BY DAN
KENNEDY
Notes and observations on
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See the World Through My Daughter's Eyes (Rodale, October 2003),
click
here.
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
The sliming of Max Cleland,
cont'd. As I noted
on Sunday, alleged funnyman Mark Steyn has been channeling Ann
Coulter in order to cast aspersions on the war record of triple
amputee Max Cleland. You can't make this stuff up! I've gone back and
read Coulter's original attack piece. Read the
whole thing, but here is a
particularly sickening highlight:
Moreover, if we're going
to start delving into exactly who did what back then, maybe Max
Cleland should stop allowing Democrats to portray him as a war
hero who lost his limbs taking enemy fire on the battlefields of
Vietnam.
Cleland lost three limbs in an
accident during a routine noncombat mission where he was about to
drink beer with friends. He saw a grenade on the ground and picked
it up. He could have done that at Fort Dix. In fact, Cleland could
have dropped a grenade on his foot as a National Guardsman - or what Cleland sneeringly calls "weekend warriors."
Luckily for Cleland's political career and current pomposity about
Bush, he happened to do it while in Vietnam.
My first impulse was that Coulter
had probably stopped sharpening her fangs just long enough to do some
homework, and that her characterization of Cleland's service was
factually accurate, though repulsive. After all, accidents happen in
war zones, and it scarcely matters whether Cleland was injured in
combat or in training - even if he was (cover the children's eyes)
preparing to drink beer!
But as Lily Tomlin once said, "No
matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up." Because
Media Log reader G.W. has sent along a link showing that Coulter
didn't even come close to getting her facts straight. Not only did
she describe the accident incorrectly, she missed perhaps the most
pertinent fact of Cleland's service in Vietnam.
G.W. pointed me to the Progress
Report, which exposed
Coulter's lies on Friday.
Some highlights:
But as the 8/1/99 Esquire
Magazine notes, Cleland lost two legs and an arm in Vietnam when a
grenade accidentally detonated after he and another soldier jumped
off a helicopter in a combat zone.
...
Coulter said people "should stop
allowing [Cleland to be] portrayed as a war hero" -
despite the fact that, in a separate incident four days before he
lost three limbs, Cleland won a Silver Star - one of the highest
honors for combat courage the U.S. military gives out. The
congressional citation which came with the medal specifically said
that during a "heavy enemy rocket and mortar attack Captain
Cleland, disregarding his own safety, exposed himself to the
rocket barrage as he left his covered position to administer first
aid to his wounded comrades. He then assisted in moving the
injured personnel to covered positions." The citation concluded,
"Cleland's gallant action is in keeping with the highest
traditions of the military service, and reflects great credit upon
himself, his unit and the United States Army."
The right wing is in full panic
mode. Look at what's happened during the past week: the phony
Drudge
rumor about John Kerry's having an extramarital affair (not that
Media Log much cares if he did); the phony
photo of Kerry and Jane
Fonda standing together at an antiwar rally; the doctoring
of quotes from Kerry's
testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 to
make it look like he was accusing US soldiers of committing
atrocities in Vietnam, when in fact he was repeating what soldiers
who had actually committed such atrocities had testified to
earlier.
Words fail me, except to say that
this is sickening, horrifying stuff. Kerry's got to do everything he
can to make sure they don't get away with it.
Have a biscuit, Sam! From
today's
Boston Globe:
"Mr. President, we have to
keep this tax cut," said Sam Leto, board chairman for Tampa Brass
and Aluminum Corp.
"Thank you, sir," Bush said. "I
agree. Good job, Sam."
posted at 9:30 AM |
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MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
