As a Vietnam vet...disabled at that,although who among us really gives a shit...I have vaguely followed the exploits of Richard Blumenthal. He's a Dem,I'm a Dem. He would get my vote if I lived in Connecticut.
It does always sting a bit; however, when chickensh*ts...I mean chicken hawks...and sometimes politicians who only desire, I guess, to burnish their credentials, pretend to be what they will never be on the best days of their lives.
Sour grapes on my part? Perhaps, but actually, I think that we should find a certain pathetic humor in those who like five year old boys playing army, lie about their military service.
I know that there are many who will dis me for posting this as a diary, because it is going to be short and sweet. To all of them, I say tough sh*t. I paid my money and now I'll accept my purchase.
I guess that as a vet...and believe me I'm a vet who is not afraid to acknowledge that I was overwhelmed and scared shitless on more than one occasion during my stint in Vietnam...what bothers me about chest thumpers who pretend to be something that they are not, is that they lend their ignorance of war to those who would exploit that ignorance to garner support for war.
Think of the vilest, cruelest, dirtiest and most wicked act that you can imagine. Square that image and you will only start to approximate the reality of war.
I am and was never a brave man. I did do what I had to do in Vietnam and I do take some solace from that. I really do loathe those chickensh*ts...and those who are simply trying to vicariously experience that which they never will...who pretend to be warriors.
It has been my experience that the further one was from the smell of the cordite and HE, the braver that one is.
I suspect that Richard Blumenthal is brave in that regard.