Questioning Bush's Patriotism
Slowly, I'm beginning to get the hang of this blogging program. I'm used to opening up a file and writing in HTML then publishing it to my web site. This one works a little differently. Sometimes easier, sometimes not.
Anyway, I noticed that the Pentagon announced that Bush's payroll records for 1972 were among those destroyed in the mid-1990s. I seem to recall that there was a fire at the records center in St. Louis. Perhaps that's when it happened. Or perhaps it's more political shenanigans. Who can tell?
I do know that while Bush was, or was not, performing his Guard duty in Alabama in 1972, I was in the Delta of Vietnam engaged in war activities and living a not so great life. President Bush could have joined me, but I suppose like VP Cheney, he had "other priorities." Even as I acknowledge that he, like millions of others at that time, made different choices in that war, I don't have to like it.
I particularly don't have to like it when he waves the flag and touts his patriotism. For those who don't remember what it was like 30 to 40 years ago, people like Bush and Cheney thought people like me were stupid to waste our lives in the military. They probably felt they were smarter than the average and hence need not waste their time on that failed war. Since I'm old enough to remember the time and all the arguments and excuses that were made, I'm also old enough to believe that one has to live with certain choices and decisions, even as one may regret them later.
I don't like it when these guys make like they are patriots and anyone who disagrees with them are not patriots. I don't like it that Vietnam Veterans, such as John McCain and John Kerry, are continually attacked by these guys for being potentially mentally unstable because of their Vietnam experiences. (When that's not the text, as it was with McCain's failed 2000 bid for the presidency, it's often the sub-text.)
What right does George W. Bush have to question anyone's patriotism? Kerry at least served and served with distinction.
Anyway, I noticed that the Pentagon announced that Bush's payroll records for 1972 were among those destroyed in the mid-1990s. I seem to recall that there was a fire at the records center in St. Louis. Perhaps that's when it happened. Or perhaps it's more political shenanigans. Who can tell?
I do know that while Bush was, or was not, performing his Guard duty in Alabama in 1972, I was in the Delta of Vietnam engaged in war activities and living a not so great life. President Bush could have joined me, but I suppose like VP Cheney, he had "other priorities." Even as I acknowledge that he, like millions of others at that time, made different choices in that war, I don't have to like it.
I particularly don't have to like it when he waves the flag and touts his patriotism. For those who don't remember what it was like 30 to 40 years ago, people like Bush and Cheney thought people like me were stupid to waste our lives in the military. They probably felt they were smarter than the average and hence need not waste their time on that failed war. Since I'm old enough to remember the time and all the arguments and excuses that were made, I'm also old enough to believe that one has to live with certain choices and decisions, even as one may regret them later.
I don't like it when these guys make like they are patriots and anyone who disagrees with them are not patriots. I don't like it that Vietnam Veterans, such as John McCain and John Kerry, are continually attacked by these guys for being potentially mentally unstable because of their Vietnam experiences. (When that's not the text, as it was with McCain's failed 2000 bid for the presidency, it's often the sub-text.)
What right does George W. Bush have to question anyone's patriotism? Kerry at least served and served with distinction.
posted by Tom | 10:19 AM
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