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Chicken Hawk US Presidents


By Stephen Lendman
8-2-16

 
The last US president to perform active duty military service was GHW Bush in WW II. GW Bush dodged Vietnam War era service by serving in the Texas Air National Guard - yet was AWOL unaccountably most of the time and permanently suspended from flying.

Media scoundrels ignored what demanded highlighting - along with lots more about his deplorable record making him unqualified to serve.

His vice president/former defense secretary, real power in charge Dick Cheney got his 1-A Selective Service eligible for induction status changed to 3-A to avoid military service altogether.

Bill Clinton was classified 1-A but never served. String-pulling got him a Navy Reserve assignment in 1968 created especially for him at a time no slots in his hometown unit existed. He dodged active service.

Obama and Joe Biden avoided military service. John McCain was the last presidential aspirant to serve since GHW Bush’s 1988 election.

Thirteen US presidents never performed military service: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, Cleveland, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Clinton, GW Bush and Obama.

Bipartisan chicken hawks dominate US politics, raging for wars as long as others do their killing and dying for them.

As part of its daily one-sided/over-the-top anti-Trump jihad, The New York Times largely ignored Clinton, Bush/Cheney, Obama draft-dodging or refusal to serve, singling out the GOP nominee alone for attack.

He was deferred to attend college like numerous other students, then for heel spurs, deferring him as 1-Y for medical reasons.

The same condition nearly ended legendary baseball player Joe DiMaggio’s career. He explained expert surgery gave “a new lease on life for an old machine (aged 34 at the time) that lots of people thought was washed up.”

Spurs are only a problem when causing pain. Trump called his “not a big problem, but…enough of” one for a “long-term walking standpoint.”

Over the last few decades, politicians sought various ways of avoiding military service while eager to send others into battle for them.

Will Trump follow the odious trend if elected president in November? Will he continue ongoing imperial wars, perhaps start new ones?

The last US anti-imperial president was assassinated for wanting America’s involvement in Vietnam ended, rapprochement with Soviet Russia and nuclear disarmament, among other reasons.

Trump is no JFK. He and (overwhelmingly popular at home) Vladimir Putin are The Times’ main punching bags, solely for political reasons.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

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