[Rep]

Greetings

I have had the honor of meeting Max Cleland. A true American patriot that lost both of his legs and an arm in Vietnam.

Tonight he introduced presidential candidate John Kerry to the nation.

Senator Cleland lost his U.S. Senate reelection race in 2002.

Apparently he was not patriotic enough for Karl Rove and President Bush.

It was a campaign that most people might consider dirty with many last minute attack ads.

I am interested in some information on that race. Maybe somebody could help me out.

I am looking for examples of the attack ads that were used against Max Cleland. I may link them from my own website.

Anybody interested in doing a bit of research? I would appreciate if you could post the links here. I will stop in and pick them up.

Thanks
WI State Representative
Rep

[angelize56]

Does this help at all Rep?? Take care! angelize Live at Five

Joe Conason
The New York Observer
02.18.04

Vile Ann Coulter smears a war hero
Once you've accused half the country of treason, even Max Cleland is fair game

Finding the bottom of American politics these days is as easy as looking up the latest column by Ann Coulter. In fact, it’s the same thing. Her act may be wearing thin now that she has accused half of the population of treason, but don’t underestimate the kooky commentator. Just the other day, she again managed to shock the conscience of any decent citizen who happened to read her latest screed.

Her current target is Max Cleland, the former United States Senator who left three limbs in Vietnam. The courageous Mr. Cleland prevailed over his terrible injury, and the depression that followed; he was appointed Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Clinton administration and then elected to the Senate from his home state of Georgia.

But Ms. Coulter considers him deserving of scorn and denigration -- and lies about his service, despite his sacrifice -- for one reason alone: Mr. Cleland is a Democrat who dares to speak out against the President.

There was a time when Republicans were the first to defend veterans and the last to attack anyone who had served, regardless of partisan affiliation. That tradition is dead, however, in part because so many of the party’s extremist leaders, who talk loudly about war, managed to avoid military service when their time came. George W. Bush, of course, served far from Vietnam in the Texas Air National Guard’s "champagne unit" at Ellington Air Force Base, apparently thanks to the intervention of his father’s powerful friends.

Now the Democrats seem likely to nominate John F. Kerry, the Massachusetts Senator who fought in Vietnam and came home bearing wounds and decorations.

Conservatives already have begun to denigrate Mr. Kerry because he joined the antiwar movement when he returned. (The current Republican leadership had their own quiet little antiwar movement: They simply declined to fight, although they thought the war was being fought to save us from godless Chinese communism.)

Inevitably, Mr. Kerry’s war record will be compared with that of the man who calls himself the "war President." By publicly demanding answers about Mr. Bush’s spotty Guard record, Mr. Cleland attracted the malignant attention of Ms. Coulter.

"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," she writes, claiming that he "lost three limbs in an accident during a routine non-combat 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. ... Luckily for Cleland’s political career and current pomposity about Bush, he happened to do it while in Vietnam."

Denigrating Mr. Cleland became fashionable in Republican circles in the fall of 2002, when his opponents ran television commercials that flashed his face on the screen with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. That ad offended The Gainesville Times, a daily newspaper in northeast Georgia, which called it misleading, offensive and "an irresponsible and repugnant attack on Cleland’s character and sense of patriotism."

But that repugnant ad helped Saxby Chambliss -- a pompous hack who had obtained several draft deferments -- win the Senate race against Mr. Cleland. According to the Coulter definition, that made the ad "patriotic."

What, then, is the truth about Mr. Cleland? On June 9, 1968, the U.S. Army awarded Capt. Max Cleland a Silver Star "for gallantry in action" at the battle of Khe Sanh, one of the war’s fiercest firefights.

