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George W. Bush: War Hero
I noticed this story while blogging for Wonkette yesterday, and the magic of distributed intelligence* led me to a follow-up article.
Bill and Georgia Thomas reported they were elated Monday when they met in the Oval Office with President George W. Bush to present him with a Purple Heart.
...
"He said he didn't feel like he had earned it," Thomas said, noting the president looked thinner in person than on television.
Unable to touch his food for weeks, obviously, after that Keith Olbermann monologue slammed into his bunker. The kicker: How the Thomases got their idea.
Thomas said he and his wife came up with the unprecedented idea to present the president with the Purple Heart over breakfast one morning a few months ago as they discussed the verbal attacks, both foreign and domestic, the commander in chief has withstood during his time in office.
"We feel like emotional wounds and scars are as hard to carry as physical wounds," Thomas said.
By that logic, did the Swift Boat ads actually turn John Kerry into Audie Murphy?
*people doing your work for you
|4.24.07 @ 9:21AM|#
He said he didn't feel like he had earned it
So, did he immediately run to the Capitol and throw it over the
fence?
|4.24.07 @ 9:24AM|#
"We feel like emotional wounds and scars are as hard to
carry as physical wounds,"
Wow. That's just... words fail me. So, the Commander in Chief has
suffered just like soldiers who've been shot, because he had his
feelings hurt over being criticized for getting those soldiers
shot. Wow.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 9:27AM|#
He said he didn't feel like he had earned it
That is the same thing I would have said to wacky, but nice, people
attempting a nice gesture.
"We feel like emotional wounds and scars are as hard to carry
as physical wounds,"
Sounds like their attitudes are a little far Left of what I usually
encounter, now that I have stopped hanging out at the Student's
Center.
thoreau|4.24.07 @ 9:37AM|#
I remember a few years ago when Bush rallies featured people
saying things like "Mr. President, how can I pray for you?" and "I
just feel like God is in the White House now."
As unbelievably weird as that was, this is even weirder.
Wow.
JohnD|4.24.07 @ 9:38AM|#
Hey Warren, You don't know shit.
This president has be cursed and vilified like no other in my
lifetime (I'm 63) by politicians and talking heads that are
freaking cowards and traitors.
You don't have to be shot to be injured.
|4.24.07 @ 9:39AM|#
In Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, they actually had to
operate a system of abductions, concentration camps, and mass
murder to get people to behave like this.
Tools.
|4.24.07 @ 9:40AM|#
This strikes me as being about on a par with Obama's equivalence of being shot in the head with losing your job.
Bhh|4.24.07 @ 9:42AM|#
I hear he verbally abused himself so he could get that
medal.
Does seem an odd choice to build a cult of personality around.
Maybe it's some sort of christian thing I'm not getting.
|4.24.07 @ 9:45AM|#
Let's see, some apparently decent people, doing something they
feel is right, and not hurting a single fucking soul.
Yep, let's vilify them.
shecky|4.24.07 @ 9:50AM|#
Let's see, some apparently decent and completely
unhinged people, doing something they feel is right, and not
hurting a single fucking soul.
Yep, let's vilify them. And laugh at their idiocy.
|4.24.07 @ 9:52AM|#
My self-worth is clearly not where it should be as a result of
all the meanies in my life.
Where do I go to apply for one of these medals?
VM|4.24.07 @ 9:53AM|#
*slowly backs away from shecky. no sudden movements. feels cold pang of fear upon realizing that the Zagnut is still on the kitchen counter.....*
|4.24.07 @ 9:55AM|#
by this standard, the commenters on the Bill O'Reily post have earned the No-Spinner a congressional Medal of Honor by now.
|4.24.07 @ 9:57AM|#
Gee, I wonder if the Thomases have, themselves, been insulted
for their Iraq War advocacy.
And consider themselves the equivalent of wounded soldiers for
it.
Ah, hell, I'm in. Let's send the lot of 'em to Building 18 at
Walter Reid.
|4.24.07 @ 10:00AM|#
Since Bush has suffered "verbal attacks" for his handling of Katrina as well, does that mean he gets a FEMA trailer?
|4.24.07 @ 10:00AM|#
This president has be[sic] cursed and
vilified...
In order to qualify as vilification, I think statements actually
have to be untrue.
I don't think GWB has received any more of his share of unfair
criticism than LBJ* or Nixon. Or even Reagan, for that
matter.
