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| 11/23 |
| 2004/10/12-13 [Politics/Domestic/Election, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:34067 Activity:high |
10/12 Bud Day's biography. http://csua.org/u/9fv \_ GW Bush's biography. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush \_ I don't think anyone can argue that W was a war hero of any stripe. I also don't think anyone can argue that Bud Day was anything but heroic. I hope that we will think on Day's service to his country before we choose to deride him. \_ He's a great soldier. That doesn't make him any more more qualified to talk politics though. \_ Argue against his position, then, but respect the man. It's uncalled for and childish to play silly games like changing his name to "Bad Day". He had a bad day when he was captured by the Vietcons. He had a bad 6 years when he was a POW. I wonder what was the worst day ever suffered by Mr. "Bad Day". \_ It's uncalled for and childish to keep deleting other people's posts and keeping yours. If you can't learn to respect other people's posts, stop whining when other people mess with yours. \_ Being a hero is not something to be mocked for, but it doesn't grant you immunity from being mocked for other reasons. \_ I guess we disagree then. I don't mock those whom I respect, no matter how vehemently we may disagree. I would think that Bud Day is worthy of great respect. He has earned that privilege. \_ Just going out on a limb here, but I don't think that Mr. "Bad Day" is making fun of Bud Day. I think he's making fun of the op. \_ Who knows what the intentions of Mr. "Bad Day" were? Only the man himself. However, there are ways to make fun of the op without at the same time belittling Bud Day. Deriding Bud Day and letting that pass unchallenged diminishes all of us. \_ did you go to boarding school in Connecticut? \_ Yeesh, what a pompous windbag. \_ And you wonder why veterans tend to vote Republican? \_ No, I don't -- it has nothing to do with this discussion. \_ No, you wouldn't think so. That's why veterans vote Republican. \_ No, actually, it's probably not. No cookie for you! \_ Bud Day isn't a pompous windbag. pp is. Your inability to distinguish between the two is part of what makes you a pompous windbag. \_ The man's a hero and former POW. Many heroes and POWs thought the antiwar movement was a betrayal of the troops. Many heroes and former POWs also joined the antiwar movement. The real villains in all of this were the ones who stood silent. \_ So which of his actions were worthy of the MOH? He survived a bunch of torture and wounds. I've read stories on some site about WWII citations that sounded far more incredible than this. Other than undertaking an escape from certain torture/possible death, the dangers are not of his own choice. It's like the difference between a guy escaping a burning building versus a guy running inside to rescue somebody. In any case his arguments seem one- sided and unconvincing. \_ Don't go there. Questioning how much someone suffered/risked to earn their medals is unseemly. How much have you bled for your country? \_ Oh, I see. So its okay to question Kerry's medals, but not this guy's medals. Seems logical. \_ I'm a Kerry contributer. -pp \- I think it is reasonable to trade off between "character issues" and policy preference when it comes to a political candidate. e.g. it seems reasonable to hold Clinton's infidelity against him, but not fair to pin Vince Foster's suicide on him. I can reasonably see a veteran not being able to forgive Kerry for his "betrayal" after he returned from Vietnam. I personally think this is more than offset by Bush's avoiding service, his avoiding responsibility for stuff like Abu Graib, his disregard for frankness and the truth, but then again I am not a verteran who may feel the betrayal far more viscerally than I would. However, while his post-service conduct may be a fair issue, the swiftboat stuff is just a sleazy smear. --psb |
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| csua.org/u/9fv -> www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,MoH_George_Day,00.html Purchase Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call to Duty Since the Civil War, more than 39 million men and women have answered the call to serve. Of those, 3,440 served with such uncommon valor and extr aordinary courage that they were presented with the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award. In this collection, more than one hundr ed of America's living Medal of Honor recipients are honored. Their tale s of bravery are recounted by best-selling author Peter Collier, and als o feature portraits by award-winning photographer Nick Del Calzo. Click for larger image 2003 by Nick Del Calzo George E "Bud" Day Major, US Air Force Misty Forward Air Controller Squadron By Peter Collier George "Bud" Day was seventeen in late 1942 when he badgered his parentsinto allowing him to volunteer for the Marine Corps. He spent nearly three years in the South Pacific during World War II, then returned home, went to college, and got a law degree. When he was called up for active duty a year later, he appliedfor pilot training and flew fighter jets during the Korean War. After being promoted to captain in 1955, he decided to become a "lifer" in the A ir Force. In 1967, Day, now a major, was put in command of a squadron of F-100s inVietnam involved in a top-secret program. Nicknamed the Misty Super Facs, their mission was to fly over North Vietnam and Laos as "forward air controllers," selecting military targets and calling in air strikes on th em. On August 26, ground fire hit Day's plane, destroying its hydrauliccontrols and forcing it into a steep dive. When he ejected, he smashed a gainst the fuselage and broke his arm in three places. North Vietnamesemilitiamen below, seeing his parachute open, were waiting for him when he landed. When he refused to answer his captors' questions, they staged a mock execution, then hung him from a rafter by his feet for several hours. Certain that he was so badly hurt that he wouldn't try to get away, they tied him up with loosely knotted rope. On his fifth day in the camp, while a pair of distracted teenage soldiers stood guard, he untied himself and escaped . On his second night on the run, Day was sleeping in thick undergrowth when either a bomb or a rocket landed nearby. The concussion left him bleeding from his ears and sinuses and sent shrapnel into his leg. Even so, he continued to