According to the citation, he "distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous action. ... When the battalion command post came under a heavy enemy rocket and mortar attack, Capt. 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. Continuing to expose himself, Capt. Cleland organized his men into a work party to repair the battalion communications equipment which had been damaged by enemy fire. His 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 25-year-old captain had volunteered to help relieve the Marines and the Army’s First Cavalry Division trapped at Khe Sanh. The cited action took place four days before the explosion that ripped off both his legs and an arm. The accident occurred while he was disembarking from a transport helicopter, when he reached for a grenade that he thought had dropped from his gear. It had actually been dropped by a new infantryman who had "improperly prepared the grenade pin for easy detonation."

Yes, Mr. Cleland is a true hero. And those who would mock him don’t know what patriotism means.

http://www.workingforchange.com/arti...m?ItemID=16458

[angelize56]

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunh...al/8052847.htm

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0306-04.htm

http://www.barnstablepatriot.com/04-...s/OP-Left.html

[angelize56]

Thursday, July 08, 2004

Quick and Dirty: a notebook of news and politics
Betrayed senator backs veterans for Kerry

Max Cleland is not a radical. As a Democratic senator from the traditionally conservative state of Georgia, he broke ranks with party liberals and voted in favor of President Bush's tax cut. A decorated Vietnam veteran who lost both legs and his right hand to a Viet Cong grenade in 1968, Cleland also supported Bush's war in Iraq.

Yet as Rep. Shelley Berkley noted Friday during a meeting of the Nevada Veterans for John Kerry at the Cambridge Community Center, Cleland fell victim to an "unforgivable" GOP smear campaign when he came up for re-election in 2002. Characterized as soft on terror because he refused to back Bush's homeland security legislation in its entirety, Cleland was soundly defeated by his Republican opponent, Rep. Saxby Chambliss, after Chambliss--who opted out of Vietnam with a bad knee--ran a series of television commercials linking Cleland with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

But Cleland didn't take it lying down. He came out fighting, rallying behind Kerry and cementing himself as the stubborn cornerstone of the nationwide Veterans for Kerry movement. In Las Vegas on Kerry's behalf, Cleland said he has already signed up 100,000 veterans for Kerry, and he set a goal of 1 million by the November election.

"We're in deep trouble," Cleland said after receiving a standing ovation from those in attendance. "This crowd in Washington has crossed so many lines and broken through so many barriers that it's beginning to scare people. For the first time, the American people are deeply concerned about the future direction of this country."

Cleland went on during a 25-minute presentation to quote former White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke ("Invading Iraq after 9/11 made as much sense as invading Mexico after Pearl Harbor") and to cite Bush's plan to cut $1 billion from the Department of Veterans Affairs health care budget in fiscal year 2006. Cleland also took issue with the right's attempt to discredit Kerry's military record.

"I didn't see Ann Coulter out there," he said. "I didn't see Rush Limbaugh. I didn't see Dick Cheney. God knows, the man got five deferments. I didn't see these people out there, yet they're so willing to turn on their Republican slime machine to criticize John Kerry. They turned it on against John McCain in 2000. They turned it on against me in 2002. Don't let them do that to John Kerry in 2004."

Afterward, Johnathan Abbinett--a U.S. Army veteran, activist and co-coordinator of the Nevada Veterans for Kerry movement--echoed Cleland's sentiments. "I was a Republican up until about six weeks ago," Abbinett said. "Bush has betrayed veterans. He is not worthy of my loyalty. For 22 years, I couldn't say such things under the uniform code of military justice. But I'm a free citizen, and I will tell you honestly that I cannot support this president. He's a cowboy, and he's getting young people killed every day."

