannySlowhorse]

21. Blah blah blah...

[imax2268]

23. please...

the rethuglicassers are reaching...they are getting scared so they are pulling out this kind of crap...

give it a rest...BushCo is out...

[mikehiggins]

26. 1-Y

I was also classified 1-Y back in 1965 because I'm basically blind as a bat.

I have standard vision with my eyeglasses or contacts but the guy in charge at Whitehall Street told me that if I lost my glasses during a fight I might end up shooting my buddies, or even an officer.

Of course, a lot of officers got shot by guys with 20/20 vision but that was later on.

Anyway, the Selective Service wasn't doing anybody any favors. If you were healthy enough to go, you went. If Dean's back was dubious, even if he could go skiing, that's the way the rules played out.

Hey, I went skiing when I was in my 20's also. I just never made it out of the bar in the resort.

That dog won't hunt, not if things are as Doc described them.

[goforit]

28. At least he is not a pathological mass murderer like W!

Who gives a Sh*t at this point in the game!!!

[DFLforever]

29. Why do we think Bush is behind this early attack?

It could as well be Kerry.

edit: syntax

[farmbo]

31. This "post" violates about 3 LBN rules...

1)It quotes a rightwing media source without the author's comment;

2) It's over 24 hours old...hell it's 30 f*cking years old...;

3) It's irredeemably STUPID!

Why am I reading Drudge stories on D f*ckin' U !?!

:grr:

[kodi]

32. so, where's the guy who started this thread? smells like psyops to me

dean shot kennedy too (both of them). he is a very bad man.

[Lars39]

33. This is a dupe. The original posted at 6:53 pm in GD

[foo_bar]

34. I give Dean props for being honest about it

honesty is the death knell for presidential aspirations, but I respect him for not weaving an elaborate alibi.

[shamanstar]

35. repubs are gonna use this

clark will be the dem choice because he is electable by all bcz of the military background. and i dont think he is the best choice

[DemExpat]

38. Hi, Roon, this is not LBN news......

LBN news must be less than 12 hours old.

Thanks,
DemEx DU Moderator