hobble south for the next several days, eating berries an d frogs and successfully evading enemy patrols. Sometime between the twelfth and fifteenth day after his escape -- he had lost track of time -- Day heard helicopters and stumbled toward the sound. It was US choppers evacuating a Marine unit, but they left just as he got to the landing zone. The next morning, still heading south, he r an into a North Vietnamese Army patrol. As he limped toward the jungle,he was shot in the leg and hand and captured soon afterward. He was taken back to the camp from which he had escaped and subjected to more tortu re. His untreated wounds were infected, and he was suffering from malnutrition and unable to per form even the simplest task for himself. The fingers on both hands werecurled into fists as a result of his torture; he regained some motion by peeling them back, flattening them against the wall of his cell, and le aning into them with his full weight. For more than five years, Day resisted the North Vietnamese guards who tortured him. On one occasion in 1971, when guards burst in with rifles as some of the American prisoners gathered for a forbidden religious service, Major Day stood up, looked down the muzzles of the guns, and began to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." The other men, including James Stockd ale, the ranking US officer in the prison, joined him. Three years later, on March 6, 1976, both he and Stockdale were presented with the Medal of Honor by P resident Gerald Ford. |
| en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush Bush has described his days before his religious conversion as his "nomad ic" period and "irresponsible youth". He gave up drinking for good shortly after his 40th b irthday celebration. dui/) Bush has addressed the issue of his alleged cocaine abuse on several occa sions. The 2000 campaign initially refused to answer on principle, but l ater Bush told the press that, as a condition of Federal employment, he had signed a form averring he had not taken drugs in the previous seven years. When asked if he could have signed it when his father was preside nt, he paused to think, and then answered that he could have. But Bush r efused to answer if he had ever taken cocaine. He went on to become, in 1998, the first T exas governor to be elected for two consecutive four-year terms. His ten ure in office featured a positive reputation for bipartisan leadership. Gore won a plurality of the nationwid e popular vote by approximately 540,000 votes out of 105 million, a marg in of barely one-half of one percent. The Florida vote, which favored Bush by a tiny margin in the initial coun t, was heavily contested after concerns were raised about flaws and irre gularities in the voting process, and became the subject of a series of contentious court cases. Supreme Court decision in mid-Dece mber favoring Bush, Gore conceded the election. The election results are still disputed by many, though no longer contested in any legal venue. Vicente Fox During his campaign, Bush's foreign policy platform included support of a stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especi ally Mexico, and a reduction in involvement in "nation-building" and oth er small-scale military engagements. Hamid Kar zai have proved troublesome, and bin Laden was never apprehended nor bel ieved to have been killed. A large contingent of troops and advisors rem ains through 2004. Security Council, but when it became clear that the majority of the permanent members (with vetoing po wer) would vote against such a resolution the matter was never taken to a vote. The United States managed to gather a group of countries to supp ort a war, a total of about forty. While the Iraq armed forces fell apart within a few days the problems in Iraq have since escalated. The difficulties in the occupation and implem entation of a democracy, the failure to find Saddam's alleged weapons, a nd claims about information having been allegedly spun or distorted to s upport the war have all been used to challenge the Bush administration b oth domestically and from abroad. Nevertheless, Bush states that he still believes it was the rig ht decision, because a demonstrably brutal tyrant has been overthrown an d can no longer threaten the world. Field tests have been mixed, with both some successes and failures. Bush also significantly increa sed spending on military weapons systems. The administration also began initial research into bunker-busting nuclear missiles. tariff on imported steel and on Canadian soft l umber was controversial in light of his pursuit of other free market pol icies, and attracted criticism both from his fellow conservatives and fr om nations affected. The steel tariff was later rescinded under pressure from the WTO. tax cuts during his term in off ice that eliminated the "marriage penalty" and the "death tax" and reduc ed marginal tax rates. These cuts were enacted by Congress with large bi partisan majorities, but were later criticized as regressive give-aways. No Child Left Behind Act, w hich targets supporting early learning, measures student performance, gi ves options over failing schools, and ensures more resources for schools . Critics say schools were not given the resources to help meet new stan dards. In recent presidential debates, Senator Kerry has largely critici zed Bush on this resource shortcoming. Some state governments are refusi ng to implement provisions of the act as long as they are not adequately funded. They felt that "the Bush administration has ignored unbiased scientific advi ce in the policy-making that is so important for our collective welfare" . com/id/5722898/) Bush's environmental record has been largely criticized by environmentalists, who charge that his policies cater to industry demands to weaken environ mental protections. htm) for his entire presidency with the exceptions of only three significant increases: immediately after 9/11, during the Iraq Wa r, and the capture of Saddam Hussein. Nevertheless, his numbers were stil l solid for the third year of a Presidency, when the President's opponen ts typically begin their campaigns in earnest. George W Bush has been the subject of both high praise and stringent cri ticism, and has been called by some the "love him or hate him" president . Anglo-American cooperation traditionally reigns - have an unfavorable view of Bush and his policy on foreign affa irs, although significant minorities continue to report favorable views. |