Edwards lies in interview with Katie Couric

[Riprorin]

In April, NBC "Today Show" host Katie Couric asked him where he was during Vietnam. The exchange went like this:

COURIC: Your military service, before we go?

EDWARDS: I - I did not serve in the military.

COURIC: You had a high lottery number, is that right?

EDWARDS: I did, and I came after - after the time that they were actually drafting from the lottery, Katie. I'm 50 years old. And because at the time I came along and graduated from high school and then - and then went to college, I was not drafted. [END OF EXCERPT]

A high lottery number? Not exactly. Pulling number 178 in the February 1972 Selective Service lottery drawing, Edwards' number was lower than more than half of those picked.

And what about the claim that he "came after the time that they were actually drafting from the lottery."

That's not strictly true either. The year Edwards became eligible for the draft, the military drafted 49,514 men, according to Selective Service records - tapping draftees who had lottery numbers as high as 95. The draft was abolished in July 1973.

But even that year, 646 young men born the same year as Edwards were inducted into the military.

His draft availability aside, Edwards could have enlisted in the military, following the example of the men he now calls liars. Or sign up for the National Guard, the way George Bush did.

John Edwards, however, did neither, enlisting instead in Clemson University, where, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, "He had a little fun . . . drinking beer with buddies . . . smoking marijuana a few times."

"His campaign would not provide more specifics other than to say Edwards' occasional marijuana use continued through law school but stopped after that," the Charlotte Observer reported in July.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

His draft availability aside, Edwards could have enlisted in the military, following the example of the men he now calls liars. Or sign up for the National Guard, the way George Bush did.

Uhh, George Bush needed help to get into the Air National Guard, correct?! By the numbers he should have been knee deep in rice paddy. Last I heard the son's of mill workers didn't have that kind of pull back in the 70s.

John Edwards, however, did neither, enlisting instead in Clemson University, where, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, "He had a little fun . . . drinking beer with buddies . . . smoking marijuana a few times."

Uhh, didn't Bush spend much of his time having fun, drinking beer with buddies . . . other activities . . . well at least up until he had to be tested . . . oops, nevermind.

"His campaign would not provide more specifics other than to say Edwards' occasional marijuana use continued through law school but stopped after that," the Charlotte Observer reported in July.

Hmm Edwards quit toking (allegedly) by his mid-20s. Bush pulled it together at 40. Do you really want to go down this road?

PS . . . why not give people the courtesy of links? Not to imply you aren't stating the "facts" but some of us prefer to read it ourselves.

 

[Jhhnn]

Just shows how little you know about the whole thing, Rip, which isn't surprising at all. Given that nobody above #95 was drafted the previous year, and even that was probably only in one or two boards, #178 was high- high enough, anyway... In Edwards' working class draft area, it probably never went over #100 at any time... he was safe, and he knew it.

No way Edwards was getting into the guard, like Dubya, it was the exclusive turf of the wealthy and well connected. He was neither at the time. Enlist? Hey, you could enlist, yourself, Rip... Unlike Dubya, who was a little older, jammed between enlistment somewhere and being drafted, Edwards didn't have to play the game, so he didn't, just like the vast majority of everybody else.

It's sad, really, to watch as your hyperbole grows more and more petty, more desperate, less meaningful, less pertinent to anything other than your own obsession... That, or the folks paying you to post this crap are running out of material...

 

[Klixxer]

Oh FFS Rip, now you can't post a multitude of threads about kerry so you start doing the same about Edwards, you are ONE good reason to vote against whoever your sick brain tells you to vote for.

 

[IndieSnob]

First off was this from some amazon book review or?


Secondly who the hell cares about what number he got in the draft because it doesn't make a damn difference to any of the real issues. Lay the crack pipe down.

 

[Todd33]

Wow, you criticize a man for not joining while you back a guy who had five deferments. Way to go Rip, you are king of hypocrisy.

 

[maddogchen]

Sorry couldn't resist testing it out

 

[ntdz]

nice post rip, shows how hipocritical democrats are

 

[rextilleon]

Man, are these right wingers maddening--At the time that Edwards was in the lottery, the war was winding down and the 172 was considered a high number---I wish these arm-chair warriors who would go running into the woods rather then fight in the streets of Baghdad would just shut up.

