More nonsense over at the House of Beaker

VoteVets exists for one purpose, and one purpose only, to defend everything Obama does. When they came up with that jackass policy of charging veterans for their service-connected ailments (by charging to insurance policies that have deductibles etc) Vote Vets was alone in thinking this was a good idea. I literally haven’t seen another group or politician that looked at that asshattery and thought that is was a damned fine plan. Just Vote Vets. Now, mind you that when Obama [VoteVets]-canned the idea, Brandon did an about face, and it was suddenly an “inappropriate” idea.

So, it came as no surprise today that I found one of the recommended diaries is by a guy named Rick Duncan, a wounded Marine Captain who served in Iraq. Now, I salute his service, as we all do, but this guy has been on my radar for quite a while for his deft (?) acrobatics on issues. For starters, it should come as no surprise that in addition to being a VoteVets guy, he’s also a member of IVAW. I find it ironic that right after Kokesh is crowing about how IVAW doesn’t support Obama, I find an IVAW guy more than willing to back Obama at any opportunity, but that is neither here nor there.

Today his post is entitled Iraq Vets Snubbed and Forgotten by Lawmakers at Iraq War Remembrance wherein he laments that 700 invitations were mailed to individuals to attend an Iraq War Remembrance, and only 8 people showed up, 7 being veterans. He opines:

Now we know how important we are to you.
You may forget, we will not.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps the reason no one showed up at your party has more to do with you and your group than the supposed indifference to the plight of American service-members and their sacrifice in Iraq. Let’s look at some of the things that Cpt. Duncan has talked about in the past, and from there possibly figure out what his politics are.

Back in January of this year, on the 23rd day of that month, Cpt Duncan lauded the idea by Colorado Governor Ritter to bring the Gitmo detainees to the state. He alledges that this would be good for both the state and veterans. Sayeth the Captain:

Colorado Veterans Alliance, the state’s largest post-9/11 veterans and military group today announced its support for Governor Ritter’s suggestion to house the Guantanamo detainees at the federal Supermax prison in Florence, CO.

Now, a week later, on February 2, the news had this juicy nugget:

Republican lawmakers leading the charge against bringing Guantanamo Bay’s foreign terrorists to Colorado reacted favorably today to Gov. Bill Ritter’s apparent about-face on the issue.

About this about face, the loquacious Captain had this to say.

[nothing]

So it was a great idea when the Democratic Governor suggested it, but when he un-suggested it, it wasn’t worthy of discussion. Interesting.

Back in 2007, Captain Duncan stated that he opposed the war (only Iraq) because of how it affected his troops:

“I continuously saw people being sent back into a meat grinder again and again and again,” said Duncan, 30. “I saw people dying and leaving families and distraught loved ones. Seeing the degradation of the military, the degradation of the troops. There’s only so much you can take before you have to begin speaking up.”

Further, he has suggested that the true problem with the war in Iraq was:

Osama Bin Laden is not in Iraq. He never was. When George Bush yoked this country to the wrong war against the wrong people at the wrong time, he took our eye off the ball and as a result the man who told people to fly aircraft into my building is still running free.

Ergo, we can tell a few things from this. Apparently, his reservations regarding the effect on troops in Iraq is not present in Afghanistan, which is of great comfort to me personally. I am glad that in Afghanistan where I served no one was sent back into the meat grinder “again and again and again”, that no one died (RIP SSG Cherry, Sgt. Beasley), and no one left families or distraught loved ones to be there. In Afghanistan, there was no degradation of the military or troops. If those were his talking points on opposition to Iraq, and he supports Afghanistan, one can only surmise logically that the Captain finds none of those abhorrent things present in the good war. Of course, that may alienate him from IVAW, ah, but the sacrifices one must make on occasion.

