Media Lets Conn. Dem Slide on Vietnam Lies for Three Decades

Ahead of multiple ethics violations Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd is retiring from his long-time Democrat held seat. The Conn. Democrat Party is keen to keep that seat and has proffered Conn. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal as the man to do it for them. But, Blumenthal has a tiny little problem: for three decades he’s told fibs and outright untruths about his service in Vietnam.

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Blumenthal has for decades said he was a veteran of the war and led constituents to believe he served overseas but the truth is he served only during the last few years of the war, having gotten multiple deferments before 1970, and then served only here in the United States, never overseas. Kudos to the New York Times for reporting this fact, of course, but the Old Media is not absolved because of this one story. Condemnation for the media is evident in these words in the NYT story: “The Vietnam chapter in Mr. Blumenthal’s biography has received little attention despite his nearly three decades in Connecticut politics.” Amazing. This man has been prevaricating about his non-existent service in the war for three decades and only NOW he’s getting called on the carpet for it? Where has the Connecticut media been all this time? Where has the national media been for the months that Blumenthal has been running for Senate? One of the lead paragraphs in the Times story is pretty damning.

“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.”

Many times Blumenthal has been recorded telling audiences that he remembered “when we came back” how badly “we” were treated. He’s told audiences how “we couldn’t wear our uniforms” because of the abuse returning solders were faced with. For years he’s been making people think he was a returning veteran from Vietnam and used this as a basis to gain votes. When at last confronted with his lies Blumenthal tried to claim that he never said he actually fought in Vietnam but that he was just a Vet of that era. In Clintonian double speak he told reporters, “My intention has always been to be completely clear and accurate and straightforward, out of respect to the veterans who served in Vietnam.” But clearly Blumenthal has not only said directly that he was in the war and not merely of the era, he’s also allowed the perception that he fought in the war to go uncorrected for three decades. This is despicable behavior. No one should ever pretend to have been a battle veteran. Not to take away from his state-side service, but to cause people to imagine he was a battle veteran when he wasn’t is inexcusable. But the disgusting nature of this situation is compounded by three decades of Old Media incompetence or perhaps we should call it assistance. The media has let down all its news reading customers for three decades on this issue. Makes you wonder what else about this man has gone unreported — or any other Democrat for that matter.