Vets Demand an Apology From Swiftboaster Blumenthal

[revwardoc]

Limit all U.S. politicians to two terms.

One in office; One in prison

Detroit and Chicago already do this.

[1CAVCCO15MED]

You too, Scout.

[SuperScout]

Originally Posted by 1CAVCCO15MED

You too, Scout.

You mean one in office, one in prison? Sheesh, what did I do? My 'office' of Honorary Colonel of the Regiment lasts for 3 years. Maybe you'll forget my 'offense' by then, and I'll go free!

You shoulda been there - one helluva a parade!

[1CAVCCO15MED]

I think I was answering a different post that was no longer there or else it was the voices in my head. Hmmm? I wish I could have been there, Brice. This ole guvment check don't go too far.

[SuperScout]

The voices in my head told me to tell you not to listen to the voices in your head!

Back to the op, I wonder how the voters could trust a man who blatantly lies about something so easily debunked. Hopefully, the voters in Connecticutt will wake up.

[darrels joy]

Blumenthal bows out of Memorial Day event with McMahon

Neil Vigdor And Brian Lockhart, Staff Writers

Published: 10:15 p.m., Wednesday, May 26, 2010

• Connecticut state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal gives his acceptance speech at the Democratic State Convention in Hartford, Conn., Friday, May 21, 2010, after he received the nomination to run for the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Bob Child) Photo: AP, Bob Child / FR170410 AP
• Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei. Photo: File Photo / Greenwich Time File Photo
• U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon stands in the center of the media as she waits to hear the results of the nomination proccess at the GOP convention in downtown Hartford, Conn. on Friday May 21, 2010. Photo: ST, Christian Abraham / Connecticut Post | Buy This Photo
  
  

Richard Blumenthal is seeking another deferment.

Invited by the Greenwich American Legion Post 29 to be a guest speaker at its dockside service in his hometown on Memorial Day, Blumenthal abruptly cancelled his appearance Wednesday at that event and other military tributes.

The Democratic Senate nominee now avoids the media frenzy and potential distraction that his presence could have created. The Greenwich ceremony would have brought him face-to-face with Linda McMahon for the first time since the firestorm over Blumenthal's statements that he served in Vietnam when he did not.

"He's just committed to keeping the focus on veterans," said Maura Downes, a spokeswoman for Blumenthal. "He thinks Memorial Day weekend is a solemn occasion and the focus should be squarely and solely on honoring our service men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect their freedoms." Blumenthal will be spending the weekend privately with his family, according to Downes, who left the door open that Blumenthal may visit some veterans memorials, albeit in a low-key manner.

A spokesman for McMahon, a fellow Greenwich resident whose campaign took credit for feeding the story about Blumenthal's exaggerated military service to The New York Times, confirmed that the Republican was invited to and plans to attend the service at Indian Harbor Yacht Club.

Earlier, Greenwich's chief elected official had openly questioned the choice of Blumenthal to speak.

"I think it's inappropriate for a political candidate to be the keynote speaker," First Selectman Peter Tesei said. "I just think it takes away from the meaning of the day." A Republican who is backing McMahon's candidacy, Tesei said he wasn't singling out Blumenthal because of the recent controversy or because the state attorney general is a Democrat.

"Given that Memorial Day is a solemn occasion, any invited speaker should be devoid of being a candidate for office," Tesei said. "I'm not saying they cannot attend." When it was pointed out to him that then-U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., was the guest speaker two years ago and was running for re-election, Tesei, who did not complain at the time, said his views applied to Republican candidates as well.

"So if Shays was endorsed for re-election at that point, again, I think it would be best if they were nonpartisan," Tesei said. "I think it would be best not to have someone perceived to be using it for political purposes."

A message seeking comment was left for Christopher Hughes, a retired Marine corporal and organizer of the American Legion event.

In an interview last week with the Advocate's sister newspaper, Greenwich Time, Hughes said he had no reservations about the selection of Blumenthal, a Marine reservist who was quoted multiple times claiming to have served in Vietnam but received five deferments that allowed him to avoid combat.

"We stand behind him 100 percent," Hughes said last week.

Blumenthal was a guest speaker at the same event in 2006.

