Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:08 pm
Jeb Bush said yesterday in response to Donald Trump’s attack on John McCain that all veterans are deserving of respect:
Enough with the slanderous attacks. @SenJohnMcCain and all our veterans – particularly POWs have earned our respect and admiration.
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) July 18, 2015
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As Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Jay Bookman then pointedly asked, “Yeah. Just like the respect that John Kerry got in ’04?”
It turns out that in 2005, Jeb thought one veteran in particular should be attacked. He even thanked other veterans for swiftboating John Kerry, whom Republican conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, who has never served his country, decided to accuse of cowardice in order to keep him out of the White House:
in 2005 @JebBush sent swift boat vets letter thanking them for smearing john kerry war record http://t.co/LxnbPhVYnU pic.twitter.com/QPcZWdodS2
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) July 18, 2015
Here is a bigger shot at the letter proving Jeb Bush thinks veterans are fair game for slander:
So Jeb, who at least (unlike Trump – or his brother) had not escaped service by deferment but who graduated late enough that he was simply never called up, feels it is wrong to attack a Republican veteran, John McCain, but perfectly permissible to attack a Democratic veteran, John Kerry.
You also have to admire also how all these brave Republicans leapt to veteran Tammy Duckworth’s defense when Allen West questioned her loyalty, or when Tea Party bum Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) questioned her war record. Duckworth gave both legs for her country in Iraq. Walsh, like so many Republican critics, has given nothing.
Then there is the time they all jumped to the defense of former Democratic Sen. Max Cleland (who lost three limbs in Vietnam) when he was vilely attacked by Ann Coulter. Cleland received a Silver Star “for gallantry in action” at the battle of Khe Sanh, despite Coulter’s claims that it is a “fact” he was never there (I think the Army would know).
It scarcely needs be said that Ann Coulter never served her country. She lacks all ethics but she didn’t lose those in combat, but rather surrendered them voluntarily when assuming the role of Republican troll.
It turns out the only veterans Republicans think should not be slandered are Republican veterans.
Jeb Bush lied yesterday when he protested Donald Trump’s attack on John McCain. He does not feel that “all our veterans [emphasis added]…have earned our respect and admiration.”
Donald Trump is not the only Republican who owes an apology this morning. The dishonest and hypocritical Jeb Bush also owes an apology, not only to John Kerry, but to all veterans.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