Sounds like your memory is beginning to fail. That's not supposed
to happen until your much older than 63.
*Who I personally believe to have been the most despicable person
to have ever occupied the office.
Bhh|4.24.07 @ 10:01AM|#
See it's all bunk nowadays, but I used to like how conservatives weren't all about feelings and good intentions.
|4.24.07 @ 10:02AM|#
John D. said, "This president has be cursed and vilified like no
other in my lifetime (I'm 63) by politicians and talking heads that
are freaking cowards and traitors."
Let's be honest -this guy has been treated no worse than Nixon or
Clinton were during their media low points. As a kid, I remember
Nixon was really crucified. Right wingers were literally calling
Clinton a murderer (Vince Foster) and a rapist throughout his
presidency, criticizing his wife for keeping her last name even
before her health care fiasco and military people were "saluting
the office, not the man" because of his attempt to allow gay
soldiers to not be court marshalled. Remember W. Bush got a 3 year
pass after 9/11. People really only started going after him when
the war turned south, which was about 13 minute after he declared
victory on the aircraft carrier.
shecky|4.24.07 @ 10:03AM|#
The gesture should be extended to chicken hawks who've been wounded in spirit, and subsequently honored for their bravery by getting their own Purple Heart.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 10:11AM|#
Actually, there is another
story this morning that fits into this, in a way. According to
some 'educators' a ham sandwich is the same thing as being shot
at.
"We've got some work to do to turn this around and bring the school community back together again." Said Levesque, "These children have got to learn that ham is not a toy, and that there are consequences for being nonchalant about where you put your sandwich."
"Placing ham where Muslim students were eating as an awful thing," said Stephen Wessler, the executive director of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence. "It's extraordinarily hurtful and degrading. They probably felt like they were back in Mogadishu starving and being shot at. No child, Muslim or normal, should have to endure touching a ham sandwich."
Money quote from the shilling Mr. Wessler: No child, Muslim
or normal, should have to endure touching a ham
sandwich.
Now, I can easily see these folks tossing medals at the
self-segregating students for being exposed to ham.
If you missed FOX and Friends this AM, when they covered the story,
hottie Gretchen Carlson actually ATE ham on TV! She was not
"covered" either. Actually wore a (gasp) skirt above the
knee!
|4.24.07 @ 10:33AM|#
"You don't have to be shot to be injured."
What kind of hippy, pissant bullshit is that?
Patton would friggin' slap you with his glove.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 10:35AM|#
Patton would friggin' slap you with his glove.
Or give him a well deserved kick with his little boot.
Jack|4.24.07 @ 10:37AM|#
This just proves we need a new medal for those who've never seen combat in their lives but receive public condemnation for sending boys to die for no good reason. Perhaps a Yellow Heart?
|4.24.07 @ 10:42AM|#
I forwarded the story to my fiance...this is her reply:
what a bunch of bullsh*t
what is this world coming to
are all fat people going to get one too because of the tauting they
endured during their lives??????
gimme an f'n break.
God, I love her!
|4.24.07 @ 10:44AM|#
I have to wonder how many Koolaid-drinking right-wingers will try to justify this, and how long it will take to dig up what they said about John Kerry's Purple Heart.
Jennifer|4.24.07 @ 10:45AM|#
You don't have to be shot to be injured.
What pathetic touchy-feely hippie bullshit is this? Let's give
purple hearts to everyone graduating boot camp, for the injuries
inflicted when the mean ole drill sergeant yelled at them.
|4.24.07 @ 10:46AM|#
"He Said Very Hurtful Things... Then My Shoes Fell Off"
All of those warbloggers who've been proclaiming themselves
"soldiers" on a "front" in a "war" for the past five and a half
years?
Saul Rosenberg. Every single one of them.
"It was very hurtful."
|4.24.07 @ 10:49AM|#
An important point is that an individual gave him the medal, not the state. He did not earn a Purple Heart by military standards, and no military gave him one. Laugh at these folks if you want -- I will -- but saying this speaks to a societal equation of taunting and combat injury is really stretching.
ktc2|4.24.07 @ 10:51AM|#
Awful! What a disgrace to give that draft dodging playboy good for nothing coward a purple heart.
|4.24.07 @ 10:52AM|#
One more word out of you, David, and I'll fire you down into the
yard, you little bastard.
