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CT VFW lays into Blumenthal for fake military claims.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  May 18th, 2010 at 09:33 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Possibly AG Richard Blumenthal (D CAND, CT-SEN) should not have used a VFW hall to host his explanation of why he wasn’t always lying about serving in Vietnam? – Because the local organization is not happy about that. Its head (Richard DiFederico) calledBlumenthal’s claims “false” and “outrageous,” and Blumenthal’s choice of venue won’t help that any:

DiFederico’s statement came after Blumenthal’s dramatic and defiant press conference Tuesday at a VFW hall in West Hartford, an event which took place in response to a New York Times report that the Connecticut attorney general had on more than one occasion said he had served in Vietnam, although his time in the Marine Corps Reserve was in fact spent in Washington and Connecticut

Blumenthal is not a member of the VFW, and national leaders noted that he wouldn’t meet the eligibility requirement if he tried to join because he didn’t actually serve in a theatre of combat. The group’s bylaws also do not allow any level of the organization to endorse political candidates.

Jerry Newberry, the director of communications at the VFW’s Kansas City headquarters, said that the national leadership “did not sanction and was not, in fact, aware that the press conference was going to be held at a VFW Post.”

The VFW is not a good enemy to have in a statewide race; I think that Blumenthal knows this, but is hoping that he can keep momentum until Friday, which is (I believe) the deadline for filing for the Senate primaries in Connecticut. If he can get past that point without gathering up significant primary opposition then the Democrats are more or less stuck with him for the general. But will it work?

…Maybe not. There’s been very little in the way of enthusiastic support among the Left for Blumenthal, and quite a bit of resentment and opposition. William Saletan (via Hot Air) in particular has a highly entertaining list up of the Attorney General’s habit of severely prosecuting people for the eight traits that he’s showing now… hold on, something’s coming in.

Hm. Allegedly, one of the people up there on the stage with Blumenthal is a Stolen Valor perpetrator.

Perfect.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

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COMMENTS

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  • http://itsaboutfreedom.proboards.com Conservative Phantom

    …at Ivy League Schools.

    Stupid.

    Stupid.

    Stupid.

  • Justin_Case

    who hopped on to the Vietnam veteran bandwagon when it became ok to do so.

    Where were all these guys like Blumenthal back in the 1970s when returning vets were shunned and thought of as being stupid, drugged out losers?

    No amount of money can buy what we earned as young men and women during that very difficult time in Vietnam.

    What’s lost on these wannabes is that service to one’s country -no matter where it was carried out – is something to be proud of.

  • conservativecrusade

    “On a few occasions, I have misspoken about my service and I regret that and I take full responsibility,” Blumenthal said Tuesday. But he described those remarks as “absolutely unintentional,” and said the mistake has only happened a few times out of “hundreds” of addresses he’s given.

    He said he was “proud” of his service in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

    “Unlike many of my peers, I chose to join the military and serve my country,” he said. “I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service.”

    He also said his only desire is to be upfront and hones……and then went on to say his words were misspoken, as if he has turrets and did not mean to say he was in Vietnam.

    Then…..

    One reporter who asked whether Blumenthal thinks he should apologize was shouted down.

    Guess his supporters feel it is OK to lie, I mean misspeak, every now and then and how dare anyone question his honesty. Every day it gets harder and harder to call dems, politicians or voters, decent people and American. Pure trash is all they are.

    Guess we have to get behind the first lady of poorly acted wrestling.

  • Adjoran

    But Connecticut gave us Lowell Weicker, so go figure, and of course Chris Dodd shows they don’t have a high ethical bar for their choices.

    Still, it’s another case of a seat we would have no chance of winning in a “normal” year, but this year, maybe . . . just maybe . . .

  • sdeakins

    Blumenthal goes to a VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars – for those folks in John Murtha’s old district) hall to repudiate “misspoken” claims he made that he was a veteran of a foreign war? Sounds like a winner to me.

  • mdd1956

    so many, many blatant “misstatements”, unbelievable claims and just plain lies.

    How is it Republicans in general, and conservatives ideas especially, are thought of and portrayed as mean and mean spirited ?? Years of message management, repetition, thematic responses by the Left.

