Senator blasts 'chickenhawks' {This is getting hot}
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Senator blasts 'chickenhawks' {This is getting hot}
Defending Kerry, senator blasts 'chickenhawks'
Lautenberg criticizes Cheney for questioning record
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 Posted: 4:25 PM EDT (2025 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg on Wednesday called Vice President d#$% Cheney "the lead chickenhawk" against Sen. John Kerry and criticized other Republicans for questioning the Democratic presidential contender's military credentials.
But Sen. John McCain, a decorated war hero and former prisoner of war, scolded Lautenberg for attacking the Bush administration during the Iraq conflict and said it was time to "declare that the Vietnam War is over."
In a scathing speech on the Senate floor, Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, said that he did not think politicians should be judged by whether they had military service but added that "when those who didn't serve attack the heroism of those who did, I find it particularly offensive."
"We know who the chicken hawks are. They talk tough on national defense and military issues and cast aspersions on others," he said. "When it was their turn to serve where were they? AWOL, that's where they were." Lautenberg pointed to a poster with a drawing of a chicken in a military uniform defining a chickenhawk as "a person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it." "They shriek like a hawk, but they have the backbone of the chicken," he said.
"The lead chickenhawk against Sen. Kerry [is] the vice president of the United States, Vice President Cheney," Lautenberg said. "He was in Missouri this week claiming that Sen. Kerry was not up to the job of protecting this nation. What nerve. Where was d#$% Cheney when that war was going on?"
Lautenberg chastised members of the Bush administration for being overly eager to go to war when they had not been willing to fight themselves. He quoted a Cheney interview from the 1980s that he had "other priorities" in the '60s than military service.
In a speech Monday at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Cheney attacked Kerry's votes in the Senate to cut weapons programs, his opposition to the 1991 Persian Gulf War and recent comments that the war on terror should not be thought of primarily as a military operation.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday that Cheney criticized Kerry on policy issues and said that "no one is questioning his military service." But Lautenberg compared Cheney's remarks with the GOP campaign against former Sen. Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat whose defeat in 2002 has been a sore spot to many in his party.
"Max Cleland lost three limbs in Vietnam and they shamed him so, that he was pushed out of office because he was portrayed as weak on defense. Where do they come off with that kind of stuff?" he said. He also criticized President Bush for declaring an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003.
He showed a picture of Bush giving a speech on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln with the banner "Mission Accomplished" in the background. "The mission accomplished was to get a picture that could be used in an election campaign," Lautenberg said.
Since that speech, 587 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, including 415 from hostile fire. Lautenberg also criticized the president for saying "bring 'em on" to Iraqi insurgents. "I served in Europe in World War II," he said. "The last thing I wanted to hear from my commander in chief, or my local commander, is dare the enemy to launch attacks against us."
McCain, the next senator to speak, said he had planned to discuss an Internet tax moratorium bill but that he felt he needed to address Lautenberg's remarks. He said reasonable differences of opinion existed about the handling of the Iraq war but that the Senate should focus on making the operation successful.
"What are we doing on the floor of the Senate? We're attacking the president's credentials because of his service that ended ... more than 30 years ago," McCain said. "I think that's wrong. I wish we'd stop it. I wish we'd just stop, at least until the fighting in Iraq is over with."
He called for a bipartisan approach to "seeing this thing through because we cannot afford to fail." "At least could we declare that the Vietnam War is over and have a cease-fire and agree that both candidates -- the president of the United States and Sen. Kerry served honorably -- end of story? Now let's focus our attention on the conflict that's taking place in Iraq, that is taking American lives as I speak on this floor," he said.
Lautenberg criticizes Cheney for questioning record
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 Posted: 4:25 PM EDT (2025 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg on Wednesday called Vice President d#$% Cheney "the lead chickenhawk" against Sen. John Kerry and criticized other Republicans for questioning the Democratic presidential contender's military credentials.
But Sen. John McCain, a decorated war hero and former prisoner of war, scolded Lautenberg for attacking the Bush administration during the Iraq conflict and said it was time to "declare that the Vietnam War is over."
In a scathing speech on the Senate floor, Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, said that he did not think politicians should be judged by whether they had military service but added that "when those who didn't serve attack the heroism of those who did, I find it particularly offensive."