;-)
|4.24.07 @ 10:53AM|#
'Money quote from the shilling Mr. Wessler: No child, Muslim or
normal, should have to endure touching a ham sandwich.'
That's awesome, Guy! LOL.
"Muslim or normal."
"Look, I don't care if you're black, white, Hispanic, or some sort
of halfsie..."
Jennifer|4.24.07 @ 10:55AM|#
saying this speaks to a societal equation of taunting and
combat injury is really stretching.
Who's saying that? Personally, I'm just saying this speaks to a
partisan twit deluded enough to think "If you're on my side of the
red/blue divide, being criticized for bad political decisions is
just as painful and traumatic as having your goddamned foot shot
off. No, really, I sincerely believe this because I'm a delusional
tool. But I'd never apply it to my opponents, no no no."
SugarFree|4.24.07 @ 10:57AM|#
Lupito41,
Bush let them in the White House and alerted the press to what was
going on. These people are just deluded and high on a finely ground
powder of tony Snow's dandruff. Bush is the one making the
comparison by talking about it / publicizing it.
This is also another example of the right learning the left's
victim game and then playing it better than they have. If
retard-Imus shattered the souls of those poor Rutger's "girls" with
his mild remark, then a couple of hundred thousand protesters
screaming "Bushitler!" surely qualifies as an injury.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 10:58AM|#
I have to wonder how many Koolaid-drinking right-wingers
will try to justify this, and how long it will take to dig up what
they said about John Kerry's Purple Heart.
As of your post, the only approximation of a "right-winger" here
has said it was as stupid as the stuff dopes who live in the
Student's Center say and I gave an example of the usual way
sillyness like this is expressed by the Left.
Oh, if you read the hame story, you will see how the Leftists
handle people being "hurt" by images or words. The "offender" gets
suspended from school (or worse).
thoreau|4.24.07 @ 10:58AM|#
When people start believing that rhetorical attacks are just as bad as bullet wounds, doesn't it beg the question of whether they think a violent attack (on an opposing segment of society) would be no worse than saying nasty things?
|4.24.07 @ 11:02AM|#
get all the warbloggers together and have them slap each other with hot mops. that would be entertaining.
|4.24.07 @ 11:03AM|#
Patton would friggin' slap you with his glove.
Or give him a well deserved kick with his little boot.
Ooooh. Patton had little feet? That explains so much about
the man.
|4.24.07 @ 11:06AM|#
Free
Purple Hearts For Everyone!
Simply print, cut out, and pin to the clothing of some deserving
individual.
Know a fattie that's been teased for years? How about a four-eyed,
wedgie recipient? Feeling bad for that pimply faced kid down the
street? Give him a Purple
Heart and make his life better today.
This message brought to you by the Pansy Loving Tree Hugging Hippie
Coalition of America.
Jennifer|4.24.07 @ 11:07AM|#
Last year, when Joe got pissed off and called me an inhuman
Randroid, that was such a horrifying experience I think he should
be prosecuted for it.
You may as well have beaten me, Joe, for all the trauma you caused.
Bastard.
|4.24.07 @ 11:08AM|#
ok to be somewhat serious about this (although it's difficult), thoreau has the best point. equating criticism with actual physical violence is not just a lame and pathetic exercise in self-pity, it's also kind of scary. cuz if being criticized is the same thing as being shot, then why shouldn't a person be able to shoot back?
|4.24.07 @ 11:10AM|#
Check out the crap given any President at their presidential libraries. His handlers should have thanked them and tossed this undeserved award in the box with the knitted "Savior of Iraq" scarves and "Mission Accomplished" golf club covers. Shame on the President for even touching this medal.
|4.24.07 @ 11:12AM|#
So how much money have these people contributed to the
GOP?
Does Bush have any inkling how badly he just burned EVERY SINGLE
WOUNDED SOLDIER, EVER, for the sake of the feelings of these
asshats?
I'm guessing not. The man has no shame. I suspect he would have
accepted it even if that Marine with the melted face had been
watching over the abhorrent exchange.
The right thing to do would be to DECLINE the offer BY MAIL and not
have the fools in to the White House, which only grants their
gesture even more legitimacy.
