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Mitt's Dangerous French Adventure

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Media
Posted on Sun Sep 02, 2012 at 04:33:02 PM EST
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“In 1968, France was a dangerous place to be for a 21-year-old American, but Mitt Romney was right in the middle of it. - Gloria Borger of CNN, in their "documentary," "Romney Revealed."

Via digby, Tommy Christopher of Mediate lampoons CNN and Gloria Borger:

Yep, in 1968, the brave choice was to avoid the draft and Vietnam and go to France. What in the world has happened to CNN?

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    Mitt's Dangerous French Adventure | 25 comments (25 topical)

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    I did get drafted (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Repack Rider on Sun Sep 02, 2012 at 08:47:16 PM EST
    and was sent to a place far more dangerous than France.

    Texas.

    reminds me of a friend's dad (none / 0) (#7)
    by desmoinesdem on Sun Sep 02, 2012 at 11:32:40 PM EST
    who served during the Korean War--at a radar station in Churchill, Manitoba. I'd rather roll the dice on a polar bear attack than be anywhere near a war zone.

    Parent
    I am glad (none / 0) (#15)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 01:14:18 PM EST


    Parent
    Crepes a la orange vs. Agent Orange (5.00 / 7) (#5)
    by Towanda on Sun Sep 02, 2012 at 11:20:05 PM EST
    My ex-spouse served in Vietnam, where he saved and dreamed of the day that, if he survived, he would go to Paris.

    In one place, he was exposed to Agent Orange.

    In the other place, he had crepes a la orange.

    Guess which one is considered the cause of the cancer that is killing him now -- as my poor kids agonize at seeing their dad go through chemo, surgery, radiation, more surgery, constant crises, and now see him entering his third week in the ICU with respiratory failure, kidney failure, and more.

    I thought Romney was a greedy SOB, but now I know that he is a whiny, evil, greedy SOB.  Seeing this nonsense, I now am determined to dance on the day that he is defeated -- and again on his grave.  

    Here's a way that he can get to his grave a lot faster, and it ain't from a trip to France.  I dare him to spend even a day in Da Nang . . .  even today, still toxic as a site for warehousing Agent Orange.

    My husband also served in Vietnam... (5.00 / 3) (#19)
    by Anne on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 08:17:17 PM EST
    he was one of the lucky ones, in that he contracted a severe strep infection that put him in the hospital for several months, and then kept him out of combat for the remainder of his tour.  He was, however, exposed to Agent Orange, which is believed to be the cause of his Type 2 diabetes.

    As a result of class action litigation, that exposure has bought him a ticket to a disability check and fully-covered health care through the VA.

    My husband enlisted in the Army, as everyone in the area who was drafted ended up in the Marines...and my husband knew he was not Marine material.

    From Bush and Cheney to Mitt Romney, there has been a dearth of courage in the first degree, no consequence or risk to life or limb, no real understanding of what it means to risk one's life.  And while Obama's age put him in limbo in terms of wartime service, I don't see him with any real understanding of what it means to risk one's life in service to one's country.  

    I am so sorry for what your ex is going through, and by extension, what that means for your children.  And I share your feelings about Romney...I'm not really even sure he's human.

    Parent

    Thank you, Anne (none / 0) (#22)
    by Towanda on Tue Sep 04, 2012 at 09:52:32 AM EST
    and I'm sorry for the suffering that you and your spouse are enduring, too.

    My children have been so strong through years of seeing their father suffer, but at least he got to both of their college graduations -- the most recent one just months ago.  But my daughter is so sad about dad not walking her down the aisle one day.  

    And my son has power of health care decisions, and this is so hard for him, as we know that there now are only a few days until the deadline on any more intubation/sedation.  They had hoped to talk with their dad one more time. . . .  

    He also thought that he had lucked out by enlisting for extra duty to be an officer -- also Army -- rather than a grunt, and by rarely having to be on the front lines but instead being attached to the hq at Da Nang.  Now we know that it also was a major storage depot for Agent Orange and that maintenance was so poor that the lethal chemical leaked and exposed many there.

    Parent

    Paris (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by lc on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 07:22:11 AM EST
    Poor Mitt.  Life's just filled with hardships.

    In 1968, I went to the military funeral (5.00 / 5) (#12)
    by scribe on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 08:53:00 AM EST
    of my 19 year-old paratrooper cousin, killed in a vicious, pointless battle in some nameless jungle sh*thole in Vietnam.

    F*ck you, Romney.