Of course, it came as a surprise to me that Duncan was at all surprised that no one showed up at his party. I mean really, the same shit happened last year:

“On the fifth anniversary of President Bush’s infamous declaration of ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Iraq,” wrote the Polis campaign on April 30th, “Jared Polis will hold an open event tomorrow in Denver with veterans of the Vietnam, Desert Storm and Iraq Wars on the lack of and long wait for benefits for Colorado veterans.”

Besides the two invited veterans, David Mann and Rick Duncan who were invited in order to share their experiences, and the staff from the Polis campaign, only one other person was in attendance on May 1st. And that person was our reporter from PolitickerCO.com.

I find it interesting that Duncan appeared at a Polis campaign event, I mean, especially in light of his putting out Veterans Scorecards like this one (yay! Polis got an “A”). According to his website, the Colorado Veterans Alliance aims to:

To ensure the enactment of policies that properly provide for our Troops and Veterans, keep our military strong, and guarantee our national security for the purpose of a stronger America. CVA uniquely empowers Veterans to use their credibility and experiences to speak truth to power, shape public opinion, and place a priority on these issues.

I must have missed the part where it also exists as a partisan entity to participate in campaign events.

But, that’s just kinda dishonest, not really very moonbatty. This is very moonbatty:

And the soldier who was once branded in madness as a baby killer is now glorified as a saint, an angel in camouflage and their service is being used by the Chicken Hawks In Chief as a guilt inducing distraction. The monuments both of stone and of flesh are sullied by those who have propagated this current war of convenience and who see only profit in its perpetuation. Because it is a turf war, a braggart’s war, a who-has-the-biggest-dick war, the Mother of All Oil Wars war. A sick, unjust perversion being waged as I write this, as you read this. It is just another substandard outsourced product, being sold by cynical manufacturers of maladies and corrupt concoctors of cures, bought by a nation of consumers too guilty to stop buying the line, unable to shake their shame for having once treated a previous generation of warriors like shit when they, like their current incarnations, were only following the rules of the game.

Where are the wars to stop genocidal madmen armed with machetes?

Who’s up for some kool aid? Oh yeah!

Allegedly, he’s a Republican too.

CAPT RICK DUNCAN: “Five thousand American service men are dead, twenty thousand grievously injured, hundreds of amputations, hundreds of double amputations. By some economist’s estimates, this war will cost us three trillion dollars. I’m not going to vote for McCain.”

CORCORAN: “Even though you are a Republican?”

CAPT RICK DUNCAN: “Exactly.”

Again, I appreciate his service. And I am sorry for his injuries and his PTSD. As I am for all who have injuries, both physical and mental. But how can one attack the war in Iraq on the basis of what it is doing to the soldiers, and then defend the war in Afghanistan? I happen to believe that the cost we are paying now is less than what we would be paying if we lose both wars. It’s a cost that I, and those who went with me, were willing to pay. And I am certainly amenable to the argument that we should be in A-stan and not in Iraq because the evidence supporting going into Iraq was faulty, and not that for going into A-stan. I don’t agree, but that is at least a defensible position. But it certainly appears from this that the magic formula for Duncan is whatever the Dems decide. When Governor Ritter was for bringing Gitmo detainees to the state, Duncan was for it. When he opposed, Duncan was silent. Duncan opposes Iraq because of the effect of war on the troops, but supports the war in Afghanistan apparently because it is not Iraq. He was against going to Iraq since OBL isn’t there, but is for going to A-stan, despite all credible evidence suggesting that OBL is south of there.

I will give him credit though, he’s at least willing to go to Afghanistan and check it out for himself.

This so called “surge” was a tactical success and a strategic failure. As a direct result of pouring more money, troops and resources in to Iraq, we have lost ground in Afghanistan. With this in mind, I am going to Afghanistan this November just to see how musch [sic] ground we have lost.

Do you want to go with me? I’ll be spending a week embedded with a Marine artillery unit.

I would love to go with you. But, having been in A-stan before, there isn’t really a great deal to see there in November. Nonetheless, I accept!

Category: Politics