Joe Conason (Salon): On Ann Coulter's smearing of Max Cleland

[Jack Rabbit]

From Salon.com (subscription or pass required)
Dated Saturday February 21

Joe Conason
Even worse than Ann Coulter's smearing of decorated war veteran Max Cleland last week are the fawning right-wingers now trumpeting her lies.
By Joe Conason

Ann Coulter just won't stop assaulting the man with no legs and one arm -- but now she claims it's in self-defense. With characteristic panache, she insists that she is the real victim, because her slurs against former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland have provoked outraged protest. She's particularly indignant that some critics (including me) have branded her a liar. And in response, she has compounded her original lies.
Like many other conservatives, Coulter has watched with increasing fury as Cleland and other Democrats discussed the president's spotty service record in the National Guard. By last week, she had become so enraged that she wrote a column -- posted on patriotic Web sites such as the Heritage Foundation's Townhall.com and David Horowitz's FrontPageMagazine.com -- composed largely of insults to Cleland's integrity and record of service in Vietnam.

Read more.

The concluding sentence is worth the price of admission.

[saltpoint]

1. Is the Sedition Act still operative?

I say we round her up and throw her snotty little butt in jail.

[NV1962]

2. Too bad that column had these "sponsored links"

Go Salon! The article is available through a one-day premium pass sponsored by GE, and with the following links you further prove your commitment to stealing their money! Good going!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

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:argh:

[pnorman]

3. I have to avoid signing up

for too many of these things. They add up real fast, and my income earning days are well behind me. But I don't regret signing on with Salon.com. (Premium $35/yr.).

One of the nice features is that I can download it into my PDA (Sony T615) each day with AvantGo. Using AvantGo (free), I can download a lot of other free things including Alternet.

pnorman
STAND UP, KEEP FIGHTING http://shows.implex.tv/wellstone /

[Weathergirl]

6. same here, regarding subscriptions adding up

I agree though, Salon is worth it. They're also starting to sponsor TV commericals about how the networks are owned by corporations and news is filtered - the message is to think for yourself. I'll support that any day.

Regarding Ann Coulter, the tactic of making outrageous, mouthy, innacurate statements just to get sound bytes out there is becoming tired and old for a lot of people. Let's hope that people like her continue to lose their novelty and credibility. I can't wait for the day when she's all washed up like "Dr." Laura.

[mac2]

4. Here's what happended to Max.....

I'm not a Max fan but the truth should be told...

"...Ann Coulter was out and about disparaging Vietnam war hero and triple-amputee Max Cleland last week. Yes, that's the same Max Cleland the GOP defeated in 2002 by running TV ads comparing him to Osama bin Laden (was that your idea, Mr. Gillespie?). Ann the Man claimed in her recent column that Cleland lost his limbs in a non-combat mission "where he was about to drink beer with friends." She goes on... "He saw a grenade on the ground and picked it up. He could have done that at Fort Dix... Luckily for Cleland's political career and current pomposity about Bush, he happened to do it while in Vietnam." Yes, lucky Max Cleland! He had three of his limbs blown off! But there's more... "Cleland wore the uniform, he was in Vietnam, and he has shown courage by going on to lead a productive life. But he didn't 'give his limbs for his country,' or leave them 'on the battlefield.' There was no bravery involved in dropping a grenade on himself with no enemy troops in sight."

"That's odd, Esquire magazine reported in 1999 that he lost his limbs when a grenade accidentally went off as he jumped from a helicopter into a combat zone. And of course, Ann fails to mention that Cleland was awarded the Silver Star for an incident that happened a mere four days earlier. His Silver Star citation says, in part, that despite "heavy enemy rocket and mortar attack Captain Cleland, disregarded his own safety, exposed himself to the rocket barrage as he left his covered position to administer first aid to his wounded comrades. He then assisted in moving the injured personnel to covered positions... Cleland's gallant action is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army."

[Jack Rabbit]

5. My persective as a veteran

From Ms. Coulter's second column on Cleland:

It is simply a fact that Max Cleland was not injured by enemy fire in Vietnam. He was not in combat, he was not – as Al Hunt claimed – on a reconnaissance mission, and he was not in the battle of Khe Sanh, as many others have implied. He picked up an American grenade on a routine noncombat mission and the grenade exploded.

Ms. Coulter also quotes a 1997 newspaper account written by Jill Zuckman in a lengthy piece for the Boston Globe of the incident:

Finally, the battle at Khe Sanh was over. Cleland, 25 years old, and two members of his team were now ordered to set up a radio relay station at the division assembly area, 15 miles away. The three gathered antennas, radios and a generator and made the 15-minute helicopter trip east. After unloading the equipment, Cleland climbed back into the helicopter for the ride back. But at the last minute, he decided to stay and have a beer with some friends. As the helicopter was lifting off, he shouted to the pilot that he was staying behind and jumped several feet to the ground.
Cleland hunched over to avoid the whirring blades and ran. Turning to face the helicopter, he caught sight of a grenade on the ground where the chopper had perched. It must be mine, he thought, moving toward it. He reached for it with his right arm just as it exploded, slamming him back and irreparably altering his plans for a bright, shining future.

In order to deny Cleland's valor in this incident, one must be either completely stupid or completely dishonest. Although I never saw combat, I trained for it, as do all soldiers. What did they tell me about grenades? They told me that they are dangerous; they said that if one tries to pick up a live grenade, one might not be able tell the tale later. Another thing they told me is that if one sees a grenade laying around, one should not assume it isn't live or that it won't explode.

If Captain Cleland were really the coward or fool Ms. Coulter implies, he would have left the grenade on the ground and maybe somebody behind him would lost three limbs or worse. However, it is an officer's duty to protect his men; accordingly, Captain Cleland picked up the grenade.

Even the story that Ms. Coulter uses to denigrate Cleland proves him a brave man.

Ms. Coulter owes Cleland -- and her readers -- an apology.