Pat Battinelli, chairman of Stamford's Patriotic and Special Events Commission, said Blumenthal "seldom misses" marching in that city's Memorial Day Parade and he had expected him to appear this year.

"But with this dirt that's going around, I don't blame him," said Battinelli, who was one of the veterans who stood behind Blumenthal last week during a press conference in West Hartford addressing the Vietnam flap. "I think he's noble for doing that. He's probably thinking ... people are going to heckle him on the road. That's not necessary. That's not the time it should be done. I give him a lot of credit." State Rep. Lile Gibbons, R-150th District, who supported Rob Simmons over McMahon at last week's state GOP convention won by McMahon, also questioned the choice of Blumenthal.

"I think, in general, to ask a candidate for a major office for what is a nonpartisan event is not the best choice," Gibbons said.

Selectman Drew Marzullo, the highest elected Democrat in Greenwich, has no qualms about Blumenthal headlining the 8 a.m. service, which traditionally includes the playing of "taps," a three-volley rifle salute and placement of a memorial wreath in the water.

"He's the sitting attorney general who has been a loud and supportive voice for the men and women who serve in the military," Marzullo said.

"As long as partisan politics or campaign rhetoric doesn't enter into Dick's speech, I'm OK with it. Memorial Day should not be about Dick or Linda. It should be about honoring heroes, period."

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news...ith-501607.php

[darrels joy]

Ct Assistant Attorney General Says Blumenthal Lied To Him About Vietnam Service

By George Gombossy | Jun 7, 2010

Copyright CtWatchdog.com 2010

A veteran Connecticut Assistant Attorney General claims that Richard Blumenthal falsely told him 18 years ago that he had served as a Marine in Vietnam.

“It is the most despicable disgusting thing,” assistant attorney general Richard R. Hine told me in a telephone interview this morning.

Hine, a 24-year veteran trial attorney working for Blumenthal, said not only did Blumenthal lie to him 18 years ago about serving in Vietnam, he had heard Blumenthal make similar false statements at about five functions the two attended together over the years. He said he could not pinpoint any of the five. Blumenthal is now the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Chris Dodd.

Hine is a registered Republican but gave Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Dodd $1,000 in political contributions last year.

Marine Major and Assistant AG Richard Heine (Photos by Chris Richie New Britain Herald)


Hine, a Marine Major in the reserves, said he kept silent about the lies until now because the initial conversation 18 years ago was so emotional.
In that conversation, Blumenthal called Hine into his office to offer suggestions and assistance as Hine had been called up for duty for Desert Storm.

“Dick took time to talk to me about the challenges I might be facing. He knew my young daughter Allison from meeting her and talking to her numerous times,” Hine said. “Dick gave me his private phone number to call if I needed help or assistance. He told me to give Allison his private number and to have him call her if she was ever scared or worried about me.”

“He then said, you’re a Major, and so it will be a little different for you than it was for me as an enlisted Marine in Vietnam. I was appalled and shocked, because I knew he had not been to Vietnam, yet just a moment before he had helped to console my daughter in an unsolicited act of kindness.”

Blumenthal’s campaign spokeswoman Maura Downes said Tuesday that Blumenthal had no recollection of making that claim 18 years ago.

“Dick has been asked and has answered questions about his military service thoroughly and extensively,” Downes claimed. “Now his focus is to move on to the real problems and issues that concern the people of Connecticut. Dick recalls seeking to help and support Mr. Hine but that is his only memory of a conversation that occurred many, many years ago.”

Hine, however, said he has no problem recalling that meeting. “It was the kindest thing anyone had done for me.”

Marine Major Richard Heine (photo Chris Richie)


Even though he knew that Blumenthal was lying to him in that conversation about having been to Vietnam, Hine said he did not challenge him because of the generous offer he made to help his daughter. When Blumenthal ran for attorney general the first time 20 years ago, Hine said he researched him and knew then that Blumenthal never left the states.

But after the New York Times last month broke the story that Blumenthal had lied at several events about having served in Vietnam, Hine said he began thinking about making his conversation public.

And when Blumenthal claimed that his statements about serving in Vietnam were simply slips of the tongue, Hine said he could no longer keep quiet.

