Vice President Dick Cheney recently attacked my 1972 presidential platform and contended that today's Democratic Party has reverted to the views I advocated in 1972. In a sense, this is a compliment, both to me and the Democratic Party. Cheney intended no such compliment. Instead, he twisted my views and those of my party beyond recognition. The city where the vice president spoke, Chicago, is sometimes dubbed "the Windy City." Cheney converted the chilly wind of Chicago into hot air. [...]
He also said that the McGovern way is to surrender in Iraq and leave the U.S. exposed to new dangers. The truth is that I oppose the Iraq war, just as I opposed the Vietnam War, because these two conflicts have weakened the U.S. and diminished our standing in the world and our national security.
In the war of my youth, World War II, I volunteered for military service at the age of 19 and flew 35 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross as the pilot of a B-24 bomber. By contrast, in the war of his youth, the Vietnam War, Cheney got five deferments and has never seen a day of combat — a record matched by President Bush. [...]
On one point I do agree with Cheney: Today's Democrats are taking positions on the Iraq war similar to the views I held toward the Vietnam War. But that is all to the good. [...]
We, of course, already know that when Cheney endorses a war, he exempts himself from participation. On second thought, maybe it's wise to keep Cheney off the battlefield — he might end up shooting his comrades rather than the enemy.
On a more serious note, instead of listening to the foolishness of the neoconservative ideologues, the Cheney-Bush team might better heed the words of a real conservative, Edmund Burke: "A conscientious man would be cautious how he dealt in blood."
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Cheney Smacked Down by 85-Year Old Man
McGovern responds to Cheney. OUCH...
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THE VEEP'S DEFERRAL(S)
ReplyDeleteSave such as can´t because interments
Or injuries insuperable,
They must return unto the hell
Of war without deferments,
Our soldiers fighting in Iraq,
Afghanistan, despite perhaps
Having been twice or thrice, while gaps
Threaten: civilicans squawk
Indignant when the talk alludes
To raising of a mandatory
Drafting, aware it is not glory
To serve. Wars are not feuds.
Still, that ought have been preconsidered
When making the intial choice
To send abroad our gals and boys.
The burden must be shouldered.
A country has to pay the price
In moral terms, and practical,
For consequences tactical
Occur which are not nice.
So now they threaten "World War III,"
The plutocrats in charge: well, that´s
All fine and good for plutocrats,
Not so for you and me.
Meanwhile the value of our native
Currency (called the dollar) sank
As to the bottom of the tank
With never means creative
So to retrieve it to the surface--
So war is known historically
As bad for the economy:
So citizens grow nervous.
The war is funded both by debt
To China and our children here,
While benefits might come not near
Each wounded future vet.
Therefore when the conscription call
Is broadcast, children have to do
Their sacrificial duty too
Nor let conniption fall;
However, while they risk their limbs,
Their lives, and we our precious loves,
Still it must be, as with kid gloves
Discussed with her or him:
Nor kindly mention as they gird
Themselves as cannon-fodder trainees
The irony of Veep Dick Cheney´s
Service five-times deferred.
(When asked to serve in Vietnam
Dick answered with annoyed aplomb:
"War might disturb my coiffured curl
And my career--I´ll take deferral!")