Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Just Admit It Already!

By now, you have surely heard about Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's claim that he served in Vietnam:
“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."

He is right that we need to support our military. But he is wrong about his own service. He received five deferments, and served in the Marine Reserves Stateside. Oops.

Over the years Blumenthal has embellished his record, something that caused concern for his old friend, Christopher Shays, as detailed in this article, "Shays Watched As Blumenthal's Claims Evolved." Apparently, this was over a period of years:
[snip] Mr. Shays, a 10-term incumbent who lost a re-election bid in November 2008, was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. He said he and Mr. Blumenthal began their careers in politics at roughly the same time and frequently addressed the same groups. He recalled that early on, Mr. Blumenthal spoke humbly about his military record, rarely discussing it and always making clear that he had held only desk jobs and had not been in the line of fire, though he remained proud of having been a Marine.

“But as time went on, he would mention it more often, and Vietnam would show up,” even when Mr. Blumenthal was not speaking to veterans, Mr. Shays said.

Eventually, Mr. Shays said, he began hearing Mr. Blumenthal refer to having served in Vietnam. Mr. Shays said he assumed, wrongly, that Mr. Blumenthal had perhaps been a military lawyer there. That alone, he said, was enough for him to have had the impulse to advise Blumenthal to be careful, that people could interpret his remarks as a claim to have seen action there.

“I felt inclined to go to him and say, ‘Dick, in your service in Vietnam, you weren’t on the firing line, you don’t want to overstate that,’ ” Mr. Shays said. “I just felt like he was raising the stakes in a way that was inconsistent with what he’d said in the past. I was actually going to go up and speak to him. And I wish I had.”

Oh dear. Well, CT AG Blumenthal finally addressed his claim:



Um, no one is impugning your character, AG Blumenthal. You did that all by your very own self when you flat out LIED and said you served in Vietnam, and by your dissembling now. I commend you for your decision to join the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. So did my uncle, only he actually DID go to Vietnam. You dishonor those who actually did serve overseas, who lived through a horrendous war, from which many never recovered even though they made it back to these shores. And you blame OTHERS for pointing out what you yourself said, and what is on video?

Blumenthal's opponent, Rob Simmons, actually did serve in Vietnam, and has this to say about such a claim:



I think Mr. Simmons summed this up beautifully. And, the additional insult of Blumenthal appearing at a VFW post did not pass Simmons by. Blumnthal had no right to be there, and compounded his infraction by choosing that locale.

Why can Mr. Blumenthal not just admit he lied?? He DOES owe an apology to those who did serve in country. Moreover, he owes an apology for taking the victim stance he is claiming now. It is unbecoming of someone of his stature, and someone who is a Marine (once a Marine, always a Marine).

Perhaps Mr. Blumenthal has forgotten the motto, Semper fidelis:
Semper Fidelis distinguishes the Marine Corps bond from any other. It goes beyond teamwork – it is a brotherhood and lasts for life.

Latin for "always faithful," Semper Fidelis became the Marine Corps motto in 1883. It guides Marines to remain faithful to the mission at hand, to each other, to the Corps and to country, no matter what.

Becoming a Marine is a transformation that cannot be undone, and Semper Fi reminds us of that. Once made, a Marine will forever live by the ethics and values of the Corps.

I think that says it all, don't you?

4 comments:

SFIndie said...

Blumenthal owes an apology to every Vietnam veteran, living and dead, and the family members of every Vietnam veteran, for his lies. I had friends who served in Vietnam, and there is no mistaking having served IN Vietnam versus being a Vietnam-era veteran.

My ex-husband was in the Navy 1968 - 1972, stationed in Hawaii (where I met him in 1971). He did not serve in Vietnam; he was part of the Westpac fleet and he was deployed to the Philippines. Neither he nor his shipmates EVER claimed to have served IN Vietnam. They were Vietnam-era vets serving with the Naval Westpac fleet.

It is unconscionable that Blumenthal has allowed this lie to continue for as long as it has. It's no longer a "mis-speak", not after all these years.

I think his career is over. And it should be!

Mary Ellen said...

Blumenthal's military supporter who came on stage with him, is a liar--just like Blumenthal. William Joseph Trumpower was called by Blumenthal to help him to "straighten out his "misspoken statements", and it turns out that Trumpower is just as big a liar as Blumenthal!

POW Network.org had this to say:

WILLIAM JOSEPH TRUMPOWER
aka Elliott Storm
* CLAIMING BRONZE STAR w/VALOR device.
* Claims 2nd Lt, Claims
* Wears 3 Purple Hearts, 2 Bronze Stars w/V.
The jacket in EARLIER pictures boasted 8 ribbons.
This NEW pic has more and includes V device on Bronze Star and 2nd Lt bars..
* Claims he worked with Ollie North.

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

SF, absolutely he does. My uncle was never the same after going to Vietnam. Watching your friend get blown up in front of you can do that to a person. So Blumenthal hasn't the FOGGIEST what these people actually went through. This was a war unlike any other up to that time. It was true jungle warfare, and a desk in the US wasn't anywhere CLOSE to that.

Thanks for the info, too, abt your ex-husband. That is very telling indeed. But honestly, I cannot imagine anyone even MAKING the claim without having been there! Holy moley.

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

ME, thank you for the additional info abt Blumenthal's supporter. Do these people ever know when the hell to stop?? Apparently not. He lies, then he brings on a liar to lie for him. WTF??

These people are just out of control. Then again, Obama lied through his teeth abt almost EVERYTHING, and he's now the president, so there's that...