Michael Goldfarb is at it again, once again trotting out another veteran turned GOP hatchet man to prove to us that someone, somewhere, did in fact draw a cross in the dirt. This time, it is Swift Vet Bud Day:
After a brief conversation with Col. Bud Day, I can confirm that Col. Day is most likely the toughest man alive in addition to being the most decorated Air Force veteran in history. Some of the details Day shared with the McCain Report are too gory to reproduce here, but he did confirm that “not long after we all got back together [in the camp],” McCain told him the story of the prison guard who drew a cross in the dirt one Christmas.
You will remember Bud Day as the guy who appeared in the Swift Vet ads but who conservatives insist is not to be referred to as a Swift Vet- just bad timing on his part ending up in the same AO as the filming of that commercial. Funny, that, especially since he seems to not shy away from their core message, either. He most recently was trotted out to attack the service and credentials of Wes Clark.
Goldfarb must have unleashed some nerd fury yesterday, because D&D fans were not slighted in this venture. On the other hand, Goldfarb most assuredly was sporting his Star Spangled underoos when writing today’s post, because we get a link to Day’s Medal of Honor write-up. Why is that relevant?
Shut up, that is why!
On a serious note, I am laughing that it was, of all places, the Free Republic where this silliness started. The bonus funny is that Goldfarb seems to have co-opted McCain’s online election effort to continue his on-again off-again feud with Andrew Sullivan. The only thing that has changed, really, is that Goldfarb has moved his portion of the fight from the pages of the Weekly Standard to the McCain campaign blog. That, my friends, is change you can believe in.
demkat620
November can’t get here soon enough.
Incertus
What’s the record for number of times a brain can shut down from overexposure to wingnut stupidity? Because I feel sure that’s one that will fall this year.
Grumpy Code Monkey
It’s September that never ends.
SpotWeld
It’s official.. McCain has left the right-wring bloggers in charge of his campaign.
Punchy
The “most decorated Air Force veteran in history” only made the rank of colonel? Wha?
SpotWeld
And on the topic of nerd fury: it’s now a t-shirt
SpotWeld
If wikipedia can be trusted on this, the “most decorated” Air Force Vetrean is Duane D. Hackney
And further (with the same preface about wiki) the most decoracted officer is Robert L. Howard (who was also a Colonel)
myiq2xu
Turns out Solzhenitsyn never told the “cross in the dirt” story, so McCain couldn’t have plagiarized it from him.
via TPM
I guess Bareback Andy will be apologizing now
chopper
speaking of POWs in vietnam, read sully today? nice point about torture BTW.
Crusty Dem
I wonder, how does one become a full-time, bonafied, professional taint licker? Did these people actively decide that while they themselves will never accomplish anything, they could find people who might, and commence the ass-licking? Is any level of academic background required?
Seems to me all it takes is a hatred of “other”, a complete lack of self-respect, and a major “daddy” complex. Bingo, you’re a successful right-wing pundit. Ok, I’m sure it isn’t really that easy, since Goldfarb isn’t successful, by any reasonable definition. Still, I’m beyond exhausted sharing oxygen with these nitwits.
Jon H
“because we get a link to Day’s Medal of Honor write-up”
If we learned nothing else from the GOP in 2004, didn’t we learn that medal write-ups aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on?
Walker
Indeed, he issued an apology to D&D players.
wasabi gasp
Who’s to say the guard wasn’t looking to play some Tic-Tac-Toe?
chopper
uh, from your link:
the story made the rounds. mccain never mentioned the cross story until long after that point, unless you believe the swift boaters who conveniently back up mccain right now despite no mention of it at all back in the early 70s.
then again, i’d expect you to take mccain’s side in this.
rawshark
I think it’s there because previously wingnuts got into a lather because a CNN piece didn’t include a link to his Medal of Honor write-up. Not having a link to show proper deference to a military figure is unfascist, er I mean liberal.
See, you were looking for relevance to the story, it’s actual relevance is in determining the ideology of the writer. Very important in the minds of the reader he’s servicing. Important because they say it’s important but important either way.
