NYT: "Richard Blumenthal's Words on Vietnam Service Differ From History"

[Lemon law]

Well, I have to laugh at the latest Blumenthal contention, He claims he mis spoke but refuses to allow it to impune his character.

In short, he is all too willing to forgive himself, but cannot speak for the thinking of anyone else, is his little logical failure. I think other people can make up their own mind on the question of an innocent mis speak or an overtly and politically motivated ploy of the lying sack of shit variety.

 

[ultimatebob]

Oh, and Blumenthal is an idiot for not saying "Served DURING Vietnam" instead of "Served IN Vietnam" in his speeches. The first is a true statement, while the second was a little white lie that gave Mrs. McMahon's campaign some easy ammunition to use against him.

 

[CallMeJoe]

When did lying become "misspoke"?

During the Nixon administration.

 

[Thump553]

Oh, and Blumenthal is an idiot for not saying "Served DURING Vietnam" instead of "Served IN Vietnam" in his speeches. The first is a true statement, while the second was a little white lie that gave Mrs. McMahon's campaign some easy ammunition to use against him.

Again, I hate being put in a position to defend Blumenthal, but from the news reports I've heard that is what he did do except for one time when he screwed it up. Of course McMahon's campaign had that screwup on tape and gleefully turned it over to the New York Times.

 

[3chordcharlie]

but he's a 'brilliant lawyer'... he'll probably have an argument that he's technically correct...

I'd imagine it all hinges on what your definition of 'in' is

 

[pcgeek11]

I'd imagine it all hinges on what your definition of 'in' is

No it doesn't. In means In.

If I said I placed something In a container it doesn't mean I placed it In the same general area it mean In The Container. The same goes for Vietnam if you were In country that means that you were In the the combat zone ( which does include the costal waters ).

I was also in the service during Vietnam and did not go to the combat zone ( Submarine Service ). I would never say or imply that I was In Vietnam. If for no other reason out of respect for those that did endure combat in Vietnam. Look where he was speaking ... to a bunch of Vietnam Veterans trying to win them over. Do you think he might have been making a feeble attempt to form a false link between them and himself. I do. Now he has to pay the fiddler as he was caught with his pants down.

 

[sciwizam]

Damn, this Slate piece is brutal!

7. You're responsible for monitoring things written by others that serve your interests. For more than a year, Blumenthal has hounded Craigslist to "scrub" and "rid" its site of porn and sex ads posted by users. Brushing aside the company's pleas that it can't police everything, he has subpoenaed documents and instructed the company to "immediately hire staff to screen for" offensive ads and images. Two weeks ago, he demanded: "Describe in detail the manual review process craigslist has created to screen posts in the adult services section, including … the number of individuals assigned to review postings and the name of any company craigslist has or will contract with to perform this function."


Today, when Blumenthal was asked why he had failed to correct erroneous reports that he had served in Vietnam, he replied: "I can't be held responsible for all the mistakes in all the articles—thousands of them—that are written about me."

 

[Moonbeam]

He's an asshole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtLE4Z1kMdA

Yup, Glen is an asshole.

 

[3chordcharlie]

No it doesn't. In means In.

If I said I placed something In a container it doesn't mean I placed it In the same general area it mean In The Container. The same goes for Vietnam if you were In country that means that you were In the the combat zone ( which does include the costal waters ).

I was also in the service during Vietnam and did not go to the combat zone ( Submarine Service ). I would never say or imply that I was In Vietnam. If for no other reason out of respect for those that did endure combat in Vietnam. Look where he was speaking ... to a bunch of Vietnam Veterans trying to win them over. Do you think he might have been making a feeble attempt to form a false link between them and himself. I do. Now he has to pay the fiddler as he was caught with his pants down.

I see that went right by you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4XT-l-_3y0

 

[Linflas]

No it doesn't. In means In.

If I said I placed something In a container it doesn't mean I placed it In the same general area it mean In The Container. The same goes for Vietnam if you were In country that means that you were In the the combat zone ( which does include the costal waters ).

