Scandals: A Common Thread

Another Congressman bites the dust in a sex scandal, while a Senate candidate can’t resist embellishing his military record by claiming service in Vietnam. Michael Ramirez deftly unites the two; click to enlarge:

One serious observation about the Blumenthal scandal, which has caused his poll numbers to plunge. His eagerness to portray himself as a Vietnam veteran reveals how far we have come since the 1960s. Blumenthal took advantage of one deferment after another, and finally joined a reserve unit that he knew would never take him into the war zone. There is nothing wrong with that. But at the time, service in Vietnam was reviled by many. Blumenthal could hardly have foreseen that decades later, such service would be a valuable enhancement to his political resume. The fact that in later years he eagerly sought the status of Vietnam veteran demonstrates, I think, that the antiwar forces ultimately lost the battle for public opinion. Too late, unfortunately, to save Vietnam.