The Onion: Candidate May Have Lied About Heroic Death in Vietnam

From The Onion…

In a major scandal that could cast doubt on his political future, U.S. Senate candidate Chris Wilfred came under fire this week for comments he made alleging he had died heroically while fighting in the Vietnam War.

Wilfred made the controversial claim during a speech Monday honoring three American soldiers recently killed in Afghanistan.

"I know all too well the depth of their sacrifice, for I myself was killed on a battlefield far away from home," Wilfred, a three-term Democratic state representative, said to a crowd of hundreds. "But we who have laid down our lives — whether in Vietnam or Afghanistan—have done so with the knowledge that our deeds have kept our country safe."

Added Wilfred, "Their deaths, like mine, were not vain."

When did we, as a society, become so cynical as to doubt a fallen hero's testimonial of his death several decades earlier. This is not the America that grandfather died defending on three separate occasions. I ask you, what did his deaths mean?

Tags: Senate, The Onion, Vietnam

Make-Believe Vietnam Vet Still Beating Real-Life Professional Wrestling Mogul in Connecticut Senate Race

A new poll in Connecticut seems to show that voters there are not concerned with a candidate pretending to serve in a war that he never served in, just so long as he's not the former CEO of the largest professional wrestling league in the world who fires employees by kicking them in the dick on national television.

Because, hey, every state has its limits…

[A] new poll from Quinnipiac University shows [Richard] Blumenthal is still dominating the race for Senate in the wake of a brutal New York Times story that accused him of lying about his military record.

The poll, one of the most respected in Connecticut politics, shows Blumenthal ahead of likely Republican nominee Linda McMahon by a whopping 25 points. He leads the race by a margin of 56-31. That's down somewhat from the astronomical 61-28 lead Blumenthal had in the March Q poll, but — as they say in the business — anything over 20 is a good day.

Tell that to my Spanish-American war buddies who died over there in Iwo Jima fighting for the liberation of Catalonia. You think they'd say anything over 20 is a good day? Ha! They ate the number 20 for breakfast. And they were thankful for it!

Think about that.

Tags: Chris Dodd, Connecticut, Linda McMahon, Military, Polls, Richard Blumenthal, Senate, Vietnam, Wrestling

Postcards from the News

People sure do spend a lot of time writing about the News. It's kinda sweet to see that once in a while the News writes back…

More Postcards from the News after the jump…

Read More »

Tags: BP, Civil Rights, Education, Energy & Oil, Gulf Coast, Kentucky, North Korea, Postcards from the News, Racism, Rand Paul, Richard Blumenthal, Texas, Vietnam

New Old News: All That Stuff About Vietnam

Where does the mainstream media get off accusing Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of misrepresenting his service in Vietnam, just because it didn't take place in Vietnam?

It's the sort of thing that makes you want to take to the streets with your laptop and blog about in protest…

Tags: Connecticut, Democrats, New Old News, Richard Blumenthal, Senate, Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, Vietnam

Democratic Candidate for Senate Discovers That There's This Thing Called "Fact-Checking"

"We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam," [Attorney General Richard] Blumenthal told a crowd of people gathered together to honor the memories of soldiers who served overseas.

Unfortunately, that lesson learned had nothing to do with not pretending to have served in Vietnam to gain points on your senate campaign…

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…

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.

To be completely fair to Mr. Blumenthal, I have an uncle who lost an arm at a Toys for Tots drive in Topeka. Those children. Everywhere, the children…

Tags: Connecticut, Democrats, Military, Richard Blumenthal, Senate, Vietnam