John Kerry Military Service - What do you think?

president bush has put out these campaign ads, and i suppose i will hop on the politico bandwagon and dish about my thoughts. for those of you inhabiting small, remote islands, there is one ad which has a brief (read: 1-2 sec) clip of a flag-draped coffin.
obviously, it is symbolic of september 11, 2001. right.
the democrats seem to be hysterical over this, saying bush is profiting off of tragedy.

so let me get this straight:

it's completely acceptable for john kerry to desecrate his and another soldier's medals (though, in kerry's typical fashion, there was no direct answer about this), verbally berate the soldiers serving in vietnam, and then trumpet his medals and service when it came election time?

oh boy.

one of kerry's election ads depicts him, with his medals. and just in case you haven't heard him, in every other breath he pretty much references his service in vietnam.

don't get me wrong: i wholeheartedly respect those who served america in vietnam, and i think that they deserve our gratitude. but i have a fundamental issue with someone who not only "disowned" his own military service, but then has the gall to trump it up to make him appeal to other people? (don't even get me started on max cleland, holy mackrel..) questioning a government's policies in an integral part of having a fully functional government: i even support/agree with kerry's decision to question the basis of the vietnam war.

but to disrespect the *soldiers*? absolutely atrocious.
the soldiers in vietnam, much like the soldiers in iraq, enlisted (or, in the case of vietnam, were drafted -) to serve their country. they did not make the decision what battles they would fight, they made the decision that, should their country need them (and as it turns out, it did), that they would be called upon. it's not a soldier's fault that they are involved in a perceivably "unjust" war: they deserve every ounce of support we can offer.

it seems to me that kerry's not really supported so much as the democrats looked at one another, shrugged, and said: "Well, what are the other options?" fact is, there's such a blind hatred of george w. bush on the democratic side (because they're still crying about 2000's election), that if he were to cure AIDS, cancer, and solve the world's hunger problems, they *still* wouldn't vote for him.

i'm not sure what's gotten me so frighteningly vitriolic about kerry, but it frankly makes my stomach turn. i don't know if i support bush, but i sure as hell know that i have trouble supporting someone who is suddenly enraged about the outsourcing of jobs, but voted to support NAFTA. or who is so stringently against the Iraq war, but voted to support it.

i can't grasp how that's acceptable to anyone. but there's such a strong anti-bush faction in the US that they'll elect anything that can walk and breathe at the same time, providing it/he beats bush. and that's what frightens me. kerry's just getting the nomination because he's the most "electable."


I feel as if I've veritably thrown myself to the ATS wolves...
Attack at will, kids.

While I give Kerry BIG points for having the testicular fortitude to volunteer for Vietnam in the first place, I DO believe that he did it for the wrong reasons.
Did he do it to spread freedom & democracy and because he genuinely loved his country? I don't really think so. John Kerry is a career politician always thirsty for a photo op. I believe he volunteered for Vietnam to have one thing: the ultimate political resume booster. JFK was his idol, and Kerry wanted his own version of the PT-109 story.

And yes...at least he volunteered.

I have never heard John Kerry utter one word of disrespect towards any of the soldiers who served. His disrespect stems from misguided policy that had over 55,000 Americans killed and 10 times that many wounded for a "cause" that was not just and had no real military thinking.

Not a Kerry fan myself...but you do have to respect the man for serving...

im getting ready to serve, but will i get the respect of the dems and everyone else, probally not, cause i work on nukes.

I think no matter how you look at it. If your going to vote based on military service you should vote for Kerry. I am probably going to vote for Bush myself yet I really don't want either of them.

im voting for bust also, the lesser of two evils. military people will have job security if they vote conservative

Originally posted by Xeven
I think no matter how you look at it. If your going to vote based on military service you should vote for Kerry. I am probably going to vote for Bush myself yet I really don't want either of them.

Xeven:
Seems like we're in a similar vote.....er, boat. I'm not voting for Kerry, that's for sure. I may not love Bush, but I find his convictions and strong moral ground to be a huge draw to him. He is generally predictable and doesn't flip-flop all over the place.
Unfortunately, Kerry's got a huge draw from a lot of ex-military who were in Vietnam. While this isn't a HUGE base, it is still a large number of people. Bush needs to connect more with Vets, and so far he seems to be taking the right path (ie, increasing VA spending, etc)

For the time and the circumstances, I think it is wholly illogical to vote for Kerry: In my eyes (and as any logically-reached conclusion would say) voting for Kerry opens up a gamut of potential security issues. Bush's hardline on defense and military is a necessity right now. Anyone who says different is kidding themselves.

Unfortunately, most people hate Bush because they're still stomping mad over having the 2000 election "stolen" from them. Hm. Like I've said before, Bush could cure AIDS, Cancer, and world hunger: And most anti-Bushies STILL wouldn't vote for him.

Originally posted by mauskov

Originally posted by Xeven
I think no matter how you look at it. If your going to vote based on military service you should vote for Kerry. I am probably going to vote for Bush myself yet I really don't want either of them.

Xeven:
Seems like we're in a similar vote.....er, boat. I'm not voting for Kerry, that's for sure. I may not love Bush, but I find his convictions and strong moral ground to be a huge draw to him. He is generally predictable and doesn't flip-flop all over the place.
Unfortunately, Kerry's got a huge draw from a lot of ex-military who were in Vietnam. While this isn't a HUGE base, it is still a large number of people. Bush needs to connect more with Vets, and so far he seems to be taking the right path (ie, increasing VA spending, etc)

For the time and the circumstances, I think it is wholly illogical to vote for Kerry: In my eyes (and as any logically-reached conclusion would say) voting for Kerry opens up a gamut of potential security issues. Bush's hardline on defense and military is a necessity right now. Anyone who says different is kidding themselves.

Unfortunately, most people hate Bush because they're still stomping mad over having the 2000 election "stolen" from them. Hm. Like I've said before, Bush could cure AIDS, Cancer, and world hunger: And most anti-Bushies STILL wouldn't vote for him.

Bush flip flops more than anyone I have seen in recent years. When his stories or lines are exposed for what they are he changes his song and dance.

If you are voting for Bush for his Christianity I suggest you read the utterances of Jesus and decide for yourself if Bush is truly a "Christian" man.