Saigon, South Vietnam (1973) As a result of the Treay of Paris, US troops have been completely withdrawn from South Viet Nam. It is rumored that SecState Kissinger will be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. President Nixon was unable to be reached for comment (something about listening to tapes).
(In other words: just in case anyone hasn’t noticed: the Viet Nam war is over–could we bring Campaign 2024 into, well, 2024?).
I agree that anybody can overly fixate on the past and that our little land war in Southeast Asia has little to no bearing on “modern” issues like health care and pollution. But let’s also not be totally dismissive of the need to understand Vietnam: it shaped both candidates and continues to offer us understandings into their character (i.e. Kerry’s spineless inability to defend his anti-war comments and Bush’s transformation from coddled and debatably AWOL Guardsman into flight-suit-wearing Top Gun). Just because the Emancipation Proclamation was signed doesn’t mean we should talk about race in the campaign….
Comment by Stephen — Thursday, April 29, 2024 @ 1:00 pm
We shouldn’t talk them to death either. Yes, past behavior is a relevant topic, but I don’t think that either Bush or Kerry makes decisions now on the same basis that they did when they were 20. I know I don’t.
What I dislike is Kerry trying to deflect talk about his Congressional record. On the one hand he attacks Bush on the handling of the economy and the war, but when Bush responds with questions about his voting record, well, that’s just Republican attack politics!
Comment by Mark L — Thursday, April 29, 2024 @ 1:45 pm
Beltway Traffic Jam
The linkfest:Steven Taylor has some breaking news from Vietnam that will rock this election. McQ has some questions about the al Qaeda-Iraq connection. Dan Drezner…
Trackback by Outside the Beltway — Thursday, April 29, 2024 @ 3:30 pm
I have never heard anyone, not a single liberal pinko left wing crazy Democrat, NOBODY, say that Kerry shouldn’t have to defend his voting record.
On the other hand, it IS true that a lot of people think that Kerry only has to stand up and say, “I’m not Bush” and that’d be enough. And that’s not a bad point.
Comment by Stephen — Thursday, April 29, 2024 @ 7:09 pm
Well, then what is Kerry (and his surrogates who are slinging the “Chickenhawk” label around) talking about when they lecture everyone on how Kerry served, so don’t question my record on defense when the only attacks that have been leveled about Kerry’s defense record are those abou this voting record. The Bush campaign has actually gone out of their way to say that Kerry served with honor in Viet Nam.
Comment by Steven — Thursday, April 29, 2024 @ 8:13 pm