b,121Mark, do you know anything about his personal history? Anything at all?
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b,121yes quite a bit, do you?
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b,121You are no doubt aware, then, that his military career amounted to a series of screw-ups for which he was able to avoid accountibility only by drawing upon his family's name and connections. You are also no doubt aware that he received a series of ever more prestigious appointments within the military for which he was wholly unqualified, again solely by virtue of drawing upon his family connections. And I am sure you know that when he was captured he volunteered information and the fact that he was an admiral's son in order to secure better treatment. We should not condemn him for that, as I believe it is exactly how most of us would react under his circumstances, but we should also not elevate him to the status of a hero, as it is not mere survival of adversity that qualifies one as a hero. It is, instead, the way in which one reacts under those adverse circumstances and the men who followed military protocol and did not divulge information are the real heroes. You are aware that, upon his release, he became a willing pawn in the adminsitration's perpetuation of a failed war. I am sure you know that upon his return to the U.S., he became romantically involved with a woman eighteen years his junior while still married to the woman who had stood by him when he was a POW. You also probably know that he married that younger woman within mere weeks of his divorce from his first wife and then used her father's money to fund a campaign for congress. And I imagine that you could not have avoided awareness of the fact that once there he abused his position in unprecedented ways (Google "Keating Five" if not).
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b,121Personally, I care very little about most of this, but since he has made his purported heroism and character the center of his campaign and since you seem to be convinced by it, I feel obligated to point it out.
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font class="post"1b,121b,121b,121thanks for the summation of his life!b,121b,121object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1
b,121that's's bait best not taken, IMO; asking that question makes the implication that "we" didn't "win" in Vietnam, and few things get old conservatives and veterans as riled up as that (accurate, if you ask me) suggestion.
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font class="post"1b,121b,121Really?b,121b,121I was not aware that there was anyone who thought that the U.S. "won" in Vietnam; in fact, the defeat informed our foreign policy for the next three decades.
b,121that's's bait best not taken, IMO; asking that question makes the implication that "we" didn't "win" in Vietnam, and few things get old conservatives and veterans as riled up as that (accurate, if you ask me) suggestion.
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b,121Really?
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b,121I was not aware that there was anyone who thought that the U.S. "won" in Vietnam; in fact, the defeat informed our foreign policy for the next three decades.
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font class="post"1b,121b,121Naw dude, you forgot, John Rambo went back and won the war.
b,121that's's bait best not taken, IMO; asking that question makes the implication that "we" didn't "win" in Vietnam, and few things get old conservatives and veterans as riled up as that (accurate, if you ask me) suggestion.
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b,121Really?
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b,121I was not aware that there was anyone who thought that the U.S. "won" in Vietnam; in fact, the defeat informed our foreign policy for the next three decades.
b,121This is a bit much, and you sound as if you're invested in a fantasy of McCain that his actual history cannot support.
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font class="post"1b,121b,121I get a bit flowery late at night, I suppose. But I won't take a word back; I strive for an objective viewpoint at all times. Agnosticism and fair-mindedness ought to go hand-in-glove.
b,121that's's bait best not taken, IMO; asking that question makes the implication that "we" didn't "win" in Vietnam, and few things get old conservatives and veterans as riled up as that (accurate, if you ask me) suggestion.
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b,121Really?
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b,121I was not aware that there was anyone who thought that the U.S. "won" in Vietnam; in fact, the defeat informed our foreign policy for the next three decades.
font class="post"1b,121b,121The point I think is if you are running for president you never say anything less than America is the greatest there ever was.b,121b,121Good: We have the most productive workers.b,121Bad: Workers in the rest of the modern world get 4-6 weeks of vacation a year.b,121b,121Good: We have the best health care system in the world.b,121Bad: We rank 43rd in infant mortality and 27th life expectancy.b,121b,121Good: I know how to win wars.b,121Bad: I fought in the only war the US did not win.
b,121that's's bait best not taken, IMO; asking that question makes the implication that "we" didn't "win" in Vietnam, and few things get old conservatives and veterans as riled up as that (accurate, if you ask me) suggestion.
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b,121Really?
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b,121I was not aware that there was anyone who thought that the U.S. "won" in Vietnam; in fact, the defeat informed our foreign policy for the next three decades.
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font class="post"1b,121b,121I agree with you and I think most honest thinking people do, but as others have suggested, the above was my attempt to point out what can and can't be said about Vietnam by political candidates while campaigning.
b,121that's's bait best not taken, IMO; asking that question makes the implication that "we" didn't "win" in Vietnam, and few things get old conservatives and veterans as riled up as that (accurate, if you ask me) suggestion.
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b,121Really?
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b,121I was not aware that there was anyone who thought that the U.S. "won" in Vietnam; in fact, the defeat informed our foreign policy for the next three decades.
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font class="post"1b,121b,121There are a large number of people who argue that the U.S. was actually winning the Vietnam war after westmoreland was replaced, but that the media and Washington D.C. sold out the military and led to defeat, otherwise the U.S. would've ended up winning.
b,121that's's bait best not taken, IMO; asking that question makes the implication that "we" didn't "win" in Vietnam, and few things get old conservatives and veterans as riled up as that (accurate, if you ask me) suggestion.
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b,121Really?
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b,121I was not aware that there was anyone who thought that the U.S. "won" in Vietnam; in fact, the defeat informed our foreign policy for the next three decades.
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b,121There are a large number of people who argue that the U.S. was actually winning the Vietnam war after westmoreland was replaced, but that the media and Washington D.C. sold out the military and led to defeat, otherwise the U.S. would've ended up winning.
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font class="post"1b,121b,121b,121Then - like they've done with many words - they have warped the meaning of "winning".
font class="post"1b,121b,121So I was just checking 538. Obama did 5 rallies in Dayton, Cincinnati, Portsmouth, Chillicothe, and Columbus today. The one 538 was at he talked for 45 minutes, almost all of it specifically on the economy. b,121b,121The article aboves says McCain is doing 1 (one!) rally a day. Palin, according to 538, did 2 today. b,121b,121Mister National TV Journalist is complaining that the Obama campaign is not as well run as the McCain campaign because the Obama people don't give the press schedule booklets, and the press section of the plane isn't as clean. b,121b,121How about rating the campaigns based on which candidate is talking to more voters, doing more events, producing more detailed policy, spending more time with local media?
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