 

[fjord]

Kerry volunteered for combat duty.

That makes Edwards, Bush, and Cheney yellow.

 

[1EZduzit]

They were already winding the war down and I don't think they actually drafted too many much over the #70. 178 was plenty high enough to not worry about being drafted.

For those of you wondering, on a national level they drew birthdates out of a hat. First bithdate drawn was #1, etc, etc, etc.

 

[rextilleon]

LOL--move on is doing very well! By the way, sometimes I am shocked at the lack of understanding of basic US history exhibited by Bushites like Riproin--What has happened to our educational system? Look at what it is producing? His post merely belies his ignorance of modern American history.

 

[chowderhead]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

His draft availability aside, Edwards could have enlisted in the military, following the example of the men he now calls liars. Or sign up for the National Guard, the way George Bush did.

Uhh, George Bush needed help to get into the Air National Guard, correct?! By the numbers he should have been knee deep in rice paddy. Last I heard the son's of mill workers didn't have that kind of pull back in the 70s.

John Edwards, however, did neither, enlisting instead in Clemson University, where, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, "He had a little fun . . . drinking beer with buddies . . . smoking marijuana a few times."

Uhh, didn't Bush spend much of his time having fun, drinking beer with buddies . . . other activities . . . well at least up until he had to be tested . . . oops, nevermind.

"His campaign would not provide more specifics other than to say Edwards' occasional marijuana use continued through law school but stopped after that," the Charlotte Observer reported in July.

Hmm Edwards quit toking (allegedly) by his mid-20s. Bush pulled it together at 40. Do you really want to go down this road?

PS . . . why not give people the courtesy of links? Not to imply you aren't stating the "facts" but some of us prefer to read it ourselves.

My favorite part :roll: of the whole GWB drinking/partying/DUI story was Karen Hughes standing out there on some airport tarmac right after the DUI story broke saying

HUGHES: Well, Jake, again, the only time the governor was directly asked--he was directly asked if he had ever been arrested for drinking, and he replied, and I quote, "I do not have a perfect record as a youth.''

(CROSSTALK)

HUGHES: Throughout this campaign, he has been very forthcoming with the American people that he made mistakes as a youth, that he did things as a youth that he is not proud of, and he has been very open about that.

QUESTION: Is a 30-year-old a youth, Karen?

QUESTION: There are two issues here. The first is that a specific recollection of something that was very unambiguous. A direct question, and a direct answer, which was a denial on the issue of "have you ever been arrested?'' not for drinking but just arrested, period.

PARSE PARSE PARSE. Right then, is an example of GWB and his group of advisors NOT taking responsibility for his actions - implying that it was an youthful indiscretion. This of course was carried over to important things like intelligence failures, Iraq occupation planning, deficit spending (blaming Congress), etc.
Text: Karen Hughes Speaks on Bush DUI Arrest in 1976

If what Kerry and Edwards did 30 years ago in terms of draft, who deserved which medal, anti-war activism, pot-smoking is "fair game," then GWB's "I do not have a perfect record as a (so-called) youth" should not be allowed to be a sufficent answer.

I personally want the two candidates to talk about issues such as education, jobs, deficit reduction, health care and what their plans are for the future. If that happens, GWB is toast.

 

[PatboyX]

Originally posted by: maddogchen
Sorry couldn't resist testing it out

FFS! a cookie!!!!

 

[PatboyX]

Originally posted by: chowderhead

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

His draft availability aside, Edwards could have enlisted in the military, following the example of the men he now calls liars. Or sign up for the National Guard, the way George Bush did.

Uhh, George Bush needed help to get into the Air National Guard, correct?! By the numbers he should have been knee deep in rice paddy. Last I heard the son's of mill workers didn't have that kind of pull back in the 70s.

John Edwards, however, did neither, enlisting instead in Clemson University, where, according to spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, "He had a little fun . . . drinking beer with buddies . . . smoking marijuana a few times."

Uhh, didn't Bush spend much of his time having fun, drinking beer with buddies . . . other activities . . . well at least up until he had to be tested . . . oops, nevermind.

