Why I think the AWOL issue is a HUGE issue

[diamond14]

bush* went AWOL from the Texas National Guard during time of war....
bush* covered this up, refusing to release his military records, and because of his wealth and connections, was able to continue his life as though he was some kind of American patriot, rather than a 'deserter to the United States of America in time of war".....


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TODAY, bush* has ordered up the National Guard during time of war, and he has 'drafted' them, against their contracts, and terms of duty...forcing them to REMAIN in the National Guard on 'stop' orders for years...they cannot leave and rejoin their families...many of those being blown to pieces everyday are National Guard...

many of OUR drafted National Guard have suffered horribly...they had to leave their jobs to serve, making much much lower wages... without jobs to return to, their homes repoed, their wives divorce them...they are not well-trained like active duty and their equipment is second-rate cast-offs from the real military....how would like NOT to see your young child or newborn for MORE THAN A YEAR?

those who have left or refused to return to bush*s unjust war, have been dealt with severely by bush*, which is sickeningly hypocritical and calloused....

many will view the bush* desertion in the context of their own National Guard service TODAY, which bush* is commanding and cooked up as his very own failed policy....the horror that shrub has brutally imposed on TODAY's National Guard is coming back to haunt him...a blast-from-the-past whose time has come, to seek justice from a "deserter to the United States of America in time of war"... and IMO, bush* deserves it and we have an obligation to 'bring 'em on"...the time has come...

[jmaier]

1. Not to mention that he is invoking

stop loss provisions to keep people from ending their normal periods of enlistment to feed his war machine. It was fine for him to skip out without finishing his obligation but today's soldier is help captive in active duty against their will!

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. And if John Kerry or Wes Clark are the nomminees then we....

can make an issue out of it. If Dean is then forget it. He said that he did not want to go to war, got a deferment, and then went skiing.

[Jerseycoa]

10. Kerry has already said he won't nt

[AntiCoup2K4]

11. Medical deferments are completely legal. Desertion is a crime.

So there's absolutely no reason why Dean couldn't mention it. Junior "volunteered" for National Guard duty, and then he walked away for over a year. Even Mush Limpdick with his ass pimple deferment would have every reason to call Junior out on this crime (not that he would, of course.)

[Kathy in Cambridge]

3. Thank you for posting this

there are many newbie naysayers that are poo-pooing this issue. Thanks for posting an opposing view!

[BeatleBoot]

4. Bush Never Had to Work a Day In His Life

I'd call that a sissy.

I don't vote for sissies.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. Right on.

Guard deployments are very "of the moment" and on topic.

[genius]

6. Yes and the only one who can't mention it is Dean

Because he got a back excuse and then went off to ski.

[Shanty Oilish]

7. Good luck nailing the C in C on military attendance

That slate was washed white long ago. Probably in 41's day. Otherwise it would have been headlines 3 years ago.
IMO it's an issue that can only backfire on us.

[diamond14]

13. three years ago, bush* wasn't trying to win TWO wars on the backs

of the National Guard...the same military units that he deserted in time of war.....

three years ago, National Guard guys were just week-end warriers having boy scout fun in woods, using cast off military stuff....just the guys getting together for a little fun....BIG heros in their communities when floods, heavy snows, and other natural events occurred....it was a great way to add a little money to the household income....


TODAY, bush* decided to 'draft' the National Guard to shoulder the burden of his first TWO wars....we didn't have any National Guard left in Virginia during our last hurricane and heavy rains...

it is bush* who has put this HEAVY BURDEN directly on the National Guard, due to his very own failed policies and planning....TODAY, thousands of OUR National Guard have been permanently injured, arms, legs, eyes, hearing totally destroyed....hundreds more are DEAD....

this is all bush*'s fault...and that is the context TODAY, in which bush* must answer for his own failures to serve, and his desertion from the United States military in time of war....it bodes ill for the deserter...it was so much easier to blow it off three years ago, when National Guard was pretty low profile stuff...but today, it will NOT be easy to blow off his desertion from the NG....

[calimary]

8. If it's not a huge issue now, it better start becoming one.

I was talking to a fellow political observer this evening at the karate school, and she says it's a big deal with all her friends (many of whom happen to be big Clark supporters). We NEED to bring this up again and again and again. He has NEVER fully answered or explained it. And he may well have to face one of two guys who actually went out and bled on a battlefield while his pansy-ass was hiding out on champagne-and-powder-puffs duty.

[Jerseycoa]

9. Another interesting discussion and related

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=175405

[HuckleB]

12. Every issue is huge. We can't let any chance go by.

This is why Kerry's reluctance to nail Bush today is so disheartening.

[Metrix]

14. Calling Bush on this is better left to others

Kerry deftly deflected the trap Novak set for him with the question and said instead that after his generation got back from Viet Nam they avoided making an issue of the choices made by others.

[Terwilliger]

15. so now no one can make an issue of it

ya might as well skip over the issue...because the media won't cover it on their own, which means the American people won't know about it

[Metrix]

16. Somebody like Bob Kerrey can get air time and talk about it endlessly

That is an example of what I mean.