What a stunning turn of events. The Connecticut Attorney General, Democrat Richard Blumenthal who is also favored to fill the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Chris Dodd, has apparently decided to embellish his service record.
“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”
There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.
The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.
In 1970, with his last deferment in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive.
It's remarkable that Blumenthal could be so dumb and dishonest that he would lie about serving in Vietnam, but it's positively shocking that the New York Times would actually call him on it. Maybe next week Times pages will carry stories about his secret humanitarian missions behind enemy lines – missions so secret and dangerous that there could be no record of them.
Via Ace of Spades.
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