Send the idiots a signed 8x10" glossy, say "Thanks, but no thanks,
the troops suffer actual wounds and don't earn $400k a year like I
do" and be done with it.
|4.24.07 @ 11:13AM|#
Honestly, how can this not be considered anything less than an
insult to every soldier who's ever taken a bullet on a
battlefield?
How did these nutters get into the oval office in the first
place?
Who thought this was a good idea?
|4.24.07 @ 11:15AM|#
If I were a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, I would compose a letter, signed by other members of the same opinion, stating what a deplorable act this is. Then I would send it to the prez and the media.
Jennifer|4.24.07 @ 11:19AM|#
That was very hurtful, Jennifer.
Exactly my point, O Randroid Caller. So where's my purple
heart?
|4.24.07 @ 11:20AM|#
"If I were a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, I
would compose a letter, signed by other members of the same
opinion, stating what a deplorable act this is. Then I would send
it to the prez and the media."
If I were not a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart,
which I'm not, I'd go to their Contact page and suggest this to
them.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 11:21AM|#
Then I would send it to the prez and the media.
The president is the person who said he did not earn it. How about
sending it to the media and the people who presented it to
him?
Make a copy for the Easter Bunny too.
|4.24.07 @ 11:23AM|#
Jon H,
I was thinking of doing so. Had actually started to fill out a
contact form. However, I figured it's really not my place to try to
push my opinions onto them :)
If anybody else wishes to do so, fine by me...
|4.24.07 @ 11:23AM|#
"So, did he immediately run to the Capitol and throw it over the
fence?"
Isn't that effectively what Thomas did at the White House? Only
since he was sucking up, not protesting, he was invited inside.
|4.24.07 @ 11:25AM|#
Guy,
Yes, the prez said he did not earn it, but he still let them come
to the Oval Office and put on this public display. What a spineless
bastard.
|4.24.07 @ 11:25AM|#
"The president is the person who said he did not earn
it."
Doesn't matter. Somebody on his staff thought this would be a good
idea, and actually invited these idiots into the White House,
instead of sending them a gently worded letter that amounts to
"piss off" back when they first approached them with the idea.
dhex|4.24.07 @ 11:29AM|#
"This president has be cursed and vilified like no other in my
lifetime (I'm 63) by politicians and talking heads that are
freaking cowards and traitors.
You don't have to be shot to be injured."
ok chalupa's right and therapy culture has taken over. i
surrender!
no, wait...you're both fucking nuts.
|4.24.07 @ 11:29AM|#
"The president is the person who said he did not earn it."
After inviting them to the White House, greeting them in the Oval
Office, and accepting it in front of the journalists and
photographers we brought in to cover the event.
'"Congressman Carter called me last week and said the President was
very moved by it, and would like us to present it in person,"
Thomas said.'
What a stand-up guy.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 11:29AM|#
Doesn't matter.
Of course it doesn't because it is an opportunity to bash Bush with
the acts of others and being polite.
thoreau|4.24.07 @ 11:31AM|#
Yeah, I am surprised that nobody sent a letter along the lines
of "Dear Sir, We deeply appreciate your kind gesture, but we
respect your service far too much to accept the medal that you
bravely earned. We believe that the most appropriate bearer of this
medal is you. Again, thank you for your good wishes, and thank you
for your service."
It would have been an easy letter for an assistant to write.
|4.24.07 @ 11:32AM|#
Did they give him the little chest insignia that goes with it, so he can wear it on his flight suit?
Jennifer|4.24.07 @ 11:33AM|#
Of course it doesn't because it is an opportunity to bash
Bush with the acts of others
No, we're bashing Bush for using the acts of others to put on a
display of false modesty. "What, giving a purple heart to li'l ole
me? Pshaw! I don't deserve it!... no, wait, let me say that again.
With Camera One pulling in for a close-up on my face. MAKEUP! My
nose looked a little too shiny in that take. All right, from the
top: What, giving a purple heart to li'l ole me? Pshaw! I don't
deserve it."
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 11:33AM|#
So, how long before that middle school kid is institutionalized for leaving a ham sandwich on a table? Apparently THAT counts as being shot at for real, per his school administration.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 11:35AM|#
Jennifer,
Do you have a link for that? The only one I can find is John
Edwards primping his hair.
|4.24.07 @ 11:35AM|#
Honestly, how can this not be considered anything less than
an insult to every soldier who's ever taken a bullet on a
battlefield?