“Enough was enough,” Hines told me. “That he misspoke is crap.”

Almost two weeks ago he sent copies of a letter to numerous newspapers, including the Hartford Courant, New Haven Register, New York Times, and New Britain Herald as well as to blogger Don Pesci of Red Notes From A Blue State. Only Pesci used his letter, which did not identify him as an assistant attorney general.

New Britain Herald Executive Editor James Smith said his newspaper published the letter in today’s edition. It was also published today by the New Haven Register. The New York Times is expected to publish its story Wednesday and several television stations interviewed Hine today, who took the day off from work.

Hine said Tuesday that no one from Blumenthal’s inner circle talked to him about his letter or his interview with me.

“They know better,” Hine said Tuesday.

Later Tuesday Hine was interviewed by several newspapers including the New York Times, Washington Post, the New Britain Herald and the Bristol Press.

Hine was interviewed at his home, where his car sports an Obama as well as a Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon stickers. But then his parents were also split, one was a Republican and the other a Democrat.

“Surrounded by the mementos of his own life as a Marine, Hine said what Blumenthal did went against the code of being a Marine,” according to the Herald/Press Internet account.

“As a Marine, you don’t lie,” he said. “He has forgotten whatever he learned at Parris Island.”



The following his Hine’s letter:

Richard Reeves Hine
New Britain, CT 60053

A Marine’s Apology to Vietnam Veterans and their Families

I have known Richard Blumenthal for over twenty years. Dick Blumenthal completed “boot camp” at Marine Corp Recruiting Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. The training is rigid and puts stress and strain on the recruits mentally and physically. It is no picnic.

When you graduate, you become a member of the world’s most elite fighting force and you have earned the right to call yourself a “Marine.” I was a Judge Advocate at Paris Island alternating from defense counsel to trial counsel and Individual Military Counsel in the late 1970’s. I congratulate Dick Blumenthal for his service, stamina and courage in challenging himself to become a Marine.

When I was called up for Desert Storm from the Reserves, Dick took time to talk to me about the challenges I might be facing. He knew my young daughter Allison from meeting her and talking to her numerous times. He also knew my marriage to Allison’s mother was falling apart. Dick gave me his private phone number to call if I needed help or assistance. He told me to give Allison his private number and to have him call her if she was ever scared or worried about me.

Allison was and is today the “apple of my eye.”

Prior to my leaving for Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where I was a Company Commander and the Officer in Charge of Retrograde, Allison sat with me and both of us were interviewed by Channel 8, Channel 3, the New Haven Register, and the North Haven Post. All the reporters were amazed by her poise, intelligence and composure. She was very scared.

The world as she knew it was falling apart and I was going.

Alison never called Dick. His act of kindness and compassion to my daughter and me I will never forget, and I am deeply indebted to him for life. We then talked about my possibly going to Iraq if the war went poorly. We then discussed the separation from family and employment, and we agreed I would be with my fellow Marines and friends. He then said, you’re a Major, and so it will be a little different for you than it was for me as an enlisted Marine in Vietnam. I was appalled and shocked, because I knew he had not been to Vietnam, yet just a moment before he had helped to console my daughter in an unsolicited act of kindness.

I have been torn for twenty years about that conversation and what it tells me about his character.

Periodically, I would hear him repeat the statement that he served in Vietnam. He didn’t “misspeak” or “misstate” to me face-to-face twenty years ago and he hasn’t to veterans and the press in subsequent years – he lied.

As a Major, Judge Advocate USMCR I want to apologize for Sergeant Richard Blumenthal to all the Vietnam era service members, their mothers and fathers and all their loved ones.

The blood of our service members soaked the rice paddies of Vietnam, we lost tens of thousands of our young and tens of thousands of other service members come home injured psychologically and physically.

I apologize to all that are living and offer my prayers to those who have left us.

I was at Officers’ Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia for part of the Vietnam War. I also received an education deferment to finish college and an education deferment to finish law school. During Desert Storm, I never left Camp Lejeune for Iraq. I don’t claim to have been overseas for either war, but if I did I would be dishonoring the integrity that my grandparents, parents and mentors taught me, and that I have zealously protected my whole life.

