Post by Rob St. AmantPost by Dweezil DwarftosserPost by Rob St. AmantHe's repudiated his former self, and in any case he doesn't
hold a monopoly on hypocrisy.
I'm not sure on the first, but agree on the second claim.
He's still the Prince of the Pork-barrel, though.
Agreed. The Emperor is Tom Delay, though, right?
Three-fourths of Delay's home state don't obtain their paychecks
from federal pork - as that of Byrd's does.
Post by Rob St. AmantPost by Dweezil DwarftosserPost by Rob St. AmantI'm thinking, for example, of Dick "I had other priorities"
Cheney,
You do realize that Cheney was beyond (de facto) draft age
during the Vietnam war, right? Before 1965, draft calls
were quite low. (I know of only one "peacetime draftee"
from those pre-war days; just unlucky, I guess.) His
vulnerability to the draft ended a few years before the
universal draft of ALL eligibles experienced during 1966-70.
(There was no "lottery" until Nixon; you were drafted at
age 19 years and 6-9 months - or a month after a college
deferment disappeared, whichever came first.)
Nope, I didn't know all that; perhaps I should check it out.
I was thinking of Cheney's four deferments.
Cheney was legally deferred as a college student through at
least 1963. I'm not sure if he could extend that deferment
through a Master's at that time, but only unmarried 25-year-olds
were drafted prior to the war's calls of 1965. By January of
1966, Cheney was beyond normal draft age.
They quickly ran through the pool of eligible men 25 down to
21, so that only 19-year-olds (and a few 20-YO squeekers) were
undrafted by the Tet offensive. Of course, by then, the
colleges were chock full of men whose major was draft-dodging
- but the rules had changed to a maximum of four years, six
months 2-S deferment.
(Tangental: In Jan 1968 I sat in the AF recruiter's office
with two Columbia graduates who wanted to be officers - but
only "flying" slots were open to them - with a guaranteed
tour of the VN war. They chose to join as enlisted men.
But I'm not sure if they realized that there was a year-long
waiting list for most AF enlistments back then; they probably
were drafted as grunts long before a slot opened for them.
Foolish... because few AF toads escaped a VN tour during their
four-year enlistment.)
Post by Rob St. AmantAre you say that those were pro-forma, that he'd been in no
danger of being drafted if he hadn't taken action to avoid it?
All deferments are pro-forma, if the conditions permitting
the deferment are known to the draft board. It is up to the
individual to notify the board of any disqualifying condition
which might result in a deferment.
Prior to 1965, perhaps 1 in 20-30 undefered eligibles were
drafted, in descending age order. That's real good odds.
By 1968, 99 of 100 eligibles were inducted.
[ snip ]
Post by Rob St. AmantI'll only address the intellectual dishonesty part, which I
find mildly insulting.
Sorry - but it is a staple of liberals on usenet.
I find it completely incongruous for intelligent people to
merely repeat allegations that have so repeatedly been
proven false or absolutely without evidence of any kind,
as if it were the seriousness of the allegation - rather
than the facts - which were important.
Post by Rob St. AmantI was only referring to the document on which Bush check
marked that he did not want to go to Viet Nam.
Never happened.
Since I have personally executed a number of these forms
during my career, I can attest that what you describe has
never existed. The only possible form that relates in any
way to volunteering for such duty is the "dream sheet" (a
numbered AF Form headed "Assignment Preference Worksheet"
or similar) which has two sections: US preferences and
overseas. Each of the sections has six or eight lines
wherein the airman writes (in preference order) bases,
states, or grouped regions (e.g. - "SE United States").
The Overseas section demands country names only, rather
than specific bases. It also has a warning printed in
the header: "Any entry made below indicates you are
VOLUNTEERING for world-wide duty".
Not only is that a great "Gotcha" - a volunteer statement
for Vietnam when the person wanted ONLY to be assigned
to a long tour in say, England - it means the person has
also just volunteered for the rest of the nasty places on
earth, too: Korea, the Philippines, an island in the Indian
Ocean, Greenland, Turkey, or wartime Thailand, Cambodia, or
Laos. (Any blank entry in the overseas section is by default
"no preference" - so that line will exactly match an opening
in Bumfuk Air Base, Egypt.)
The smart guys either decline to make any entries in the
overseas section - or fill every available space with either
places they wouldn't mind going - or places in which it is
impossible for them to be assigned. (Mine always contained
Argentina, Israel, Sweden and Switzerland when "ringers" were
required to fill all of the entries.)
I never volunteered for the VN war, either - but that never
stopped me from going there.
BTW - the only time the data in these "dream sheets" is actually
consulted is when the airman is vulnerable for assignment this
month (he has completed 12 months, minimum, at the current base).
At that time, the openings WILL BE filled from the list of this
month's eligibles. If matches can be made to the preferences
listed by those individuals in the pool, they will do so; if not,
they WILL be given an involuntary assignment to a current opening.
If there are 300 people on the list this month - and 250 war
assignments which must be filled, 250 people will fill them,
whether or not it matches their "volunteer" preferences.
The following month, there may be 300 openings in Hawaii
(one of your preferences) - too bad; you're off to war.
Naturally, there would be a few actual VN volunteers in that
group - but they will have to endure sitting on a beach in
Honolulu, instead.