Apparently it's an insult not to the guy who presented it to Bush.
According to the article, he has three himself.
|4.24.07 @ 11:36AM|#
Guy Montag does more "Hey look over there" before 9 AM than most people do all day.
Jennifer|4.24.07 @ 11:39AM|#
The only one I can find is John Edwards primping his
hair.
And if Edwards, with faux modesty, made a big deal of turning down
the purple heart a supporter offered him after he got hairspray in
his eye, his hairstyle might actually have something to do with the
topic of this thread, rather than be another red herring you toss
into the pool.
|4.24.07 @ 11:40AM|#
wait. i'm almost totally awake at this point, but that ham sandwich article was a joke, right? if it wasn't, i should just go back to bed for the next several years.
|4.24.07 @ 11:43AM|#
(almost) All,
Your comments have been convincing. Bush's team should not have
allowed this to happen.
|4.24.07 @ 11:44AM|#
You don't have to be shot to be injured.
To earn the Purple Heart it helps. The man has no business having
one. At best he deserves the Frank Burns Purple Earring.
decent people, doing something they feel is right, and not
hurting a single fucking soul.
It is extremely disrespectful to the people who actually earned
one. According to Wikipedia it is
supposed to be awarded in the name of the President, not to him.
Check the criteria to earn one. Also how not to earn one.
thoreau|4.24.07 @ 11:47AM|#
Now, to be fair, it's entirely possible that the President had
little say in this. It could be one of those things where somebody
else is in charge of the photo ops, and one morning he looks at his
schedule and says "Hey, why am I scheduled for this photo op? This
doesn't seem like the greatest idea." And the publicity team says
"Look, the guy is already on his way, the press is on its way, and
sending them away would probably create a bigger stir than just
graciously accepting it and shaking his hand and moving on."
So he does it, feeling kind of awkward, and then moves on.
I really doubt that Presidents are all that involved in planning
these sorts of things.
Yeah, I know, the guy was told that the President wanted to see
him, but I assume that the PR people who handle these things say
that to everybody that they book.
|4.24.07 @ 11:52AM|#
"Apparently it's an insult not to the guy who presented it to
Bush. According to the article, he has three himself."
As the GOP taught us in 2004, they were probably trumped up or
self-inflicted. No quality control on the darn things, any old
person can get one for the merest scratch if they can get a buddy
to fill in the forms.
|4.24.07 @ 11:52AM|#
HI here is a young boy from tanzania
I would like to use this opportunities just to send my comment on
your site
First of all I would like to say I have been viewing several
speechs of president bush what I found in his speech was only
rubish nothing good first I would like to declare this statement to
the world that President George W Bush is a terrorist he is the
main causes of all conflict all over the world before go far I
would like to say one thing that personaly I know where Mr Osama
binladen is and I always use much time to talk with him and now I
would like to tell you that mr osama doesn't want to revange but
what he need is only piece of mind and what personal i need to tell
you bush is that your nothing under this world you always need to
hit people of iraq now look the condition over there it is too bad
what cant you shoot your doughters and sons
I hate you very much your like chamilion animal what you did at
iran was fullish now take care dont force mr osama to revange
|4.24.07 @ 11:55AM|#
thoreau's speculation sounds entirely plausible. Now here's the
question: would Ronald Reagan, John Kerry, John McCain or Al Gore
employ political advisors who would have thought this was a good
idea?
The Buck Stops at Karl's Desk.
lunchstealer|4.24.07 @ 11:59AM|#
Sounds like your memory is beginning to fail. That's not
supposed to happen until your much older than 63.
Maybe he's taken one too many blunt-force insult to the head in all
his verbal boxing matches, over the years. Especially if that's the
jab he's got with his right. Intellectual southpaws like joe could
eat him for lunch.
|4.24.07 @ 12:01PM|#
well, someone in reagan's entourage seemed to think it was a good idea for him to lay wreaths on nazi graves.
|4.24.07 @ 12:04PM|#
Joe, you pretty much took the words outta my mouth.
T has a good point, but in the end, any employee actions always
reflect on the boss. As is the case with most of the
administration, this was a total fuck up.
|4.24.07 @ 12:08PM|#
Can any of you even imagine the response from Big Wingnut if Clinton had accepted a veteran's Purple Heart during, say, the impeachment?
|4.24.07 @ 12:09PM|#
thoreau's speculation sounds entirely plausible. Now here's
the question: would Ronald Reagan, John Kerry, John McCain or Al
Gore employ political advisors who would have thought this was a
good idea?
