John Mccain dishonors troops, veterans @ debate w/Obama
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John Mccain dishonors troops, veterans @ debate w/Obama
So Jonah Goldberg and his fellow wingers are in a tizzy about Obama wearing that commemorative bracelet. It was meant as a sign of respect, but now conservatives are saying Sen. Barack Obama's invocation of his "hero bracelet" bearing the name of a fallen soldier is being done against the family's wishes, based on comments made months ago by the soldier's father. Jonah Goldberg, who has never made an argument with any care, commanded, "Take Off the Bracelet, Senator". But, as always, they were wrong. Tracy Jopek of Merrill told The Associated Press on Sunday she was honored that Obama remembered Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, who was killed in 2006 by a roadside bomb. Jopek criticized Internet reports suggesting Obama, D-Ill., exploited her son for political purposes. "I don't understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet," she said. Jopek acknowledged e-mailing the Obama campaign in February asking that the presidential candidate not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she said Obama's mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, said a soldier's mother gave him a bracelet. These wingers still think they own the troops and their memories. They believe that those ultimate sacrifices are only theirs to be wielded for propaganda purposes when necessary. But of course, they're wrong. As usual. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/28/224454/075/410/613868 Posing the first question in a Denver town hall meeting yesterday, a Vietnam veteran challenged Sen. John McCain on his Senate voting record regarding veterans issues, remarking he had voted against increasing vets health funding four years in a row. Ignoring the veterans point, McCain testily — and repeatedly — insisted that he had received every award from every major veterans organization in America: MCCAIN: Ive received every award from every major veterans organization in America. I received every organization in America their awards. The reason why I have a perfect voting record from organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and all the other veterans service organizations is because of my support of them. [] VETERAN: You do not have a perfect voting record by the DAV and the VFW. Thats where these votes were recorded. These votes were proposals by your colleagues in the Senate to increase health care of the VA in 2003, 4, 5, and 6 for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. And you voted against those proposals. [] MCCAIN: Ive been endorsed in every election by every veterans organization that do that, Ive been supported by them, and Ive received their highest awards from all of those organizations. So I guess they dont know something you know. McCain has made the exact same claim before — and it is just a false today as it was then. As ThinkProgress documented, McCains so-called perfect record has been roundly criticized by prominent veterans groups: He received a grade of D from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a 20 percent vote rating from the Disabled Veterans of America; Vietnam Veterans of America noted McCain had voted against us in 15 key votes. As for the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars — with whom McCain claims to have a perfect voting record — both groups vigorously supported Sen. Jim Webbs (D-VA) GI Bill that McCain tirelessly opposed. Later in the town hall, McCain admitted he does not have a perfect voting record, but then declared that questions about veterans issues were off limits: I will be glad to debate a lot of things, but not that one, McCain said. http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/08/mccain-veterans-award-redux/
YouTube | October 4, 2008
