So now they honor the Purple Heart

August 17, 2005

Last week, the Washington Times noted that Bill Frist wants Americans to learn the significance of the Purple Heart. On a similar note, Dick Cheney will be in Missouri tomorrow to address the national convention of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, following House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, who spoke yesterday.

I’m delighted that these high-profile Republicans are finally prepared to honor those soldiers who’ve been wounded in combat, but I can’t help but notice that it’s coming one year too late.

Delegates to the Republican National Convention found a new way to take a jab at Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s Vietnam service record: by sporting adhesive bandages with small purple hearts on them.

Morton Blackwell, a prominent Virginia delegate, has been handing out the heart-covered bandages to delegates, who’ve worn them on their chins, cheeks, the backs of their hands and other places.

Yes, almost exactly one year after GOP delegates thought it was funny to mock wounded soldiers, now Cheney and his cohorts want veterans to know that Republican leaders are through deriding service and sacrifice. How generous of them.

I’m afraid, though, that the trend is inescapable.

I’ve been thinking for a while that we might be seeing the beginning of a new trend in American politics — the anti-military right. Rush is calling marines “pukes,” veterans are being called cowards and fakers, disabled vets are mocked for not having the right wounds or getting them in the right way, GOP hags are wearing cute little “purple heart” bandaids on their cheeks. People are selling busts of the president using his lack of combat experience as a selling point saying outright that physical courage is no longer particularly worthy of conservative approbation. Being a veteran buys you no credibility and no respect in today’s Real Murika.

And this was before a Bush supporter used his truck to run over hundreds of crosses laid for soldiers killed in Iraq.

These people make me SICK

  • you forgot that cheney got 5 deferments because he had other priorities. the cabbage patch kid has alot of nerve, but what can you expect from hypocrisy and arrogance. mary

  • I have never been a big believer that the GOP likes the military. I always felt that a rather hefty percentage of their rhetoric was lip service so they could get votes/money/support and use it as a club to beat over Democrats head – so it didn’t surprise me when they started dissing service in obvious and subersive ways. I just figured they were showing their true colors.

  • Don’t forget how the right went after Iraqi war veteran and Dem candidate Paul Hackett in the recent Ohio election.

    And never forget that it’s the far right (and even some in the middle) in the congress that continues to vote AGAINST (for the most part) helping properly arm the soldiers, helping soldiers & vets with health care (incl. mental health), helping their families back home, etc. etc. In fact, it’s the Democrats, esp. the liberal Dems, who are voting FOR our men and women in uniform.

    And the common perception is that it’s the Repubs who are strong for the troops and national defense. Yaright. Dem Senator Patty Murray of WA has been leading the charge for increasing funding for the VA. She properly quotes our first president as saying that (paraphrasing) we can’t expect new recruits when we don’t take care of the vets. I think Patty finally got her amendment through. Persistence paid off.

  • This morning on NPR I listened with (unfortunately) a complete lack of surprise to a story about the VA investigating payments for PTS syndrome due to a huge upsurge in claims in recent years. I wonder what could have caused that . . .

  • Well, the rethug strategists aren’t stupid. I predict we’ll see more attempts to get ahead of these stories and paint themselves as the true supporters of the military.

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