"His campaign would not provide more specifics other than to say Edwards' occasional marijuana use continued through law school but stopped after that," the Charlotte Observer reported in July.

Hmm Edwards quit toking (allegedly) by his mid-20s. Bush pulled it together at 40. Do you really want to go down this road?

PS . . . why not give people the courtesy of links? Not to imply you aren't stating the "facts" but some of us prefer to read it ourselves.

My favorite part :roll: of the whole GWB drinking/partying/DUI story was Karen Hughes standing out there on some airport tarmac right after the DUI story broke saying

HUGHES: Well, Jake, again, the only time the governor was directly asked--he was directly asked if he had ever been arrested for drinking, and he replied, and I quote, "I do not have a perfect record as a youth.''

(CROSSTALK)

HUGHES: Throughout this campaign, he has been very forthcoming with the American people that he made mistakes as a youth, that he did things as a youth that he is not proud of, and he has been very open about that.

QUESTION: Is a 30-year-old a youth, Karen?

QUESTION: There are two issues here. The first is that a specific recollection of something that was very unambiguous. A direct question, and a direct answer, which was a denial on the issue of "have you ever been arrested?'' not for drinking but just arrested, period.

PARSE PARSE PARSE. Right then, is an example of GWB and his group of advisors NOT taking responsibility for his actions - implying that it was an youthful indiscretion. This of course was carried over to important things like intelligence failures, Iraq occupation planning, deficit spending (blaming Congress), etc.
Text: Karen Hughes Speaks on Bush DUI Arrest in 1976

If what Kerry and Edwards did 30 years ago in terms of draft, who deserved which medal, anti-war activism, pot-smoking is "fair game," then GWB's "I do not have a perfect record as a (so-called) youth" should not be allowed to be a sufficent answer.

I personally want the two candidates to talk about issues such as education, jobs, deficit reduction, health care and what their plans are for the future. If that happens, GWB is toast.

i agree. issues are much more important.
its interesting that you make the connection between small lack of accepting responsibility to a larger level of it. i believe that sort of thing is supposed to be common in "dry drunks."

 

[CallMeJoe]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
A high lottery number? Not exactly. Pulling number 178 in the February 1972 Selective Service lottery drawing, Edwards' number was lower than more than half of those picked.

Math isn't your strong suit, is it? If more than half of those drafted had a number higher than JE, they would have had to have called up through 357 - out of 365 available numbers. Talk about a universal draft!!! Almost no one would have escaped.

Originally posted by: Riprorin
And what about the claim that he "came after the time that they were actually drafting from the lottery."
That's not strictly true either. The year Edwards became eligible for the draft, the military drafted 49,514 men, according to Selective Service records - tapping draftees who had lottery numbers as high as 95. The draft was abolished in July 1973.

See math skills reference above. As I recall, 178 is significantly higher than 95.

Originally posted by: Riprorin
But even that year, 646 young men born the same year as Edwards were inducted into the military.

Darn that math!!! 646 out of how many eligible?

 

[rextilleon]

Riproran could benefit from some basic American history! We really need to get back to basics in this country!

 

[glenn1]

I hope Rip owns a bakery what with all the s he's sure to be collecting.

 

[arsbanned]

Rip?







*crickets*

 

[NeoV]

Rip is completely mindless?

This post makes me think "ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case"

The best part is "But even that year, 646 young men born the same year as Edwards were inducted into the military."...out of what...2 million?

MORON

 

[0roo0roo]

rip? why aren't you in bagdad?

 

[rextilleon]

Rip got ripped--he is hiding under a rock somewhere looking at his George Bush Presidential Medalion!

 

[abaez]

lol.. this is good

 

[tnitsuj]

Rip is either a troll or human garbage. Either way we should stop feeding him.

 

[rextilleon]

Edwards and I were in the same draft class------I got 265--------Anyway, I had already made plans to go to Canada if my number was low. Let me thank the Canadian people for all they did for CO's during that period. Come to think of it, of all the wars this nation has fought in the 20th-21th Century, the only ones I would have felt were morally reasonable were WW2, Korea, and Afghanistan---For all the rest I would have high tailed it to Canada.