    Remember, Chris Dodd, Chairman of the banking committee, claims he didn’t know he got such a great deal form Countrywide … has the same issue as Blumenthall: HYPOCRISY

    hyp?o?crite? ?[hip-uh-krit] Show IPA
    ?noun
    1.
    a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
    2.
    a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

  • nutmegger

    have been very interesting (and amusing) of late. Chris Dodd, Dick Blumenthal, and Susan Bysiewicz have done a great job of exposing the Democrats in charge of this state (for now, at least) as the utter and complete fools they are. Keep up the good work, CT Dems!

  • RedBeard

    Saying “me” instead of “I” can be a misstatement. Getting a statistic wrong might be a misstatement. Claiming that the Cubs have a shot at the World Series title is almost always a misstatement. But Blumenthal saying he served in Vietnam is a deliberate, coldly calculated, and self-serving lie.

  • ref1

    Red Beard,

    Sorry, but saying the Cubs have a shot at the World Series is a lie, and it will be until Jesus returns.

  • dlv455

    You don?t ?misspeak? about something so big as serving in the Vietnam War. What an insult to the intelligence of the American people!!!!
    I suggest 3 possible explanations re: Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut:
    1) He is a bald faced liar.
    2) He has dementia or some other disorder that affects his memory
    3) He can?t discern between reality and fantasy about his own life history.

    –He won’t let anyone impugn his “service” because of this? How about the fact that he’s already impugned his own character???

    I would hope voters everywhere require their representatives to rise to a higher standard.

  • nessa
  • pirate55

    The Connecticut Attorney has a website and I just sent him a letter. I am excepting it here but I am sure you understand it’s purpose…….

    Good Morning Attorney General Blumenthal:

    As a former National Guardsman during the Vietnam War (Not a conflict) and a proud member of a religious fraternal group here in Florida, please help me understand how you happened to “misspeak” your own military service record during this era. I did not serve in Vietnam, but only did a few mundane things here in the United States as an Army National Guard member. It is my very own personal opinion that those who claim Vietnam service without ever having served there do a tremendous disservice to those who have. I believe there are even laws in our country now which prosecute those who wear military awards they did not earn. I have many a friend who did serve in the Republic of Vietnam and to be truthful, I rarely, if ever have I ever heard a single one of them speak of that service. There is a “Wall” displayed in our nation’s capital, listing the names of the very, very many who made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives, while there were those who during those turbulent times were exercising their 1st Amendment Right to protest the War, some of whom who even did so unlawfully by acts of violence. If I recall a media star even went to North Vietnam, Hanoi specifically to show support for the other side.

    I, am grateful just to be in the presence of a military service veteran, whether they were in the combat arena or not for they sacrificed far more than I in the time they spent away from home and loved ones. As the Attorney General for the State of Connecticut, you are the chief law enforcement officer of the State, where my fraternal group was founded more than a century ago.

    As a law enforcement veteran, now retired with over 36 years of service, I worked during this era of protest and I also subscribed to the rule that intentional”untruthfulness is a gross disqualification of anyone for the police service” and observed a number of officers who were proven to be untruthful terminated and relieved of their employment and even criminally prosecuted and gone to prison.

    As member of a religious fraternity, we here in Southwest Florida work with many homeless veterans, with deep seeded issues dating back to their very own time spent in that hell on earth, Vietnam. As you well know, there were never any grand parades for those who were able to return and many were met with a disdain and unappreciated greeting they carry with them and will carry for the rest of their lives.

    During your press conference yesterday, you seemed to be a bit “on the offensive” stating no one was going to impute your impeccable record of political service and that is not my intention here. If yesterday was an apology for “misspeaking”, it need not be made to me but it should be made to those who did serve in Vietnam including our homeless veterans here, but it also might be nice to apologize to those families whose loved ones appear on that wall in our nation’s capital, where I understand you want to be United States Senator for Connecticut.

    Other than that sir, you have a great day continuing your fine service to the people of Connecticut.

  • conservativecrusade

    Red and your response ref! May I use both on my site?

    Until Jesus returns….what a hoot!

  • conservativecrusade

    but way too nice.

    Mine would be more along the lines of

    I would address it to

    Lying scumbag who uses the sacrifices of others to further his career and claims it as his own.

    The body of the letter would be a simple:

    You got caught liar, now say a fake you are sorry or forever be Liar liar pants on fire.

    My closing salutation would be

    Now go get lost you fake Vietnam veteran lying scumbag!

    My best regards,

    But then again yours is much better written and says the same thing is a much better way!