The Emperor has no uniform...
CNN: Lautenberg pointed to a poster with a drawing of
a chicken in a military uniform defining a chickenhawk
as "a person enthusiastic about war, provided someone
else fights it." "They shriek like a hawk, but they have the backbone of the chicken," he said. "The lead chickenhawk against Sen. Kerry [is] the vice president of the United States, Vice President Cheney," Lautenberg said. "He was in Missouri this week claiming that Sen. Kerry was not up to the job of protecting this nation. What nerve. Where was Dick Cheney when that war was going on?"
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http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/28/lautenberg.kerry/index.html
Defending Kerry, senator blasts 'chickenhawks'
Lautenberg criticizes Cheney for questioning record
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg on
Wednesday called Vice President Dick Cheney "the lead
chickenhawk" against Sen. John Kerry and criticized
other Republicans for questioning the Democratic
presidential contender's military credentials.
But Sen. John McCain, a decorated war hero and former
prisoner of war, scolded Lautenberg for attacking the
Bush administration during the Iraq conflict and said
it was time to "declare that the Vietnam War is over."
In a scathing speech on the Senate floor, Lautenberg,
D-New Jersey, said that he did not think politicians
should be judged by whether they had military service
but added that "when those who didn't serve attack the
heroism of those who did, I find it particularly
offensive."
Lautenberg pointed to a poster with a drawing of a
chicken in a military uniform defining a chickenhawk
as "a person enthusiastic about war, provided someone
else fights it."
"They shriek like a hawk, but they have the backbone
of the chicken," he said.
"The lead chickenhawk against Sen. Kerry [is] the
vice president of the United States, Vice President
Cheney," Lautenberg said. "He was in Missouri this
week claiming that Sen. Kerry was not up to the job of
protecting this nation. What nerve. Where was Dick
Cheney when that war was going on?"
Lautenberg chastised members of the Bush
administration for being overly eager to go to war
when they had not been willing to fight themselves. He
quoted a Cheney interview from the 1980s that he had
"other priorities" in the '60s than military service.
In a speech Monday at Westminster College in Fulton,
Missouri, Cheney attacked Kerry's votes in the Senate
to cut weapons programs, his opposition to the 1991
Persian Gulf War and recent comments that the war on
terror should not be thought of primarily as a
military operation.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday
that Cheney criticized Kerry on policy issues and said
that "no one is questioning his military service."
But Lautenberg compared Cheney's remarks with the GOP
campaign against former Sen. Max Cleland, a Georgia
Democrat whose defeat in 2002 has been a sore spot to
many in his party.
"Max Cleland lost three limbs in Vietnam and they
shamed him so, that he was pushed out of office
because he was portrayed as weak on defense. Where do
they come off with that kind of stuff?" he said.
He also criticized President Bush for declaring an end
to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003.
He showed a picture of Bush giving a speech on the
deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln with the banner
"Mission Accomplished" in the background.
"The mission accomplished was to get a picture that
could be used in an election campaign," Lautenberg
said.
Since that speech, 587 U.S. troops have died in Iraq,
including 415 from hostile fire.
Lautenberg also criticized the president for saying
"bring 'em on" to Iraqi insurgents.
"I served in Europe in World War II," he said. "The
last thing I wanted to hear from my commander in
chief, or my local commander, is dare the enemy to
launch attacks against us."
McCain, the next senator to speak, said he had planned
to discuss an Internet tax moratorium bill but that he
felt he needed to address Lautenberg's remarks.
He said reasonable differences of opinion existed
about the handling of the Iraq war but that the Senate
should focus on making the operation successful.
"What are we doing on the floor of the Senate? We're
attacking the president's credentials because of his
service that ended ... more than 30 years ago," McCain
said. "I think that's wrong. I wish we'd stop it. I
wish we'd just stop, at least until the fighting in
Iraq is over with."
He called for a bipartisan approach to "seeing this
thing through because we cannot afford to fail."
"At least could we declare that the Vietnam War is
over and have a cease-fire and agree that both
candidates -- the president of the United States and
Sen. Kerry served honorably -- end of story? Now let's
focus our attention on the conflict that's taking
place in Iraq, that is taking American lives as I
speak on this floor," he said.
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Posted by richard at April 28, 2004 04:39 PM