Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Max Cleland really needs to move on. The man is bitter, and he's helping to create the impression that Democrats are so insulated from the idea that they may not be universally loved ("How is it that we don't win it all? We're so well intended!") that they couldn't possibly lose an election except by dirty tricks. (For the real story of Cleland's election defeat, see this NRO piece from last month - Max Cleland, Liberal Victim: Election mythology. Cleland chose unions over security - amongst other issues - his opponent called him on it, and the voters agreed. End of story.)
Hey Senator Kerry, next time, use Fed Ex.
CN: Swift boat showdown in Crawford
"We want George Bush to stand up, come to the plate and say this is wrong. An attack on the valorous service of a fellow American is wrong," Cleland said.
Jim Rassmann, the U.S. Army Green Beret who was saved by Kerry on a river in Vietnam in 1969, joined Cleland.
"I had bullets flying around me and now they're telling me that I'm a liar. I'm not a liar. I know it when a bullet comes near me," Rassmann said.
Despite repeated White House denials, Cleland charged that Kerry was the latest Vietnam War veteran smeared by the president -- saying the same happened to Republican Sen. John McCain during the 2000 presidential primary and to himself.
"I'm one of the three Vietnam veterans that George Bush went after. He came to my state five different times and they ran millions of dollars worth of ads with me and Saddam Hussein up there," Cleland said.
Bush did not personally receive Cleland or his letter at the ranch. Instead, Jerry Patterson, the Texas State Land commissioner, also a Vietnam War veteran, was outside the ranch with a pro-Bush letter for Cleland -- endorsed by several members of Congress.
"The letter was drafted by Bush-Cheney '04 and all of us are signatories... All veterans have a right to speak," Patterson said...
They sure do. I wonder when Senator Kerry is going to apologize for what he said about HIS fellow veterans back in 1971?
Here is the text of the Patterson letter:
We are pleased to welcome your campaign representatives to Texas today. We honor all our veterans, all whom have worn the uniform and served our country. We also honor the military and National Guard troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today. We are very proud of all of them and believe they deserve our full support.
That's why so many veterans are troubled by your vote AGAINST funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, after you voted FOR sending them into battle. And that's why we are so concerned about the comments you made AFTER you came home from Vietnam. You accused your fellow veterans of terrible atrocities -- and, to this day, you have never apologized. Even last night, you claimed to be proud of your post-war condemnation of our actions.
We're proud of our service in Vietnam. We served honorably in Vietnam and we were deeply hurt and offended by your comments when you came home...
Kerry's had surrogate after surrogate making his attacks for him throughout this campaign, and I haven't seen him demanding they stop. I've seen him disagree (as when Howard Dean was running around spreading doubt about the terror alerts), but never demand they stop. This incident with Cleland is just the latest. This is a legitimate fight, and Kerry ought to stop hiding on light-weight programs like the Daily Show and answer some real questions. Instead he's hiding while his supporters run interference for him.
He's gonna have to come out eventually. And when he does, I predict this issue will still be waiting for him...
Update: Soxblog - "Americans don’t want leaders who whine."