Even those with no military background who attended the meeting were swayed by Cleland's passion. "I don't consider myself a political person," said 59-year-old Deborah Branch. "But I do believe that there's a certain way that people should be treated, and I am quite certain that these men were not treated right."--Newt Briggs

http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2004/.../24219980.html

[plschwartz]

This lady must live in alabama and this is the only fun she can have. I understand that she only can use metal mirrors as glass ones always break when she loks into them


QUICK LINKS: HOME | NEWS | OPINION | RIGHTPAGES | CHAT | WHAT'S NEW

townhall.com

Cleland drops a political grenade
Ann Coulter (back to web version) | email to a friend Send

February 12, 2004

Former Sen. Max Cleland is the Democrats' designated hysteric about George Bush's National Guard service. A triple amputee and Vietnam veteran, Cleland is making the rounds on talk TV, basking in the affection of liberals who have suddenly become jock-sniffers for war veterans and working himself into a lather about President Bush's military service. Citing such renowned military experts as Molly Ivins, Cleland indignantly demands further investigation into Bush's service with the Texas Air National Guard.

Bush's National Guard service is the most thoroughly investigated event since the Kennedy assassination. But the Democrats will accept only two possible conclusions to their baseless accusations: (1) Bush was "AWOL," or (2) the matter needs further investigation.

Thirty years ago, Bush was granted an honorable discharge from the National Guard, which would seem to put the matter to rest. But liberals want proof that Bush actually deserved his honorable discharge. (Since when did the party of Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd get so obsessed with honor?)

On "Hardball" Monday night, Cleland demanded to see Bush's pay stubs for the disputed period of time, May 1972 to May 1973. "If he was getting paid for his weekend warrior work," Cleland said, "he should have some pay stubs to show it."

The next day, the White House produced the pay stubs. This confirmed what has been confirmed 1 million times before: After taking the summer off, Bush reported for duty nine times between Nov. 29, 1972, and May 24, 1973 – more than enough times to fulfill his Guard duties. (And nine times more than Bill Clinton, Barney Frank or Chuck Schumer did during the same period.)

All this has been reported – with documentation – many times by many news organizations. George magazine had Bush's National Guard records 3 1/2 years ago.

All available evidence keeps confirming Bush's honorable service with the Guard, which leads liberals to conclude ... further investigation is needed! No evidence will ever be enough evidence. That Bush skipped out on his National Guard service is one of liberals' many nondisprovable beliefs, like global warming.

Cleland also expressed outrage that Bush left the National Guard nine months early in 1973 to go to Harvard Business School. On "Hardball," Cleland testily remarked: "I just know a whole lot of veterans who would have loved to have worked things out with the military and adjusted their tour of duty." (Cleland already knows one – Al Gore!)

When Bush left the National Guard in 1973 to go to business school, the war was over. It might as well have been 1986. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson had already lost the war, and President Nixon had ended it with the Paris peace accords in January. If Bush had demanded active combat, there was no war to send him to.

To put this in perspective, by 1973, John Kerry had already accused American soldiers of committing war crimes in Vietnam, thrown someone else's medals to the ground in an anti-war demonstration, and married his first heiress. Bill Clinton had just finished three years of law school and was about to embark upon a political career – which would include campaign events with Max Cleland.

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.

There is more than a whiff of dishonesty in how Cleland is presented to the American people. Terry McAuliffe goes around saying, "Max Cleland, a triple amputee who left three limbs on the battlefield of Vietnam," was thrown out of office because Republicans "had the audacity to call Max Cleland unpatriotic." Mr. Cleland, a word of advice: When a slimy weasel like Terry McAuliffe is vouching for your combat record, it's time to sound "retreat" on that subject.

Needless to say, no one ever challenged Cleland's "patriotism." His performance in the Senate was the issue, which should not have come as a bolt out of the blue inasmuch as he was running for re-election to the Senate. Sen. Cleland had refused to vote for the Homeland Security bill unless it was chock-full of pro-union perks that would have jeopardized national security. ("OH, MY GOD! A HIJACKED PLANE IS HEADED FOR THE WHITE HOUSE!" "Sorry, I'm on my break. Please call back in two hours.")

The good people of Georgia – who do not need lectures on admiring military service – gave Cleland one pass for being a Vietnam veteran. He didn't get a lifetime pass.