"We know who the chicken hawks are. They talk tough on national defense and military issues and cast aspersions on others," he said. "When it was their turn to serve where were they? AWOL, that's where they were." Lautenberg pointed to a poster with a drawing of a chicken in a military uniform defining a chickenhawk as "a person enthusiastic about war, provided someone else fights it." "They shriek like a hawk, but they have the backbone of the chicken," he said.
"The lead chickenhawk against Sen. Kerry [is] the vice president of the United States, Vice President Cheney," Lautenberg said. "He was in Missouri this week claiming that Sen. Kerry was not up to the job of protecting this nation. What nerve. Where was d#$% Cheney when that war was going on?"
Lautenberg chastised members of the Bush administration for being overly eager to go to war when they had not been willing to fight themselves. He quoted a Cheney interview from the 1980s that he had "other priorities" in the '60s than military service.
In a speech Monday at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Cheney attacked Kerry's votes in the Senate to cut weapons programs, his opposition to the 1991 Persian Gulf War and recent comments that the war on terror should not be thought of primarily as a military operation.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday that Cheney criticized Kerry on policy issues and said that "no one is questioning his military service." But Lautenberg compared Cheney's remarks with the GOP campaign against former Sen. Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat whose defeat in 2002 has been a sore spot to many in his party.
"Max Cleland lost three limbs in Vietnam and they shamed him so, that he was pushed out of office because he was portrayed as weak on defense. Where do they come off with that kind of stuff?" he said. He also criticized President Bush for declaring an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003.
He showed a picture of Bush giving a speech on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln with the banner "Mission Accomplished" in the background. "The mission accomplished was to get a picture that could be used in an election campaign," Lautenberg said.
Since that speech, 587 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, including 415 from hostile fire. Lautenberg also criticized the president for saying "bring 'em on" to Iraqi insurgents. "I served in Europe in World War II," he said. "The last thing I wanted to hear from my commander in chief, or my local commander, is dare the enemy to launch attacks against us."
McCain, the next senator to speak, said he had planned to discuss an Internet tax moratorium bill but that he felt he needed to address Lautenberg's remarks. He said reasonable differences of opinion existed about the handling of the Iraq war but that the Senate should focus on making the operation successful.
"What are we doing on the floor of the Senate? We're attacking the president's credentials because of his service that ended ... more than 30 years ago," McCain said. "I think that's wrong. I wish we'd stop it. I wish we'd just stop, at least until the fighting in Iraq is over with."
He called for a bipartisan approach to "seeing this thing through because we cannot afford to fail." "At least could we declare that the Vietnam War is over and have a cease-fire and agree that both candidates -- the president of the United States and Sen. Kerry served honorably -- end of story? Now let's focus our attention on the conflict that's taking place in Iraq, that is taking American lives as I speak on this floor," he said.
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Scipio Africanus
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I'm sorry but Kerry is not different from Bush...I'd prefer EDwards or Clark anyday...Come November, it's gonna be picking the lesser of two evils and unfortunately, I see Bush edging out Kerry....all these back and forth debates na just demo!
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge - Hawking, 1942
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cic old boy
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What really pisses me off about chickenhawks is when they say stuff like “we have to show resolve”, “we have to stay the course”. It is not these cowards who are showing “resolve”. It is not them “staying the course”. “Brave” speeches are easy thousands of miles from the theatre of war.
http://www.naijiant.com/
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Jiggerman21
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yep. Politicians use the term "we" quite liberally.cic old boy wrote:What really pisses me off about chickenhawks is when they say stuff like “we have to show resolve”, “we have to stay the course”. It is not these cowards who are showing “resolve”. It is not them “staying the course”. “Brave” speeches are easy thousands of miles from the theatre of war.
Chickenhawks??
It's great to see republicans being taken on at their own game.
A stubborn goat can never learn from past mistakes. Nuff said.
How is Kerry not different from Bush. Although the democrats are trying desperately not to higlight it, Kerry has a mostly LIBERAL VOTING RECORD. George Bush is just a few shades away from fascism.Riche007 wrote:I'm sorry but Kerry is not different from Bush...I'd prefer EDwards or Clark anyday...Come November, it's gonna be picking the lesser of two evils and unfortunately, I see Bush edging out Kerry....all these back and forth debates na just demo!
They (Bush, Chaney, Rumsfeld) talk about fighting for freedom or preserving it. Will they or their sibblings actually go get riffles themselves at fight for that freedom? It's all loud mouth. Monkey they go fight and get killed and bamboo dey stay cozy dey chop.
Nigeria shall wallop the dormitable lions