Blumenthal: No apology and “Don’t impugn my service”. UPDATE: “Unaware” – Video
Actually, I think its just the opposite. It is he, I think, who impugns the service of other Vietnam veterans. But it is the classic case of smoke and mirrors and setting up the straw man. Oh, and get ready you vets for the second video here. Prepare to blow a lid or two. When asked if there would be an apology to the vets who did serve “in country”, the answer was no. Shameful.
Follow along for yourself as Richard Blumenthal deflects the real story by claiming others are trying to impugn his service, which is nonsense. That’s the straw man. Then he adds, just for good measure, that too many service people return and are forgotten and that he will continue to fight for them. That’s the old, I must be about the work of defending these good people I just defamed. But neither of these points get to the point of his blatant lie about his service .
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhWnW-AW9SU
But the best part comes during the Q and A, when a reporter asks the Blumenlier if he will apologize to veterans who have served. That answer was easy for tricky Dick. NO!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0NAlAxgMv0
The guy won’t apologize, just take responsibility. Just a few statements. Here’s the New York Times article one more time.
“In 2003, he addressed a rally in Bridgeport, where about 100 military families gathered to express support for American troops overseas. “When we returned, we saw nothing like this,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “Let us do better by this generation of men and women.””
“At a 2008 ceremony in front of the Veterans War Memorial Building in Shelton, he praised the audience for paying tribute to troops fighting abroad, noting that America had not always done so.
“I served during the Vietnam era,” he said. “I remember the taunts, the insults, sometimes even physical abuse.””
Oh, there’s more. Go see the video yourself. And just for good measure, he turns the argument around and turns himself into the victim. It was a disgraceful performance and shows he values his political career more than apologizing to Veterans and Marines who gave their all. Disgraceful and disgusting.
UPDATE: Oh just one more video clip because it’s just tooooo much. Blumenthal says it all was inadvertent. A few misplaced words. Unintentional. But the best part is at the end. He says he was unaware of the misspeaking until they were spoken. No true. He said that.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3WsYvLj_tE
He voted for it before he voted against it.
17 Comments
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The sad part is that he doesn't understand that it isn't his service that is being impugned, but his integrity… and *he* is the one doing the impugning.
So he says "On a few occasions I have misspoken about my service…" OMG, make it worse. Just how many times does he need to be beat up for lying about his service in the military? His comments make me think that he's a insecure man with little to be proud of.
On occasion I play devil's ad, and in that respect when you see the phrase "I served during the Vietnam era" I point to "served" and "era" in the respect that he WAS in the reserves DURING that ERA, or particular conflict. He may have not been there physically, but there were members of the armed forces serving during the war, just not actually in that combat zone.
This doesn't excuse him from how he skewers that word line to his benefit or taking responsibility for his words, and he deserves to be called out on it just like anyone else he has "called out" on in his quest to sue more people than my ex-girlfriend tried to do with car accidents.
That doesn't explain why he permitted several newspaper biographies to maintain that he served "in country." It doesn't explain those occasions when he stated plainly that he served "in Vietnam." In short, the devil is in the details and Blumenthal hasn't come up with enough good answers for his manifold sins and misrepresentations.
When I worked on a Veteran's Day Forum and evening program, every Vet from Vietnam era was very careful to tell me he was either combat or non-combat. My intent was to invite all vets, whether non-combat or combat in all wars or "conflicts". However, All vets made the distinction. It was a glaring error for Blumenthal not to say he was in the Marine Reserves.
I will say he has gone to many services for veterans in the past few years, but it was probably out of guilt for his "misstatements". As Clinton would say, "it depends on your definition of Is.
"I misspoke" is equal to "I lied."
What a beauty…. He has the Murtha Brigade with him… Shame! At least John F. Kerry was there and THEN made thing up later… These VC Dem's kill me.
"I,____, do solemnly swear or affirm to support and defend the Constitution…" This is the FIRST line that comes with every military oath. Everything else in the oath is for naught if one fails to support and defend. When the A.G. and the Governor(no apologies on this item Jim) fail to bring suit against the unconstitutional health care bill, I knew where they both stood. The Gov. will not seek re-election to avoid our legitimate ire due to the trouble the state and Feds have caused. The A.G. is too arrogant, or blindly ambitious, to see common sense -probably both. Stand up or get stepped on.
