Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he “misspoke” when he said, more than once, that he was in Viet Nam. First of all, you can’t “mis-speak” more than once before it becomes, “told a lie.” Second, he didn’t even come close. He joined the USMC Reserves in 1970. The Reserves? There was a war going on; what the hell was he doing in the Reserves? Third, lying like this is an insult to every troop who did serve in Viet Nam.
Here’s how he squirms out of it: “On a few occasions, I have misspoken about my service and I regret that. And I take full responibility. But I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country.”
I’d be happy to impugn his so-called record of service. Happy to drag it through some rice paddies, make it the centerpiece of a Zippo party, tell him Hamburger Hill was not not a new place to have lunch, show him how to make instant coffee with a chunk of C-4, and have my medic tell him how to treat a sucking chest wound.
In 1970, if you joined the Reserves, you were trying to keep your ass out of a combat zone. I don’t really care about that. But when phonies like George W. and Blumenthal lie about their reasons for joining, or their experience, well, that disappoints me.
One of the biggest phoney-baloneys was Cheney, who waggled deferment after deferement. The process was known as draft dodging. On the news, I once saw Cheney having lunch with troops returning from the Middle East. He made me sick.