“Misstatements,” “misspeaking” are what politicians claim when they get caught lying. Dick lied to me at the same time he was compassionate. You decide. It took me twenty years to decide.

SEMPER FIDELIS

Richard R. Hine
Major USMCR
Judge Advocate
http://ctwatchdog.com/2010/06/07/ct-...ietnam-service

[SuperScout]

What is as despicable as Blementhal's lies is the silence of the Democrat higher-ups in condemning his lying. One can only gather from these two events that the Democrats are a party of condoning lying.

[darrels joy]

Blumenthal Comments Stir New Questions on Military Service
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut sat down with a reporter for a local news outlet this week in an effort to move beyond an issue that has bedeviled his Senate campaign: his claims about his military service during the Vietnam War.

But the interview, with The Connecticut Mirror, a news Web site, raised more questions about that chapter in his life, as Mr. Blumenthal offered a version of events that was sometimes at odds with historians’ accounts of the period.

At one point in the interview, Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat, said he joined the Marine Corps Reserve in April 1970 knowing that reservists could be activated for service in Vietnam. “I did not want to avoid service,” he said. “I did realize reservists could be called up, and that it was something that I wanted to do.”

But military experts said there was no expectation that reserve units would be activated at the time Mr. Blumenthal enlisted, particularly given how drastically public opinion had turned against the war.

In fact, President Richard M. Nixon had begun in 1969 to reduce the American troop presence in Vietnam and transfer more responsibility for fighting to the South Vietnamese, said James E. Westheider, a history professor at the Clermont College campus of the University of Cincinnati who has written about Vietnam.

“By the time he was in the service, if he was in the Marine Reserves, he was not going to Vietnam,” Mr. Westheider said.

Mr. Blumenthal has faced criticism since The New York Times reported last month that he had falsely claimed he had served in Vietnam and that he had not corrected news reports that perpetuated the claim.

The Times article also described how Mr. Blumenthal was able to avoid going to Vietnam by obtaining five deferments and eventually enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, considered a haven from the war.

On May 18, the day The Times published its article, Mr. Blumenthal held a news conference in which he expressed regret for what he called the “misplaced words” he used in describing his military record, then later issued a more forceful apology.

In the interview with The Connecticut Mirror this week, Mr. Blumenthal sought to play down the instances in which he inaccurately described his military service, saying it was a “very limited” number of occasions.
“Whatever the number, I regret the mistake,” he said.

Mr. Blumenthal, 64, has also in recent weeks sought to defend his record of service in the military.

In the interview, he discussed the number he received in the draft lottery in 1969, just a few months before he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, according to the article.

His number in the December 1969 draft lottery, according to the Selective Service, was 152. People with numbers as high as 195 in that lottery were eligible to be drafted.

Mr. Blumenthal, in the interview, said that he did not remember the number he got in the draft lottery but that it was probably high enough to keep him out of the draft, according to the article.

David Curry, a professor at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, who is an expert on the Vietnam draft, said Mr. Blumenthal’s lottery number would have been cause for worry for someone who did not want to be drafted.

“I’d say he had a medium-level lottery number,” Mr. Curry said. “It’s not really a safe number. But once he joined the Reserves, he would not have been eligible for being drafted.”

Mr. Curry, who served in Vietnam, also questioned how anyone could forget his draft number. “I find it hard to believe that anyone would forget their lottery number,” he said. “I am betting if I call my colleagues who were in that same lottery,” he said, “every one of them would know their draft number.”

Marla Romash, a Blumenthal spokeswoman, defended the candidate’s comments. She said Mr. Blumenthal believed that as a reservist he could have been sent to Vietnam, but she declined to say what basis he had for that belief.

Ms. Romash also said that Mr. Blumenthal now believed, with the benefit of hindsight, that it would have been unlikely that his draft number would have been called, but she did not elaborate.
Asked whether Mr. Blumenthal wanted to serve in Vietnam, Ms. Romash did not respond.

Recent polls show that Mr. Blumenthal holds a considerable lead over his likely Republican opponent, Linda McMahon, the former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, suggesting he enjoys good will with Connecticut voters despite the controversy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/ny...gewanted=print