HMMMM… Did Dickie use a vacation day for this political event or did he do this on the backs of the Connecticut taxpayers?
This guy scares me. He's not the only one. Most of the Congressmen and senators out there act more like kings and we're the subjects.
"Sometimes journalists do make mistakes"….and referring to news articles, "thousands of them that are written about me"…This guy's arrogance just makes my skin crawl.
He will never do the admirable thing and apologize. I've had toddlers who are able to accept that they have been caught doing something wrong and admit it AND apologize. This guy is a sociopath. Nothing more and nothing less.
Perfect use of the word sociopath.
Jim, A.G. Blumenthal, is lying about a few other things that he spoke about yesterday in his news conference. It was reported on Fox News Channel, right after his news conference, by Legal anaylist Peter Johnson, that Dick Blumenthal was given a Class 2A Deferment which is as follows: 2A- "Defered for National Interest Reasons", which means he was already serving in a very critical position for the federal Gov't , He never mentioned that yesterday. He also said in that news conference, that he called the Marine recruiter on the day that he enlisted in the Afternoon, and by "Midnight" he was on a bus to Paris Island , south Carolina, well that also is a fabricated lie as well, as he would have had to go through the process of having a physical to determine his eligibility for such service, and from that point, you are given a departure date, so for him to say that he signed up at noon time, and was gone 12 hrs later is totally false, as anyone who like me that served during the Viet Nam Era War, can asstest to, there were waiting lists, and you did not get in that fast, that easily, and this can be very easily verified. The process would normally take at least 2 weeks, to anywhere from a month or longer! Also If my memory still serves me well enough, I can remember times, where Dick Blumenthal told people, he was a "JAG Attorney" for the Marine Corps. If someone dug hard enough through his years of AG here in Conn, it could possibly show up in his speeches . But the 2A Deferment really needs now to be looked into as well, as that came right from Fox News Channel.
Whatever happen to his code of ethics as the AG? As a Marine in country or not – what happened to his code of honor? Now ask me, should I trust him to be my Senator?
I think the comments were a perfect example of how the person works the crowd. He made his statements to the audience he was preeching. If you noticed he didn't say he served over seas during an important debate because he knew there were cameras and a record of his comments. It's just a raw example of how him and others like him really don't have their own platform. They will do what the party tells them.
I see now, that the Democratic Party, either National party, or State party, is now going after Linda and Vince McMahon scoring through all of the You Tube Videos they can find now to smear both Linda and her husband Vince, who they claim, they have on Tape of him using the " N " word. This is now going to take on a whole new Dynamic in this election for Chris Dodd's seat. The gloves have come off, and Team Obama are now going to pull out all of the stops, and come after Ms. Mc Mahon Full Bore with everything but and including the Kitchen Sink now! This ought to be very interesting to sit back and observe, and in the end, I believe it will come down to Either Peter Schiff, or Rob Simmons, as I believe that if this goes to much longer in the news media, the Democrats will want Blumenthal to step aside, and they will replace him with someone else, likely Chris Murphy, as they desperately need this senate seat, and can ill afford to lose it to the republicans, or the Tea party movement . This is going to get down right Nasty and very ugly between Blumenthal and McMahon. Let the Saga Begin!, and may the best Lair Win!!
Tens of thousands of young American men didn’t want to go but when their Country called they went, and thousands died. Tens of thousands of young American men volunteered to go, and thousands died. False claims by Richard Blumenthal of having served in Viet Nam are deplorable. They dishonor every person whose name is on the memorial wall in Washington DC. He dishonors every man and woman who served in the Viet Nam conflict. He dishonors every family who lost a son, brother, sister, father, or sweetheart. He dishonors every person who served and whose last thought was of home, wishing they were there and not about to die so very far away, all alone. There is no shame in not having gone but there is great shame saying you went when you didn’t. If he had really gone then maybe just 1 of the 55,000 who died might have lived. He says “I Mis Spoke” What the hell does that mean? You didn’t mis-speak…you lied Mr Attorney General. You have No Honor …You are a Disgrace…..