Saul Friedman: There We Go Again
Posted at 1:32 pm, November 2nd, 2006
It didn’t take long for the conventional wise guys of the media to jump on Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) for speaking the truth, however awkwardly. But the media types didn’t bother looking where they were jumping.
Kerry, addressing a crowd of students, told them something they very well understand: “Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”
He said later he was aiming a barb at George Bush. But the Washington Post media column immediately bought the White House line that Kerry had disparaged the American troops. The Media column head was, “There He Goes Again,” echoing Ronald Reagan’s famous, but empty, line that killed Jimmy Carter in a debate. And the lead: “Will John Kerry do for the 2006 campaign what he did for the 2004 edition?”
The column seemed to hope for exactly that and found a covey of fluttering news colleagues and talking heads who also saw Kerry’s remark for more than it was. And, of course, the straight accounts told both sides of the story, leading with either Kerry’s apology or the non-veteran Bush unctuously defending his dying troops.
But does anyone remember the kind of kids recruited out of high school by the Marines for this war as depicted in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911? A search of Google found a 2004 study showing that more 20-year-olds have died in Iraq than any other age group; surely they had little chance to go to college. Other studies say the average age for those killed in Iraq is 27, relatively old, because many were in the National Guard to make a little extra money. As in Vietnam, about 13 percent were black. I think they would rather be in a classroom.
Finally, my colleagues might have pointed out that most of the men and women in this administration and Congress who sent these young people to their deaths, from Vice-President Cheney on down, used educational deferments to stay out of harm’s way.
November 3rd, 2006 at 1:06 am |
Saul Friedman ALWAYS speaks the truth and so did John Kerry. That “the truth hurts” isn’t just a saying; it does hurt. Staying in school worked for Bush and Cheney way back when and no one has the nerve to say so except Mr. Friedman. I, for one, am not angry with Senator Kerry. The president could learn something about honesty from him. This war has a nebulous enemy which our brave soldiers cannot win. We can no more win a ‘war on terrorism’ than we could win a ‘war on communism’ in Vietnam years ago. Mr. Friedman, you keep on saying in your eloquent way what many in the press don’t: This president has no clear definition of what victory really is and that misleads us every day our military is there.
November 5th, 2006 at 11:39 am |
To Mr Saul Friedman:
I totally agree with your opinions and comments about Bush et al but you have one minor error saying the Bush is a “non-veteran”. I believe he was in National Guard as many guys did then to avoid Vietnam but didnt finish his last year somehow getting an “excusal” or something – he seems to be a “veteran” of sorts. Will he get veteran benefits? His terms as president probably will override those and drawf them anyway.
One group seems to have investigated his “record” – They keep track of people who get medals and ribbons under false pretenses or give phoney military references. They established this website: http://www.awolbush.com. It backs up details of Bush’s “military record” that Karl Rove and company didnt want revealed, made sure was “lost”, concealed and wants everyone to forget. Page up couple times and click on links to see the extensive documentation they collected from officers who served with him.
I served in USN WAVES ’63-’66 and remember quite well how many guys were joining National Guard to circumvent being drafted, or going to Canada. It was stateside duty! and they all knew it and used it! Remember Quayle?
It’s extremely upsetting that Bush with less stellar military record continues to attack honorable purple heart winner Senator John Kerry at any chance.
Possibly you need to edit your “non-veteran” wording just for accuracy.