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2004/07/28/politics/28points2_ready.html
|4.24.07 @ 12:16PM|#
That a war vet has a right to do whatever he (or she) wants with his medals is a given, but even with the likely assumption this photo op was organized by staff, how could they possibly have thought this was a good idea? Who do they think this could possibly appeal to?
|4.24.07 @ 12:17PM|#
jf,
How is that supposed to be comparable? Sure, Kerry looks like a
tool in that get-up, but I don't see the relevance.
|4.24.07 @ 12:26PM|#
David,
Sometimes handlers don't think things through before agreeing to
have their politician do something. I'm sure I could find a Reagan,
McCain, and Gore example but the Kerry one was the first to pop
into my head.
Oh yeah, like someone else said, Reagan's trip to Bitburg was not
exactly the best idea ever.
|4.24.07 @ 12:29PM|#
P Brooks | April 24, 2007, 12:24pm | #
If he's not wounded, what made him a lame duck?
I think that was his dad's vice prez...
....wait for it.....
...wait for it.....
....Dan Quail [sic]
Thank you. Thank you. You're too kind...
|4.24.07 @ 12:34PM|#
Ah, hell, I'm in. Let's send the lot of 'em to Building 18
at Walter Reid.
Sadist. That sounds like mental waterboarding.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 1:30PM|#
wait. i'm almost totally awake at this point, but that ham
sandwich article was a joke, right? if it wasn't, i should just go
back to bed for the next several years.
Nope and both Brian Kilmead and I thought it was an Onion story at
first.
Brian Sorgatz|4.24.07 @ 2:27PM|#
Laura couldn't wait to see her husband with his purple heart on. What better place for it than a Bush?
lf|4.24.07 @ 2:31PM|#
These people did a pretty unselfish, not well thought-out gesture. The Pres. doesn't plan these events, he has people who plan those things - they should have stopped this one. He probably didn't know exactly what to do at the time. He's got tough skin - these criticisms don't phase him, I assure you, and he's undaunted by them - much less hurt by them. He's a stubborn hard-ass - he doesn't care what his opponents think, and it's hard for him to admit when he's wrong. But to blame him for this event is stupid. It should have been stopped before it happened, in light of the political climate, and he shouldn't have accepted it. Bush-bashing is the popular thing to do right now, for those intellectually boring members of our society, so he should have known he would get drilled for this.
GILMORE|4.24.07 @ 2:39PM|#
aw, pwesident has a booby! Did the mean people say baaad
things?
Jesus fucking shit on a stick. This fucking chicken hawk
cheapskates the medical care of people who have serious brain
injuries and are left to rot in moldy rooms, while he does photo
ops in the white house, accepting *medals*???
I'm amazed this wasnt more replayed than "Mission Accomplished".
It's disgraceful. My dad threw away his purple heart from nam
because he was ashamed he'd never fired a shot. (he was staff
lawyer - they gave everyone who did a tour a PH, more or less
AFAIK)
thoreau|4.24.07 @ 2:54PM|#
lf-
Yeah, I gotta give the benefit of the doubt and assume that
somebody who handles the photo ops fumbled this one.
Whatever one thinks about any particular President, I'll bet that
the photo ops get to be a real pain.
Imagine you're standing in the office, saying goodbye to the
delegation from the Association of Peruvian Textile Makers exits.
(And struggling to remember that under the protocols he can only
say that he "Enjoyed" their visit but not "Greatly enjoyed", lest
the Textile Attache from the Indian Embassy get all huffy about
cashmere tariffs.)
And then your assistant whispers into your ear "The next visitor is
here to give you his Purple Heart." "What?!?" you whisper as loudly
as you can. "This was arranged by his Congressman. The guy really
admires you," the assistant replies. "Um, I don't think I should be
taking that medal from him," you whisper. "He's here, the press is
here, and the Congressman's here. If you don't take it he'll be
offended and it will make a bigger splash in the media. Just do
it!" So you do it, and you feel awkward.
And then you wave goodbye and prepare to smile and greet a
delegation of Turkish athletes in the US for some sort of
tournament, remembering that under the protocols you can wish them
"Good luck" but you can't say "I hope you win tomorrow," lest the
Greek ambassador send an angry letter....
