[sanjuro]

Yeah, I was in the sh!t.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/05/17/nyregion/1247467839994/blumenthal-says-he-served-in-vietnam.html

“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”

There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.

 

[eaterofdog]

I guess they can't get him under the Stolen Valor Act because he didn't claim to have any specific medals?

 

[4xBoy]

From March 2008 if I read that right.

If so, did he do something lately that I don't know about?

 

[stevew]

i was in the crusades alongside jbp.

 

[$tinkle]

i was at cm w/ sanjuro

got the commemorative do-rag to prove it

 

[johnbryanpeters]

i was in the crusades alongside jbp.

And we were very happy together.

 

[$tinkle]

i have to admit: i don't recall being as surprised to find this guy who's both a lawyer *and* politician has lied about his past since finding out about that republican who was banging his female assistant.

just makes you question everything, doesn't it?

 

[splat]

i was in the crusades alongside jbp.

If you ask some of the people in the middle east , they'll tell you the crusades are still going on. ( and they might not be wrong ! )

 

[kidwoo]

That reminds me of the time I took out hannibal in the mountains by putting all the elephants in figure four leg locks.

 

[Pesqueeb]

So he served with W. Bush?

If you ask some of the people in the middle east , they'll tell you the crusades are still going on. ( and they might not be wrong ! )

and if you ask people in the south they will tell you about the continuing war of northern aggression. They are retarded too.

 

[splat]

So he served with W. Bush?

and if you ask people in the south they will tell you about the continuing war of northern aggression. They are retarded too.

your on a roll ! yet very true!

 

[eaterofdog]

I want to get a brief job as a waiter in Vietnam so I can say I served there.

 

[stevew]

And we were very happy together.

the mustache makes a great shelter in sandstorms.

 

[sanjuro]

RETRACTION:

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201005190039

A longer version of the video posted by a Republican opponent also shows Blumenthal at the beginning of his speech correctly characterizing his service by saying that he "served in the military, during the Vietnam era."

 

[$tinkle]

same as if i had said "when i served in iraq"
i was enlisted throughout the 90's, during desert shield & desert storm

nyt needs not retract

 

[$tinkle]

found this background story of his opposition ironic: Linda McMahon, the multimillionaire co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment

we won't tolerate a fake hero, but fake rastler? america. fvck yeah.

 

[dante]

Guess it's not just a Democratic problem.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jU7fhIO7DG0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jU7fhIO7DG0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Note the "served in the Marines during Vietnam"... except that he was out by 1967 and didn't actually *go* to Vietnam. Just served in the Marines in the mid-60s. So no misstatement, just a deliberate attempt to deceive the public. Way to go!


(edit: And the FoD parody of that)

 

[$tinkle]

Note the "served in the Marines during Vietnam"... except that he was out by 1967 and didn't actually *go* to Vietnam. Just served in the Marines in the mid-60s. So no misstatement, just a deliberate attempt to deceive the public. Way to go!

hmmm...going back & forth on this one.
if he was a marine & thought it was worth adding to his bona fides, why then add vietnam? were marines less heroic after the conflict? maybe if the potential voter didn't think he was in the schyte he'd therefore be afraid to shoot some browns w/ his lever action?

a little clumsy, sure, but not pants-on-fire.

but he does seek higher office, so the die may have already been cast

 

[Pesqueeb]

hmmm...going back & forth on this one.
if he was a marine & thought it was worth adding to his bona fides, why then add vietnam? were marines less heroic after the conflict? maybe if the potential voter didn't think he was in the schyte he'd therefore be afraid to shoot some browns w/ his lever action?

a little clumsy, sure, but not pants-on-fire.

but he does seek higher office, so the die may have already been cast

Bullsh*t. You know and I know that candidate HeeHaw is deliberately distorting that fact. It is a pants-on-fire lie. Its a weak lame attempt to prove that he's a "real man." This guys a closet homo, calling it now.

 

[$tinkle]

Bullsh*t. You know and I know that candidate HeeHaw is deliberately distorting that fact. It is a pants-on-fire lie. Its a weak lame attempt to prove that he's a "real man." This guys a closet homo, calling it now.

he's not a liar.

he's more like darth cheney: he'll put some dots very, very, very close together & dare you to not connect them.

totally different.

 

[$tinkle]

what a grade-a punk:

"At times when I have sought to honor veterans, I have not been as clear or precise as I should have been about my service in the Marine Corps Reserves,'' Blumenthal said in a statement emailed to the Courant late Sunday by his spokeswoman, Maura Downes. "I have firmly and clearly expressed regret and taken responsibility for my words.

"I have made mistakes and I am sorry. I truly regret offending anyone,'' Blumenthal said. "I will always champion the cause of Connecticut's and our nation's veterans."

if this statement through a spokesperson emailed to an obscure newspaper isn't testimony this guy's battle ready, then who among us is?

ed, better:

UPDATE: McMahon campaign spokesman Ed Patru said Blumenthal's statement does not indicate he is sorry for "a calculated pattern of misleading statements."

"The statement Dick Blumenthal released in the dead of night yesterday cannot be construed as an apology because it ignores what is at the heart of the controversy surrounding him: false and misleading statements designed to deceive,'' Patru said via email.

"He is sorry for not being 'clear or precise' in his word choice and he is sorry for 'offending anyone,' but until Dick Blumenthal is sorry for purposely embellishing his military record and deceiving the people of Connecticut, his apology is a hollow one. The people of Connecticut are tired of career politicians not leveling."

State Republican Chairman Chris Healy criticized Blumenthal for making his apology by email, calling it an "electronic mumble.''