Shygetz
Yes, McCain may have stolen it from Billy Graham, not Solzhenitsyn. All the difference in the world.
cyntax
Jeebus that’s some freudian machismo envy at work there. And it just begs the question of what qualifies Goldfart to judge.
If the Army taught me anything, it’s that there’s always someone with way more badassery than you or anyone you’ve met, or ever will meet–a little humility goes a long way.
And come on, the Air Force?!
/inter-service rivalry
chopper
shit, wasn’t making a cross in the dirt in a scene in ben hur?
Jon H
It wasn’t a cross, it was supposed to be a penis and balls. The guard was trying to proposition McCain.
McCain himself claimed that many of the Vietnamese were gay.
rawshark
You should rethink your handle.
Barbara
Any day on which McCain’s honor is the subject of scrutiny and skepticism is a good day. Things like the cone of silence and the cross in the sand are stupid but still mostly good news . . .
chopper
yeah, that’s why the wingnuts get all in a tizzy whenever a story about wes clark doesn’t include a link to all the commendations he’s won. oh, wait.
chopper
well, he does claim to ‘hate the gooks’.
Conservatively Liberal
Wouldn’t he would need a functioning brain to be able to do that?
rawshark
True, they are selective but I was talking about a specific situation from about a month ago. There was a post about wingnuts going crazy over a CNN article about one of the old swifites that did not have enough information about the swifties war record. I remember one wingnut popping in to call us an echo chamber but even he didn’t say anything was wrong with the article other than the writer was ‘well known’ as a lib. Funnily enough in this case the comment section pretty much was an echo chamber. There wasn’t a whole lot more to the issue than what was obvious so we were all echoing each other that day.
rawshark
Conservatively Liberal
From Andrew Sullivan, via the GoS:
According to the White House, John McCain was never tortured as a POW.
I wonder how long it will take wingnut heads to explode over this.
Zifnab
With campaign discipline like this, how can McCain NOT win the election. All the GOTV efforts in the world won’t stop Johnny’s legion of keyboard commandos from spamming each other with Obama Death List chain emails and New Caliphate conspiracy theories.
Brachiator
I thought that Michael Phelps was the most decorated.
Dennis - SGMM
I thought that Hillary Clinton was the toughest man alive.
HumboldtBlue
Only when she’s wearing her PUMA underoos, and that’s only if Bill hasn’t stolen them to wear himself.
Joshua Norton
Does this site offer any kind of medical coverage? I think I pulled something rolling my eyes.
Conservatively Liberal
You shouldn’t be pulling on something while rolling your eyes. ;)
chopper
truly it’s nothing compared to your blog, which is way awesome.
Zuzu's Petals
Once again, may be worth linking to The Nightingale’s Song (1995) where, on pages 171-174, there are detailed descriptions of three of McCain’s Christmases in captivity (1968, 1969, 1970). Nary a word about a Christian guard or drawing a cross.
As he was bedridden and in a cast during his first Christmas (1967), it’s not likely a guard took him outside for a break. Much less a guard who’d loosened his ropes several months before.
Calouste
Ah, Bud Day.
According to Airforce Magazine
except
and McCain wasn’t. McCain stayed in “The Plantation” camp.
Reading between the lines can give unintended information sometimes.
Roger
Col. Bud Day is a sack of shit who says anything he’s asked too. The “remembering” of this episode is so convenient it’s laughable.
He besmirches the CMH.
Zuzu's Petals
You have to wonder about the integrity of a man who wears his MoH in national television ads smearing another veteran in a partisan political campaign.
And who doesn’t hesitate to wear the ol’ vote getter at campaign stops near and far.
Sioux City
Pensacola
Fort Walton Beach
Zuzu's Petals
Oh, and BTW, it didn’t seem to bother Day (and his VVLF buddies) one little bit to take $100K of SBVT money to launch a harassment suit against Kerry and his colleagues.
The Buck Stops There
A lawsuit that was laughed out of court, incidentally.
jake
If the Cross in the Dirt story is not true, John POW McPOW (R-POW) would make a craptastic president.