Indeed, if Cleland had dropped a grenade on himself at Fort Dix rather than in Vietnam, he would never have been a U.S. senator in the first place. Maybe he'd be the best pharmacist in Atlanta, but not a U.S. senator. He got into office on the basis of serving in Vietnam and was thrown out for his performance as a senator.

Cleland wore the uniform, he was in Vietnam, and he has shown courage by going on to lead a productive life. But he didn't "give his limbs for his country," or leave them "on the battlefield." There was no bravery involved in dropping a grenade on himself with no enemy troops in sight. That could have happened in the Texas National Guard – which Cleland denigrates while demanding his own sanctification.

Ann Coulter is host of AnnCoulter.org, a Townhall.com member group.

©2003 Universal Press Syndicate

Contact Ann Coulter | Read Coulter's biography

townhall.com
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[LANMaster]

Originally Posted by Rep

Greetings

I have had the honor of meeting Max Cleland. A true American patriot that lost both of his legs and an arm in Vietnam.

Tonight he introduced presidential candidate John Kerry to the nation.

Senator Cleland lost his U.S. Senate reelection race in 2002.

Apparently he was not patriotic enough for Karl Rove and President Bush.

Senate seats are now appointed by Karl Rove and the President?

It was a campaign that most people might consider dirty with many last minute attack ads.

I am interested in some information on that race. Maybe somebody could help me out.

I am looking for examples of the attack ads that were used against Max Cleland. I may link them from my own website.

Anybody interested in doing a bit of research? I would appreciate if you could post the links here. I will stop in and pick them up.

Thanks
WI State Representative
Rep

Remember the presidential campaign ad the NAACP ran in the fall of 2000 linking Texas Gov. George Bush to the dragging death of James Byrd, a black man in Texas. ????

[sligo]

Lanmaster, why is it that you or any of the Bush followers in this or other forums can't ever have the decency to admit it when your party has gone over the line.

[LANMaster]

Originally Posted by sligo

Lanmaster, why is it that you or any of the Bush followers in this or other forums can't ever have the decency to admit it when your party has gone over the line.

With the way YOUR party has treated the President of the USA over the past 3 years, I find it difficult to imagine that you wrote that question with a straight face.

[sligo]

Well first of all I am not a democrat--And second of all, why cant you rise above the fray and show some basic class.

[Infidel_Kastro]

Originally Posted by sligo

Well first of all I am not a democrat--And second of all, why cant you rise above the fray and show some basic class.

Oh no, not again:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH*sto ps to call kettle, wants to know if he wants to do lunch*HEEHEEHEHEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHE EHEEHEEHEEHE*stops to answer phone, promises to mail check to DNC under the name of Will Jablome*HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH*can't believes that Sligo wrote that*HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA HHHAHAHAHAH

[sligo]

Mr. Infidel-you seem to be self destructing!

[Pacalis]

Originally Posted by LANMaster

With the way YOUR party has treated the President of the USA over the past 3 years, I find it difficult to imagine that you wrote that question with a straight face.

Lan ; the GOP seemed to have done a pretty good job on Clinton also . I think that goes both ways, don't you ????

[LANMaster]

Originally Posted by Pacalis

Lan ; the GOP seemed to have done a pretty good job on Clinton also . I think that goes both ways, don't you ????

Absolutely.

[bassetman]

So Lan approves of viscious ad attacks on Disabled Vets! Hmmm...
All in the name of politics.

[Infidel_Kastro]

Originally Posted by bassetman

So Lan approves of viscious ad attacks on Disabled Vets! Hmmm...
All in the name of politics.

B-Man, thats a loaded statement and you know it. POlitics is a game, and all is fair in war and politics. If he uses the fact that he is a disabled vet, then he opens the door for anyone to use it without impunity. The ads aren't based ont eh fact that he is a disabled vet, the ads are based on the fact that he is a democrat congressmen whom perhaps republicans don't agree with who ALSO happens to be a disabled vet. being disabled isn't who he is or what he is.