Tell Me Again Who REALLY Supports Our Troops?

There is yet another picture going around the internet, showing 6 big-name Republicans who declined to serve their country in the Armed Forces:

That reminded me of this list, showing Dems and Repubs, and their military service history (or lack thereof). I added the amazing Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs (and was still called a "slacker")

MILITARY SERVICE RECORDS
DEMOCRATS:

• Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.
• Tammy Duckworth: Army National Guard, 2004; Purple Heart; lost both legs, may lose right arm.      
• David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.
• Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.
• Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.
• Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g . Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.
• Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.
• John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Hearts.
• Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.
• Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam. Paraplegic from war injuries. Served in Congress.
• Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.
• Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.
• Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.
• Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.
• Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars,and Soldier's Medal.
• Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.
• Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.
• Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat V.
• Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.
• Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57
• Chuck Robb: Vietnam
• Howell Heflin: Silver Star
• George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.
• Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. Entered draft but received #311.
• Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.
• Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953
• John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and AirMedal with 18 Clusters.
• Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.

REPUBLICANS (and these are the guys sending people to war):

• Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.
• Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
• Tom Delay: did not serve.
• Roy Blunt: did not serve.
• Bill Frist: did not serve.
• Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
• Rick Santorum: did not serve.
• Trent Lott: did not serve.
• John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
• Jeb Bush: did not serve.
• Karl Rove: did not serve.
• Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism.
• Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
• Vin Weber: did not serve.
• Richard Perle: did not serve.
• Douglas Feith: did not serve.
• Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
• Richard Shelby: did not serve.
• Jon Kyl: did not serve.
• Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
• Christopher Cox: did not serve.
• Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
• Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.
• george w. bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate.
• Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non- combat role making movies.
• Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.
• Phil Gramm: did not serve.
• John McCain: Vietnam POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.
• Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
• John M. McHugh: did not serve.
• JC Watts: did not serve.
• Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem, " although continued in NFL for 8 years as quarterback.
• Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
• Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
• George Pataki: did not serve.
• Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
• John Engler: did not serve.
• Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.

PUNDITS and PREACHERS:

• Sean Hannity: did not serve.
• Rush Limbaugh: did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')
• Bill O'Reilly: did not serve.
• Michael Savage: did not serve.
• George Will: did not serve.
• Chris Matthews: did not serve.
• Paul Gigot: did not serve.
• Bill Bennett: did not serve.
• Pat Buchanan: did not serve.
• John Wayne: did not serve.
• Bill Kristol: did not serve.
• Kenneth Starr: did not serve.
• Antonin Scalia: did not serve.
• Clarence Thomas: did not serve.
• Ralph Reed: did not serve.
• Michael Medved: did not serve.
• Charlie Daniels: did not serve.
• Ted Nugent: did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot back.)

I'm NOT Lovin' It...

Over the years, I've commented now and then on some of the legal issues facing McDonalds. I guess, in many ways, they're no better and no worse than many other large corporations.

Except a lot of them -- perhaps most -- support their local emergency services.

Not McDonalds.

A McDonalds franchisee in upstate New York fired an employee for paying for firefighters' meals out of her own pocket.

She didn't steal the food, she (and a couple of other workers) paid out of their own pockets.

 

 

Food's better at Burger King, anyway.

 

McDonalds management is claiming that the firing had nothing to do with the firefighters; they're claiming Levia swore at supervisors and was otherwise insubordinate... possibly by pointing out that management often gave free meals to police officers.

 

So now, MickyD's has lost an 8-year veteran employee, pissed off the firefighters in the area, pissed off the cops (cause now they're not gonna get freebies, either), the franchisee has been exposed as a hypocrite, and McDonalds has yet another black eye.

 

I will not patronize McDonalds until this mess is straightened out, and I would ask you to do the same.

 



Gimme That Old Time Music... or... Paddle Faster, I Hear...

Tubas?!?

Because someone has to do it.

Day Late and A Dollar Short

Talk about being out of it... Yesterday marked my ninth anniversary as a blogger.

Still not the Great Orange Satan or Mr. Heh, Indeed, but I'm still having fun, folks are still stopping by and commenting, and we're all still fighting the good fight.

To the folks like Badtux, Jurassic Pork, Mustang Bobby, the Dark Wraith, skippy, Firestarter 5 -- the ones who gave me encouragement early on -- thank you for your support.

To the folks who left comments -- even those critical of my posts, as long as they were thought out -- I appreciate the feedback.

To the emergency services bloggers I've linked to more recently, thank you as well.

If it weren't for you folks, this blog would have perished years ago, as so many others did.

What TPM Says...

... via Attaturk at Rising Hegemon:

As many as 17,000 Americans will die directly as a result of states deciding not to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, according to a new study.

Researchers from Harvard University and City University of New York have estimated that between 7,115 and 17,104 deaths will be "attributable to the lack of Medicaid expansion in opt-out states" in a study published in Health Affairs.

"The results were sobering," Samuel Dickman, one of the authors, said, according to the  Morning Call. "Political decisions have consequences, some of them lethal."

My wife will be one of those 17,000.

Ask me again how I feel about Fat-Ass Paul LePage, he of more chins than a Chinatown phone book.

 

Yes, please, Fat-Ass... hold your breath till you turn blue,

then die, you miserable murdering scumbubble.