Feeling a Draft? Look at this.

[peacefreak]

FW: Military experience

Democrats:

* Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
* David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
* Tom Daschle:1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
* Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam
Jan.1971 as an army
journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
* Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of
Honor, Vietnam.
* Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor,
WWII.
* John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star,
Bronze Star with Combat V,
Purple Hearts.
* Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52;
Bronze Star, Korea.
* Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star
& Bronze Star,
Vietnam.
* Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
* Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve,
1968-74.
* Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain,
Army Reserve 1979-91.
* Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze
Star and seven campaign
ribbons.
* Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76;
Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars,
&
Soldier's Medal.
* Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple
Heart, Silver Star &
Legion of Merit.
* Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne,
Purple Heart.
* Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor.
Marine in Vietnam; Bronze
Star with Combat V.
* Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze
Star.
* Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
* Chuck Robb: Vietnam
* Howell Heflin: Silver Star
* George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during
WWII.
* Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student
deferments. Entered draft but
received #311.
* Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
* Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
* John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air
Medal with 18 Clusters.
* Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in
WWII. Saved by Raoul
Wallenberg.


Republicans -- and these are the guys sending
people to war:

* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments,
the last by marriage.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments
to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad
knee". The man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as
flight instructor.
* George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year
National Guard; got
assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for
family friend running for
U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required
medical exam, disappeared from duty.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in
a non-combat role makng movies.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after
fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion
of Merit, Purple Heart
and distinguished Flying Cross.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem"
although continued in NFL for eight years.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana
National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army
base.
Pundits & Preachers
* Sean Hannity: did not serve.
* Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a
'pilonidal cyst.')
* Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
* Michael Savage: did not serve.
* George Will: did not serve.
* Chris Matthews: did not serve.
* Paul Gigot: did not serve.
* Bill Bennett: did not serve.
* Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
* John Wayne: did not serve.
* Bill Kristol: did not serve.
* Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
* Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
* Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
* Ralph Reed: did not serve.
* Michael Medved: did not serve.
* Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
* Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at
things that don't shoot back.)

[ixion]

1. yes, but this is a 'reality-based' argument

which means nothing to fanatics.

[Christiana]

2. insert sarcasm here

...but I have FAITH that they had good reason for not serving!

[ventvon]

3. I repeat what I said on yesterday

The Democrats didn't display any testicular fortitude.

They should have put on a Veteran's show by calling a press conference with all of the Dems from the House and the Senate who have served in war standing behind Kerry as they said, "how dare they call us weak on security when we put it all on the line in live combat, for this country, and they didn't serve or ran away from it when their country called!"

Then Kerry'd mention how Bush was AWOL. How Cheney had 7 deferrments. How Wolfowitz wasn't even in the military. How the vast majority of the GOP in Congress did not serve, but most of those Dems in Congress did, and how that is significant in the Bush administration's wreckless rush to war and the dems/vets calls for more planning, because as a soldier on the ground, you want as much international support as possible to shoulder the load and feel good about what you are doing.

That's why they vote the way they do. That's why Chuck Hagel and John McCain vote like most of the Dems do. Because having been in war, they understand what it takes and what's most important.

But the Democrats, at least Kerry's campaign, refused to do something like that.

It's like they want the status quo to remain for some reason.

The only thing the GOP had besides "values" was "National security." The Democrats have no business being seen as weaker on national security, but the establishment obviously want to be seen that way because they have the resume's to change that image if they want to.

[liberal N proud]

4. And the repulicans are pro-military

As long as they don't have to serve.