An Iraq War veteran, Duckworth served as a U.S. Army
helicopter pilot and suffered severe combat wounds, losing both of her
legs and damaging her right arm. She was the first female double amputee
from the war.[3] Having received a medical waiver, she continued to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard along with her husband, Major Bryan W. Bowlsbey, a signal officer and fellow Iraq War veteran, until her retirement from the Army in October 2014.[4]
[emphasis added] All this, and she continued to serve. Beat that, “Cadet Bone Spurs.”
There is certainly a lot of bullshit to be cut through, but I’m not sure the solution to fanatical authority-worship is to hope for someone with more authority to come along and fix it.
So…you’re saying that 45 is somehow implying that… about himself???
Or, more likely… are you saying Senator Duckworth is implying that with her comment?
Because this ain’t about you; she’s making a valid criticism of the POTUS himself, not every single person who is legitimately unable to serve in the military.
Also, IMO she’s not primarily giving him shit for his draft deferments. She’s using his five draft deferments to point out how goddamn ridiculous it is that he wants to play at being an authoritarian strongman now
So you’d be OK with the BS they bandied around about Bill Clinton’s deferments because they really disliked him? If something is offensive out of context, it is still offensive in context.
Duckworth isn’t implying that Trump is a coward because he has a physical disability. She’s implying he’s a coward who avoided military service by falsely claiming to have a physical disability.
Remember, Trump claims to be the most physically fit President in history. He played football, tennis and squash in college and continues to golf with more regularity than anyone in the history of the office. The “bone spurs” claim he used to score five draft deferments is simply not credible.
‘Whataboutism’ doesn’t fly as a legit argument; stick to the actual topic, please.
The subject at hand is Senator Duckworth’s criticism of man who used his wealth and privilege to perpetually avoid serving in the military, yet he wants the ‘unconditional respect’ afforded to a monarch or a dictator, despite having done nothing to earn it.
You can be offended if you want; that’s a choice - but your feelings have no bearing on her message.
Various news accounts in 2011 also stopped short, and the first mention of bone spurs appears to have come from Trump this past weekend.
The fact that Trump was called for a physical within months after graduating indicates that there was a very real threat of him being drafted — long before the December 1969 lottery. Any deferment was more than “minor” then. And one big question is whether Trump actively sought the deferment by bringing a letter from his own doctor to the physical citing the bone spur problem.
So, shrug.
Let’s see if Trump can beat his McCain response:
“He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
For this analogy to work the basis of Clinton’s deferments would have to be an obvious lie and the nasty nickname would have to come from someone who had actually served but whose patriotism had been directly attacked by Clinton.
So, for example:
Clinton lies about being a college student and Rhodes scholar to avoid the draft.
After being elected President, Clinton says that wounded Korean War veteran Senator Bob Dole isn’t expressing ample patriotism by refusing to applaud Clinton’s State of the Union address and implies Dole doesn’t really care about the military.
Dole responds by calling Clinton “Cadet Rhodes Scholar.”
I mean, if Bill Clinton ever insulted a member of the military for their service, I would be perfectly okay with them giving him a mountain of shit for his deferments and draft dodging.
The difference is that Clinton was cognizant of the fact that he was on thin ice with the whole “draft dodging” thing. He avoided it. Trump calls war veterans “losers”. Kinda apples and oranges.
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