Did you know Inouye has a Congressional Medal of Honor?

[Guaranteed]

Not that I'm defending him or anything. I'm definitely not pleased with his vote today.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, though.

[genius]

1. Watch Cover-up: Behind the Iran Contra Affair

You'll lose all respect for Inouye. He's keeping secrets from the American people about the detention camps built for the purpose of re-locating protestors.

[Guaranteed]

3. I just found this:

http://www.medalofhonor.com/DanielInouye.htm

He was in the 442nd.

If what that says is true, this guy is a bona fide hero.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. yes I believe it's how he lost his arm

I think the deal with Inouye (while I disagree with it) is that he has worked on Native American affairs for many years which involves eskimos as well and..well..the eskimos were FOR this.

[tx_dem41]

2. In fact, as I remember...

he lost an arm as a result of the action that led to that Medal.

[Hand]

5. Yes...

He served in the 442nd Infantry Regiment (Go for Broke), the Japanese-American regiment that was the most highly decorated in WWII. He was severely wounded--lost an arm. Clinton awarded him and several others from the 442 (as well as a number of African-American vets) the Medal of Honor many years later.

No doubt he was a war hero and made terrible sacrifices. He's been a senator for many years as well. It bothers me that he voted the way he did, but senator=politician=compromises; I just don't think he needed to make this one.

[lastknowngood]

6. Physical courage and moral cowardice.

n/t

[KansDem]

7. I'll never forget the exchange between Sen. Inouye and Ollie North...

during the Iran/Contra hearings.

Inouye referred to *whatever* was running the Reagan White House as the "secret" or "shadow" government that was behind the "Missiles for Iran, Money for Contras, Coke for America" triangle trade, and North, in his Marine uniform that he never wore on the job in the White House, was, oh so indignant and chastised Inouye for using that term.

I thought "Go to Hell, Ollie;" let the Senator call it as he sees it.

[Guaranteed]

8. I read in a Royko article that Inouye rebuked him pretty

severely. And Ollie knew who it was coming from, too.

[KansDem]

10. Yeah, Ollie was "grandstanding..."

He knew his Marine uniform (which he never wore on the job in Reagan's White House) would win him points with Reagan's America, and sure enough, I listened to a talk show during that time when a caller complained that North should not be questioned by "that Jap." I thought I had stepped into an old, WWII Hollywood movie.

Things haven't changed much...

[Joey Liberal]

9. He was a brave man then - but a coward today

Sen. Inouye abandoned his country today. In fact, by caving on the ANWR issue, he makes it more likely that there will be oil rigs on the shores of Hawaii someday soon.

[Emit]

11. Here's an interesting related article

posted by LiviaOlivia in DU Articles/Editorial section.

The Arctic Refuge;
The Last Frontier

The Akaka Bill for Native Hawaiian sovereignty could reach the Senate floor this year - at the cost of oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

by Jack Kelly


In an ongoing oil offensive that some insiders admit is more about setting a precedent than providing fuel for America, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on the North Slope of Alaska - one of the last true, immense pristine landscapes in the world - is once again on the brink of an invasion by pipelines and drilling rigs.
<snip>

Hawai'i and its two senators are a major focus of the campaign. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye were two of only three Democrats to vote for drilling in the Arctic Refuge when the issue came before Congress last year. A group of Native Alaskan activists came to the islands last month to make their case, touring with a documentary called Oil on Ice. This writer helped facilitate their stay here.
Why would the senators from Hawai'i, a state with a highly pro-conservation, pro-traditional practice constituency, support such a blatantly anti-environmental measure? The Hawai'i State Democratic party is on record opposing drilling in the Arctic refuge, and many grassroots Democrats in the state do not want to see this exquisite wilderness ransacked for what the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has determined might produce enough oil for six months' use in the United States. Yet Hawaii's congressional leadership has taken a stubbornly different tack on the issue.

<snip>
The Hawai'i Connection
As members of the Senate's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska and Daniel Inouye of Hawai'i have long partnered to bring millions of dollars of military expansion funds and other federal moneys to their states.

<snip>
Alaskans React to Akaka's Position
In both the struggle over ANWR and the contest to pass the Akaka bill, those who have been left out of the decision-making process, some believe, are the people who will be most affected.
Although originally opposed to drilling in the Arctic Refuge, Akaka changed his position after a visit to the North Slope where he was given a tour of the area by local corporate leaders in 1995.
"In 1995, I toured Alaska's North Slope, the Prudhoe Bay oil facilities, and the Trans-Alaska pipeline. I met with Barrow and North Slope borough leaders. I toured ANWR and visited the Inupiat Eskimo who live in Kaktovik, the only community in ANWR's Coastal Plain," Akaka explained in an editorial published in a November, 2001, Honolulu Star Bulletin. "The Eskimo I met are subsistence hunters who depend on the land. Sixty percent of their diet comes from caribou, marine mammals, fish and waterfowl. As the inhabitants and stewards of the Coastal Plain for generations, they believe that properly regulated development is compatible with the environment, wildlife and their traditional practices...
<snip>
According to many Inupiat community leaders, however, the picture painted for Akaka is not at all an accurate representation of the position of the average Inupiat.

article here:
http://hawaiiislandjournal.com/2005/02a05b.html