Associated Press
Romney in 1965, seen on the far right, protesting in support of the Vietnam War.
At this point in American politics, whether a presidential candidate avoided service in Vietnam is probably an issue that has lost its electoral salience. While the controversy undercut Bill Clinton -- and to a lesser extent, George W. Bush -- its relevance in national campaigns seems to have come and gone.
So, when the AP ran a 1,200-word piece yesterday on Romney's Vietnam-era deferments, it's tempting to think the story just doesn't matter. As the argument goes, his unwillingness to serve, though perhaps embarrassing, doesn't seem to tell us anything important now.
But these assumptions aren't quite right. The story matters in large part because this appears to be yet another area in which Romney hasn't been honest with the public.
Though an early supporter of the Vietnam War, Romney avoided military service at the height of the fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments, according to Selective Service records. They included college deferments and a 31-month stretch as a "minister of religion" in France, a classification for Mormon missionaries that the church at the time feared was being overused. The country was cutting troop levels by the time he became eligible for the draft, and his lottery number was not called. [...]
[B]ecause Romney, now 65, was of draft age during Vietnam, his military background -- or, rather, his lack of one -- is facing new scrutiny as he courts veterans and makes his case to the nation to be commander in chief.
This scrutiny is turning up some underappreciated details, which raise some legitimate questions. Indeed, there's clear evidence to suggest Romney hasn't told the truth about his actions during the war.
In 1965, as an undergraduate at Stanford, Romney not only supported the war in Vietnam, he participated in pro-war protests. That same year, he sought and received his first deferment.
A year later, Romney received a longer-than-usual 4-D deferment, which allowed him to do Mormon missionary work in France, despite the fact that other "young Mormon men elsewhere were denied that same status," and the Mormon Church, which backed the war, "limited the number of church missionaries allowed to defer their military service using the religious exemption."
By 1969, Romney had completed his work in France, but sought and received new deferments.
Many years later, in 1994, Romney said, "It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft." That wasn't true -- he took several steps to remove himself from the eligibility pool.
By 2007, Romney, a presidential candidate, argued. "I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there, and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam."
But that's not what he said in 1994, and if "longed" to serve in the war he protested to support, Romney probably shouldn't have gone so far out of his way to make sure he didn't have to go.
Again, I can appreciate why this all seems like ancient history. But if Romney has misled voters about his decision to avoid military service during a war -- and there's ample reason to believe he has -- that's clearly a legitimate campaign issue. For that matter, if Romney benefited from preferential treatment, unavailable to those who weren't born into a wealthy and politically influential family, that matters, too.
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In the picture above Romney is protesting in a sport jacket. Who knows anyone on the planet that carries a protest banner in a sport jacket?
Romney is as phony as he is intolerant to the marrow.
As a gay Vietnam vet, I find his comment especially insulting. What specific constraints prevented young Mitt from joining-up? None. Members of his social class used their connections to either avoid Vietnam altogether or, as did young Mr. Bush, to find a niche well away from the war zone. Believe me, those of us in Vietnam were well aware of the scams run by these guys.
Having lived through the era of the Vietnam War; watching male friends being shipped
out because their number was called or had enlisted even though they did not
believe in that war they believed in America and the political fear-mongering hype of
the time, I feel qualified to weigh in here. More than a few friends and acquaintances returned in body bags, or not at all. So when rich men like Hypocrite-Mitt Romney who was for the War yet would NOT serve; and GW Bush who played pilot and had a desk job start with their Bull---- politically driven drivel about 'wanting to serve' or "having served', it makes me want to puke! AMERICAN'S .. YOU CANNOT TRUST MITT ROMNEY'.. Spread the word!!
Stupid
Like Dick Cheney, like George W. Bush, Romney had a way to escape going to Vietnam. Like all wars, it was far too easy to start, almost impossible to control and extremely arduous to end. "Peace with Honor" and Kissinger gets a Nobel. Lies upon Lies upon Lies. But power is such an aphrodisiac that now that the White House seems tantalizing within the reach of Romney, he's now a hawk. In his great collection of interrelated short stories, "The Things They Carried," Tim O'Brien, who was there and saw and learned, insists that many men allowed themselves to be drafted and to be thrust into the jungle because of - the fear of embarrassment. People like Romney seem to depend upon a species of national amnesia. Don't connect what I'm saying now with what I said yesterday or last year or fifty years ago. I fervently hope that Americans are smarter than that, but President Obama does not seem smart enough to sell his wares nor does he seem adroit enough to attack Romney in the areas of his total lack of experience.
N.B. tantalizing should be tantalizingly.
Let me see if I understand this right. White Mormon Men, like Mitt Romney, were ordained by the Mormon church, were given Temple Recommends; both required to be Mormon Missionaries - then the LDS would approve applications for these WHITE Mormon men to get deferments as Ministers of Religion.
HOWEVER, the BLACK Mormons, were denied ordination by the Mormon Church, the lack of ordination prevented Black Mormons from having Temple Recommends, which prevented BLACK MORMON MEN from becoming Missionaries, effectively preventing BLACK MORMON MEN from having the same priviledge of receiving Minister of Religion deferments as Mormons like Romney enjoyed in France.
One of the problem, these was a quota system, by state, which only allowed so many Mormon men to receive Ministers of Religion deferments. So if the LDS allowed blacks to have the priesthood, temple recommends, and become Missionaries, the Black Mormon Man would take away a precious few slot from a White Mormon Man - possibly White Mormon Mitty himself.
Discrimination that sent blacks to war in place of White "superior" Mormon men.
maddow you are a b*&^% liberal, no matter what romney are going to win this election, we are not going to fall again on your lies, liberal media. buahahahahahahahahahahah
During these "young and poor student" years he also had a personal chef and a maid while avoiding the draft in France.
i find it rather irritating that the lot of you can call him a coward just because he was able to find a loophole in what is obviously not entirely thought through, i would like at least one of you to explain to me how the mormon church operates, and i would like to hear you tell me in detail and be accurate, because so far, from what i have read it is believed that he had money influences in getting out of the war, which is not true. But again somebody explain to me how EXACTLY the mormon church operates.... anyone?
Vietnam was a false flags war anyway. He probably sensed it and was like screw that follow the Lord's pacifistic ways like the hippies.
Here is story of Romney's car accident and cover ups surrounding it while his father was running in Republican primaries against Richard Nixon in 1968:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CCQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2012%2F07%2F17%2F1110907%2F-Mitt-Romney-s-Driving-Killed-Leola-Anderson-His-Cover-Up-Tale-is-Proved-Dishonest&ei=3QqEUOWQD4m70QHrwoGQDQ&usg=AFQjCNEyj08dD6MJxe9cXOeR1cdvVoZv1A&sig2=_9sAimnmAHpcmTZbomq8cw
"I longed to be in Vietnam and REPRESENT my country." Vietnam wasn't the Olympics - it was a nasty, dirty war - and people fought and died there. They didn't REPRESENT the US, they fought for a nation despite their beliefs. What a sad, sorry, pathetic coward Mitt is.