    My uncle did three tours on a helicopter (5.00 / 3) (#13)
    by Angel on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 09:56:57 AM EST
    swooping in to pick up the wounded and picking up others from live battlefields.  He's got cancer now.  I don't think he ever cared to go to Paris, France, but he sure as he!! didn't want to experience the horrors of Vietnam and keep reliving those horrors all these years later.  Poor little Mittster having to face the oh-so-awful dangers of Paris in 1968.

    My husband says those were the bravest (5.00 / 3) (#16)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 01:16:18 PM EST
    and still most skilled aviators and crews that our military has ever known.

    Parent
    I was three back then (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 01:27:04 PM EST
    My Uncle volunteered, thought it would help him be able to talk to his dad who was a medic during WWII.  I think my Uncle mistook his father's PTSD for a lack of loving of him, and he wasn't able to figure it out until he shared that his father.

    Outside of my Uncle being terrified of what agent orange would end up doing to him, he told me they had slept on sacks of it at times.  They came in so tired they didn't care where they slept, they slept where they fell.  And outside of my Uncle deciding not to stick around anymore a year and half into the Iraq War with a son-in-law and nephew-in-law in the middle of it, I will have to take the word of those of you who lived through the meat grinder and how horrible it all was.

    Good Gravy (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Sep 04, 2012 at 12:57:36 PM EST
    How is that any more dangerous that the US in the 60's, the Deep South, Chicago, Kent State, and so much more.  It was a violent time.

    Why don't they do a little film on the violence of the south in the 60's against black people, it would make France look like what it was for Romney, a delightful cream puff.

    Little did we know our lives (none / 0) (#1)
    by oculus on Sun Sep 02, 2012 at 04:47:10 PM EST
    were at risk there in 1970 (post Navy).  Although the police wouldn't  let us get anywhere near their baracade.  

    yeah, geez, you might have gotten beaned (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Sun Sep 02, 2012 at 10:19:49 PM EST
    with a hot loaf of bread. the horror, the horror.............

    From andgarden at DK: (none / 0) (#4)
    by oculus on Sun Sep 02, 2012 at 10:47:51 PM EST
    I want hazard pay for having been in NYC
    during Occupy!

    what's happened to CNN? (none / 0) (#6)
    by desmoinesdem on Sun Sep 02, 2012 at 11:31:17 PM EST
    The refs got worked effectively.

    I am reminded of... (none / 0) (#8)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 12:33:48 AM EST
    this for some reason.

    Change Robin to Mitt
    and it couldn't be a better fit.

    Republicans might counter... (none / 0) (#9)
    by EL seattle on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 04:07:07 AM EST
    ... any criticism of Romney in France by comparing it to Clinton at Oxford (at about the same time for maybe the same reason). I doubt if there's any real benefit for anyone having an argument like that right now, unless they wanted to to create a distraction or muddy the waters or just grind some old axes.

    Nobody claimed (5.00 / 9) (#14)
    by Politalkix on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 10:22:00 AM EST
    Oxford was a dangerous place in 1968. Also Bill Clinton was not seen supporting the Vietnam War in a College Campus. False equivalence!

    Parent
    Sure, but (none / 0) (#21)
    by jbindc on Tue Sep 04, 2012 at 08:32:40 AM EST
    Where did Obama serve again? True, he wasn't old enough to go to Vietnam, but he could have volunteered, right?

    That certainly would be a better comparison as opposed to Bill Clinton.


    Parent

    He served... (none / 0) (#23)
    by kdog on Tue Sep 04, 2012 at 10:42:57 AM EST
    as a community organizer in far more dangerous places than Paris circa 1968;)

    Parent
    Yeah (none / 0) (#24)
    by jbindc on Tue Sep 04, 2012 at 12:36:53 PM EST
    Dealing with white Catholic priests and black unemployed manufacturing laborers on the South Side deserves combat pay.  :)

    Parent
    talk to me again, when bill clinton's (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by cpinva on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 05:46:00 PM EST
    running for president. of course, we could counter-counter, with gwb's spending his time in the texas air national guard, while also supporting the war, but that would be rude.

    Parent
    I was thinking more about... (none / 0) (#20)
    by EL seattle on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 11:48:22 PM EST
    ... when Bill Clinton is on stage at the upcoming convention. I think that he'll probably be talking about why folks should vote for Obama, but I'm sure that a lot of republicans would be very happy if this this sort of dishy (and irrelevant) gabbery became a time-consuming part of the TV analysts' discussion of the event.

    Parent
    Soledad O'brien (none / 0) (#11)
    by vicndabx on Mon Sep 03, 2012 at 08:35:30 AM EST
    Seems, imo at least, to cover all the talking points and counter them.  Your fave Joe Klein was on her show this AM and even he (shockingly) caught some of her apparent vapors.

    Mitt's Dangerous French Adventure | 25 comments (25 topical)

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