GILMORE|4.24.07 @ 2:57PM|#
word to that (thoreau)
but seriously, this is again a competence question. He could have
gracefully handled and explained his refusal to accept as unworthy
of the efforts of the troops, god bless the troops, the troooooops.
They are his deflector shield for everything.
GILMORE|4.24.07 @ 3:07PM|#
Baba (O'reilly?) says =
"I hate you very much your like chamilion animal"
Hey! Thanks for the input.
So, since you're from Tanzania, maybe you can explain why anyone
wanted to bomb the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam in 1998?
I mean, ("big evil") Bush wasnt even around then. In those days we
had a guy who wanted (in theory) to intervene to help africans. At
least until they dragged naked bodies of our troops around the
streets.
Point being, what was your beef pre-Bush?
Good luck getting your electricity working, BTW.
|4.24.07 @ 3:21PM|#
...they gave everyone who did a tour a PH, more or less
AFAIK
My pappy got his for being shot in the leg. (Now permanently 1/8"
shorter than the other.)
|4.24.07 @ 3:30PM|#
He [Bush] said he didn't feel like he had earned
it
That is the same thing I would have said to wacky, but nice,
people attempting a nice gesture.
I don't think I would have said "I don't feel like I've earned it"
but rather "I haven't earned this." Qualifying it like he
did sounds like fake modesty: "Gosh, I don't feel like a hero, but
sure, I'll accept the award anyway!"
This Administration seems to have a preternatural ability to make
medals meaningless. First the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and
now the Purple Heart.
|4.24.07 @ 3:56PM|#
Is this becoming the new version of "sticks and stones"?
Stick and stone will break my bone, but words will hurt me
more.
|4.24.07 @ 4:01PM|#
"""This Administration seems to have a preternatural ability to
make medals meaningless. First the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
and now the Purple Heart."""
Should the Silver Star to that list since Tillman was given one for
dying by friendly fire?
|4.24.07 @ 4:15PM|#
"""This president has be cursed and vilified like no other in my
lifetime (I'm 63) by politicians and talking heads that are
freaking cowards and traitors.""""
Politicians such as Muthra who served his country in the Military
for more time than Bush, Cheney, Feith, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld
combined. A man willing to stand up for what he believes is right
regardless of name calling. You call him a coward? If a 37 year vet
is a coward, then who isn't?
You don't find it cowardly to get FIVE deferments to avoid fighting
for this country in Vietnam?
Many of the people critizing the President have more active
military experince than the President and Vice-President put
together.
|4.24.07 @ 5:51PM|#
Politicians such as Muthra who served his country in the
Military
I believe he was eventually taken down by Godzilla.
Gray Ghost|4.24.07 @ 6:16PM|#
Should the Silver Star [be added] to that list since Tillman
was given one for dying by friendly fire?
I don't know. I wasn't there. Charging what you think is enemy
fire, only to get shot by your own, seems heroic and tragic. I
don't know if that by itself equals a posthumous Silver Star.
While we're re-evaluating this Administration's criteria for
medals, we can look at the Jessica Lynch case and add her Bronze
Star to that list.
Guy Montag|4.24.07 @ 9:16PM|#
josephdietrich,
English language freaks need to be watched closely so that we do
not have another Virginia Tech.
|4.25.07 @ 6:29AM|#
Okay. For some reason I didn't get around to reading this thread
until now, and I haven't actually read the comments yet, but Jesus
Fucking Christ.
"We feel like emotional wounds and scars are as hard to carry
as physical wounds,"
This is worse than Obama calling nonviolence "violence" last week.
Now nonwounds and nonscars are the equivalent of wounds and scars.
What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?
Now I'm off to actually read the thread.
/rapes and brutalizes pebble
|4.25.07 @ 10:13AM|#
Thoreau writes: "Yeah, I gotta give the benefit of the doubt and
assume that somebody who handles the photo ops fumbled this
one."
I might give that more creedence if
Laura Bush didn't say in a Today show interview that she and George
have suffered more than anyone in this war.
|4.25.07 @ 2:28PM|#
Politicians such as Muthra who served his country in the
Military
"I believe he was eventually taken down by Godzilla."
jf, I kiss your hairy feet. The memory of this line made me LOL
twice on the way home last night.
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