It's Pretty Clear: America Will Never Again Elect A War Hero As President

[stopbush]

For all the lip service paid to our veterans,I find it it odd that real live war heroes/vets fare so poorly when running for president these days. Let's look at the past 30 years:

Richard Nixon (Navy, WWII - Pacific Theatre) beats George McGovern (WWII pilot). OK, that one's a draw.

Jimmy Carter (Navy) loses to pretend war hero Ronald Reagan

Walter Mondale (Army) loses to pretend war hero Reagan

GHW Bush (real live WWII flyer - ditched his plane and left his crew to drown) beats Michael Dukakis (drafted into Army - served 2 years)

Bill Clinton (supposed draft dodger) beats GHW Bush (WWII hero)

Bill Clinton beats Bob Dole (WWII vet, hero, severely wounded)

GW Bush (draft dodger, AWOL) beats John McCain (Vietnam Vet, POW) in 2000 primaries

GW Bush beats Al Gore (Vietnam vet - reporter for 6 months) in pres race

John Kerry (Vietnam vet, slew of medals) loses to confirmed draft-dodging-elite-class-AWOL-liar GW Bush in 2004.

So why in the hell do we think we need a war hero vet as a candidate?

[Worst Username Ever]

1. Kennedy was a war hero PT 109

On edit, GHWB did not have a crew, he ditched his plane wich was a fighter, one-seater. He was picked up by a submarine. He was also the single youngest pilot in WW2, at age 16. I hate him, but he qualifies as a war hero.

[stopbush]

5. Well, there's this from Rense(maybe this is GHWB's version of a SBV coming

after his service record?)

George Bush Sr Is No
WWII Hero
By John S. McDonald
1-1-04


I am an 82 year old Navy pilot and I am outraged at television's depiction of George Bush Sr.'s Pacific experiences. Now, I hear a book is forthcoming - Unbelievable!!

I was in the Pacific at the same time as Bush and flew the same Avenger airplane. A small room in the rear of the Avenger was occupied by the radioman. The gunner went through the room to get up to his turret. Both wore a harness to which a chest type parachute could be attached - The gunner had to come down out of the turret to put on his chute.

Bush said he was hit by anti-aircraft fire and the plane caught fire. Bush's squadron was primarily used for patrol and saw very little combat. Bush claimed he warned the crew, over the intercom, to get out - got no answer and he could not yell back because of the armor plate behind him.

He decided they were dead, so he bailed out. First, he failed to say he switched his mike from radio to intercom. Then being blocked by the armor is a bold faced lie! There was a sizable gap on either side of the armor. I used this space to call to my crew several times.

The tough old Avenger simply did not catch fire!! It had self sealing gas tanks. In six months of operations, I never saw an Avenger catch fire. If the oil or hydraulic systems were damaged, great clouds of white smoke would stream out of the planhe. I have no idea how many times i saw planes returning to their carriers trailing smoke but never a fire.

What really happened? It was the pilots job to hold the plane level and slow it down so the crew could get out. Most certainly, the radioman was helping the gunner with his chute when Bush panicked and left the plane. Then the plane rolled into a dive giving the crew no chance. This story went through the fleet and all the Avenger pilots i knew were shocked at what they heard. I heard speculation of a Courts-Martial.

Bush was very young. By his own admission, he reacted under stress. It is terrifying to have the cockpit fill with smoke. Possibly, he can be excused for reacting to fear and accepting it as another war time tragedy - but he has been glorified on the History channel, a book is being published, and worst of all, an aircraft carrier is to be named for him. This is unbelievable!! Bush performed badly and was certainly no hero.

John S. McDonald
http://www.rense.com/general47/hero.htm

[Worst Username Ever]

6. Wow! I never heard that version.

It could be I have my facts wrong (its happened before!)

[robbedvoter]

2. Rather: America will never elect a president.

You vote - they decide.

Famous last words:
"I have no time for those crying in your teacups for stolen elections"
John Kerry, campaign trail 2003

[Individualist]

3. Suggest you change your subject title

to "never again elect...". Ever heard of a man named Eisenhower?

[stopbush]

4. Done. We had plenty of battle-scarred presidents early in our history

as well.

[RobinA]

7. Looking At Your List

I'm thinking that it's better to LOOK like a war hero than actually be one. RR was more "war hero-like" in the movie sense than Mondale or Carter. Bob Dole is too old to really be a war hero (aren't they always young?) and everybody pretty much sensed he probably needed Viagra while you'd never think that about Clinton. Similarly, GHWB never seemd like a war hero, too darn old. Bush Jr. swaggers around the deck of an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, just like a war hero, while Kerry protested the war like a girly man or Frenchman. What kind of man doesn't like war? This is one reason Kerry's war record got short shrift and he doesn't get credit for it. He doesn't SEEM like he was in a war, so he must not have been. Kerry may BE a war hero, but Bush ACTS like one. Big difference, that. Better to play one on TV than in the jungle.

[Bill66]

8. View of a VietNam vet

On the subject of war service and appearances, I believe the Kerry campaign made two big mistakes. The first is assuming he would receive the vets vote due to his service. Had it not been for the Swift Boat vets this might have happened. The mistake was in answering the claims of the Swift Boat Vets with nothing more than to say they are Republican operatives and are lying. After speaking with many other vets, Senator Kerry's failure to release his military records to answer the claims led them to believe he had something to hide.

Second was his testimony before the Senate. This might be more contentious than the first. Most VietNam, Korean, & WWII vets believe that Kerry slammed the troops to further his political career. Even for me this was a difficult point to get past. So you can imagine the effect it had on those of a conservative or undecided outlook. This issue was never addressed during the campaign.

If you consider that there are ~ 2 1/2 million VietNam vets, then add in their families and friends that could be influenced, this bloc might have made the difference.

Just my thoughts!

Bill