Senator Cornyn is Palling Around on the Pants on Fire Express

by: Libby Shaw

Sun Oct 19, 2008 at 09:24 PM CDT

This has been a very long election cycle that started almost two years ago.  As an outside observer, while cruising alongside this very long and winding road in politics, I have to say I have learned an awful lot about so many things.  I have seen inspirational and electrifying candidates and I have witnessed some mighty disingenious and dishonest ones.

The political pundits informed me about their notions of political history and demographics.  I did not know another state of Alabama existed between Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania.  Nor did I know New Hampshire is the Alabama of New England. I think it was Joe Scarborough who informed me about the coastal regions of Alabama, Mississippi and some of northwestern Florida. This area is known as The Redneck Riviera.    

I had to scratch my head a few times when Chris Matthews and Pat Buchanan would refer to  working class "ethnic whites" in the northeastern U.S.  Then my memory took me back to a 1970's sitcom called All in the Family whose central character was Archie Bunker, a bigoted white working class guy who lived in Queens, NY.  Archie must be the guy they are talking about, I thought.  Archie referred to his fictional Polish-American son-in-law as "Meat Head" and "Pollock." He had other choice names for his daughter and son-in-law's ethnically and/or racially mixed friends as well. The creator of All in the Family had intended for the show to be a comical satire but this was lost on much of the viewing public.

I never knew a place like Wasilla existed nor did I know there is fringe political independent parties scattered across the U.S. from Wasilla, Alaska to Georgia (that would be U.S. Georgia) that want to secede from the U.S.  

I learned a lot about narratives, closing the deal, pie, orange juice, coffee, hair styles, make up, gender, age, one's disposition, mavericks, mavericky, SNL, non-mavericks, a family in Texas who are the true Mavericks, Joe Six Pack and Joe the plumber who is worried about the 250K he saved to buy his boss's plumbing company.  Since I have a brother-in-law in Ohio who is a plumber I called him to ask if he had socked away 250K in his piggy bank. Karl the real plumber in Ohio asked me if I was on drugs. Next I learned that Joe is not a plumber and Joe's first name is Sam. I also learned that there is a pastor in Alaska who will perform witch exorcisms. I learned the straight talk express alternates between a virtual hate talk express and/or lying express, depending upon on McCain's polling numbers and his and his campaign mangers' mood swings or the media spin cycles.  

Vietnam War Dodger Senator Cornyn Demands Decorated Veteran Noriega's Military Records?

by: Libby Shaw

Sun Feb 17, 2008 at 04:23 PM CST

Now why would our distinguished junior Senator from the great state of Texas want to examine the military records of the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Lt. Col. Rick Noriega?

For what purpose?

I think we all can guess at the reason.   Let's put it this way. Cornyn dodged the Vietnam War when he could have served in the military, but he instead actively sought a way out.  Lt. Col. Noriega, on the other hand, enlisted in the National Guard in the 1980's in response to the Iranian hostage crisis.  He later served in Afghanistan as a result of 9/11 and the war on terror.  

But this is an election year and it obviously has dawned on Cornyn that he had chosen to shirk his walk while Lt. Col. Noriega has walked his.  And so now we have a threatened and scared Republican Senator who will fabricate smear for the sole purpose of saving his own scared and sorry derriere.  

I don't think any of us will ever forget the relentless and unconscionable swift boating of John Kerry in 2004, who unlike Bush, did serve in Vietnam.   And Bush supporters smeared Kerry mercilessly for it. Yes, folks, this is the sick, twisted and toxic manner in which Republicans and their supporters thrive. The pathetic cowards will smear and demonize decorated war heroes. GOP smear mongers have no honor. They don't even know its meaning.  

Like W., Texas U.S. Senator Cornyn did not serve in the Vietnam War.  Both men were of military age at the time and as we know, both are right wing war hawks today. And yet neither was willing to fight in a war themselves when they had every opportunity to do so. While W. his behind his Daddy's clout and buddies to dodge Vietnam, Cornyn bailed out by using a loophole in the law.  

Clueless about the hard and real consequences of warfare, an inept Mr. Bush distracted us from the real war on terror by fabricating an unnecessary debacle called Iraq.  His equally oblivious and war dodging soul mate, Mr. Cornyn has blindly and routinely supported W. in his irresponsible quest that has undermined our military as well as our national security.  70% of Americans believe Iraq is a mistake and not worth the price.  So much for putting chicken hawks in high positions of power that involve decision making about warfare, our military or our national security.  Not to mention the inconvenient truth about our now busted and seriously overdrawn national piggy bank.  

It is apparently so easy for swaggering war dodging chickens to send others off into the killing and maiming fields and squander our national treasure while the chickens roost safely at home completely insulated by bastions of personal financial protection and fortresses of political power.    

A couple of months ago progressive bloggers, Vince Leibowitz, Hal Heitman, and I put our keyboards together to do a little research on Cornyn's military history, or rather, the lack thereof.  We knew given Cornyn's age that it is likely he had to have participated in the mandatory Vietnam War draft lotteries of the 1970's  During the time in which so many men Cornyn's age were drafted into military service we wanted to know why the Senator was neither drafted nor did he enlist.  

Vince had discovered an article written in the San Antonio Express News on October 20, 2002 (Section A, page 12) that revealed Cornyn avoided the Vietnam War draft by obtaining a student deferment in 1970.

In 1970, Cornyn requested and received a student deferment from the draft, which was abolished shortly before he graduated in 1973.  

"There was a lot of soul-searching going on and a lot of questions about our nation's role in the world," he said. "Ultimately, I turned out to be pretty much a chip off the old block."