BUT
If the Cross in the Dirt story is true, John POW McPOW (R-POW) would make a … craptastic … president.
Huh. The Cross in the Dirt story has absolutely no impact on whether Senator McPOW would make an awful pResident.
But I guess it allows Camp McPanic to deflect attention from the fact that he would make a fucking awful terrible no good president.
Conservatively Liberal
I have heard many CMH recipients talk about various topics over the years, but they were very modest people who were humble about our highest honor being bestowed upon them. They talk mostly about the brave service of others and talk very little about the circumstances that lead to the award being bestowed upon them. They were/are modest and respectful men, so they make what they are saying worth listening to.
Not Bud Day. He lives to flash his CMH and he enjoys the ‘buddies’, access and fame/notoriety that it has bought him. IMO, he uses his CMH for leverage much like McCain is using his former POW status for leverage. Both are disgusting for doing so. Bud Day may have deserved his CMH for his honorable service to our nation, but IMO the way he uses it is dishonorable.
4tehlulz
These French soldiers have (well, had) more guts than Michael Goldfarb and the other k3yb04d k0mm4nd0z
myiq2xu
If she gave Uh-bama one of her balls, they would both have two
Cassidy
Tough and Air Force don’t go in the same sentence. Unless it’s a PJ or some of the other (few) Spec Ops guys, and they play with the Army anyway.
So no shit, there I was…
Conservatively Liberal
Heh.
myiq2xuGoatBoy farted. Anyone got a Bic?Tsulagi
They can, but only in an oxymoron sort of way. However, even if he was in the gay AF, not going to diss the toughness of any MOH recipient.
charlotte
“Toughest man alive …” — Swoon …
I feel like Adele H. chasing Goldfarb freaking bullshit all over balloon juice until I die of exhaustion.
The Grand Panjandrum
Hey, they were smart enough to so gloves right into uniform trousers.
Cassidy
Normally, I wouldn’t either, but this pile of shit gets no respect from me.
Conservatively Liberal
From a poster at the GoS regarding the White House declaring that McCain was never tortured in Vietnam as these are now valid techniques applied by us in the GSAVE:
The poster adds a note at the end:
I thought the same thing about the possibility of someone that we held and tortured later returning home and using their imprisonment and torture by us to aid in their becoming the leader of a nation. Of course, we (at least the wingnuts) would howl that a turrist! is leading that nation.
I wonder if people in Vietnam view McCain the same way.
This is a twisted world we live in.
capelza
myiq2xu…I’v been pretty much gone for a bit, but I swear you used to be a decent poster. WTF happened to you?
I hope I live long enough for the Swift Boaters to be shamed publicly and nationally. I really, really despise them and the damage they have wrought in this country.
cain
Hillary lost. Somewhere in deep in myix2xu’s brain there’s a decent poster waiting to come out.
cain
zuzu's petals
No? My brother flew 349 combat missions during the two years he was in Vietnam.
I’ll refrain from writing the rest of what I’m thinking right now.
zuzu's petals
Listen, I have zero respect for what this guy has become. But enough with that “he’s not so tough” crap.
Jose Padilla
Any of the other 600 POWs ever have this cross-in-the-dirt thing happen to them? Why only McCain? Maybe the guard knew McCain would run for president one day and would need a story like this to win over the fundies.
Cassidy
I did over 300 combat patrols while in Iraq for one year. Doesn’t make me tough.
Good idea.
I’m sure he’s tough, but “teh toughesest guy eva!!!!”? I don’t think so. You want to read about tough and Air Force? Do a Google search on Jason Cunningham.
NonyNony
The nerds were not happy. My perusal of various gaming boards suggested that conservative gamers were probably more unhappy than liberal ones, though.
OTOH, now you can get your own “Pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons Crowd” T-shirt. Nerd rage can be channeled for good (or at least for amusing).
zuzu's petals
I’ll take your word for it. Not everyone’s as tough as my brother.
Yeah, I’m sure you hear that stuff every day anyway.
Never said he was. I was responding to the folks insisting he couldn’t be tough at all because he was USAF.
I’m not one who needed convincing, remember?