I was also in the service during Vietnam and did not go to the combat zone ( Submarine Service ). I would never say or imply that I was In Vietnam. If for no other reason out of respect for those that did endure combat in Vietnam. Look where he was speaking ... to a bunch of Vietnam Veterans trying to win them over. Do you think he might have been making a feeble attempt to form a false link between them and himself. I do. Now he has to pay the fiddler as he was caught with his pants down.

This. I too have the National Defense Ribbon that anyone that joined the military between January 1, 1961 to August 14, 1974 received. I go out of my way to make clear that even though I am a Vietnam Era vet I in no way went anywhere close to Vietnam nor was there any possibility that I could have gone there. It was over and done with and the last men were pulled out before I finished bootcamp. Anyone that has been in the military can tell you there is no mistaking these things. Either you were there or you were not there and I have little respect for anyone that says they were there when they clearly were not. I have seen the video of one of his speeches and he flat out lied, it was not misspeaking unless that is now some new boilerplate language for lying.

 

[PokerGuy]

He's said very clearly in the past that he didn't actually serve in Vietnam. At the same time, it's also very clear that he's obviously trying to create the impression among the voters that he did serve. Now that he's been caught doing that, he'll fall back to technicalities and having "misspoken".

I don't care if he served or not, but the fact that he's a lying weasel about it makes me think he's the lowest of scum and an insult to those who did actually serve.

 

[pcgeek11]

I see that went right by you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4XT-l-_3y0

In the heat of the moment my sarcasm meter was a little off.

 

[werepossum]

He's said very clearly in the past that he didn't actually serve in Vietnam. At the same time, it's also very clear that he's obviously trying to create the impression among the voters that he did serve. Now that he's been caught doing that, he'll fall back to technicalities and having "misspoken".

I don't care if he served or not, but the fact that he's a lying weasel about it makes me think he's the lowest of scum and an insult to those who did actually serve.

This. People who serially "misspeak" used to be called liars. Now they are called - well, they are still called liars.

 

[Thump553]

Significant update: A longer version of the same speech has surfaced. In that longer version-at the very beginning of the SAME speech, Blumenthal makes it very clear that he served in the Marines DURING Vietnam. Here's a link to a local newspaper's article about this development, with the video of the speech enbedded to the right:

http://www.theday.com/article/20100519/NWS12/100519661/1047

Given this additional info, Blumenthal's claim that he misspoke now seems legit, rather than the usual politico's weaseling out.

I understand why Linda McMahon spent $63,000 to hire professional muckrakers to dig stuff like this out, and I understand why her campaign released the (shortened) video to the NYT-that's just hardball politics as usual.

I must admit great disillusionment with the NYT though, for intentionally omitting very relevant portions of the story and the video. But I guess they are more interested in selling papers but they have disgraced their motto "All the news that's fit to print."

 

[sciwizam]

Doesn't really change the story much, "I don't lie 100% of the time!"

I believe the long version of the video is also from McMahon's youtube channel.

Also, this is more on the lines of his words are ambiguous with an intent to somehow connect him to serving in Vietnam.

Here's Times' response

The New York Times in its reporting uncovered Mr. Blumenthal's long and well established pattern of misleading his constituents about his Vietnam War service, which he acknowledged in an interview with The Times. Mr. Blumenthal needs to be candid with his constituents about whether he went to Vietnam or not, since his official military records clearly indicate he did not.
The video doesn't change our story. Saying that he served "during Vietnam" doesn't indicate one way or the other whether he went to Vietnam.
​

 

[sciwizam]

"I wore the uniform in Vietnam and many came back & to all kinds of disrespect. Whatever we think of war, we owe the men and women of the armed forces our unconditional support."


The occasion was the Stamford Veterans Days parade: Nov. 9, 2008.
The speaker was Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, as quoted by The Advocate.

Stamford Advocate

 

[nick1985]

Stamford Advocate

ouch