# I pit Bush for accepting the Purple Heart **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 24, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443 "2007-04-24T13:00:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/81 "2007-04-24T17:29:28Z")
[Abraham Lincoln, 1860](http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/upload/lincoln_1860_large.jpg) [Same man, 1865](http://www.accd.edu/pac/history/rhines/images/last.jpg) [George W. Bush, 2000](http://www.chrisabraham.com/President-George-W-Bush-Official-Portrait.jpg) [Same man, 2007](http://images.salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/03/31/bush_lies/story.jpg) In my opinion, Lincoln was no saint. He was driven by personal ambition, and could just as easily have been “Mr. Reduced Tariffs,” or “Mr. Civil Service Reform.” But the because he chose the preservation of the Union as his holy grail, with its tremendous cost, his health took a visible toll. Even if 9/11 hadn’t happened, Bush was set to be the Iraq War president. Where is the evidence of the loss of sleep, of the inadequate digestion, of the stress-induced illness and susceptibility to infection that would accompany anyone who’d considered the distance between his goals and their reality over the course of four years? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/82 "2007-04-24T17:31:40Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] **Bush** could have turned down the PH with **grace** and **class**.. [/QUOTE] The bolded words (mine) don’t belong in the same sentence. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/83 "2007-04-24T17:34:14Z")
Sure, they do! “ **Grace** , could you tell the **class** why you believe that **Bush** is a total wad?” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/84 "2007-04-24T17:42:59Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Doing a Google News search I found this related piece. > **[Wonkette | Rebecca Schoenkopf | Substack](https://www.wonkette.com/)** > > Wonkette is filthy, hilarious, liberal news. YOU CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH! Click to read Wonkette, by Rebecca Schoenkopf, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers. Look for George W. Bush Is a Wounded Iraq War Veteran… In His Soul He conjectures: [/QUOTE] Would’ja look at that- I went to college with that blogger. [QUOTE=Lord Ashtar] Seriously **Shodan** , what exactly does John Kerry have to do with any of this? [/QUOTE] The important thing to remember is _Kerry_ didn’t earn his Purple Hearts. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/85 "2007-04-24T17:43:27Z")
[QUOTE=usar\_jag] Each time a person qualifies for a Purple Heart, they are awarded the medal. The recipient is authorized to wear each individual Purple Heart Medal, if they so choose. Or, the recipient can wear just one Purple Heart Medal, with either a gold star(s) or oak leaf cluster(s) on the medal’s ribbon to signify multiple awards. For regular Class A uniform wear, just the ribbon is worn, with the appropriate devices if there were multiple awards of the Purple Heart. [/QUOTE] I think if you look at post#51, section B (1) you will see that this is not the case. Only one medal is awarded, subsequent awards are of of Oak Leaf Clusters. If I am reading it right that is ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/86 "2007-04-24T18:47:09Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] The difference, as even you must realize, is that Kerry was making a political statement with medals he himself had earned. [/quote] Very good. So did the veteran in the OP. But no one on the SDMB objects if someone makes a statement with medals he has earned, unless it is a statement with which they don’t agree. > [@](#): > > The whole point of a medal is that the recipient earned it. Politicians who accept medals that they haven’t earned trivialize the actions of the true recipients. Actually, that depends on what they do with the medals. If Bush were to wear it, that would be bad, If, as seems to be the case, he accepted the gift with grace and in the spirit in which it was offered, then it is much more like someone accepting a flag at a veteran’s funeral, or finding your grandfather’s Normandy invasion medal after your grandmother dies. Receiving somebody else’s medal as a gift is different from using it in bad faith. Using it in bad faith would be more like, say, repudiating the medal and then claiming it when you were running for President. Just to take a random example. 😃 Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/87 "2007-04-24T18:54:53Z")
Accepting the gift as a gift is one thing. Accepting the “citation” is offensive. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/88 "2007-04-24T20:03:25Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] … Using it in bad faith would be more like, say, repudiating the medal and then claiming it when you were running for President. … [/QUOTE] What a lovely bit of spin that is, **Shodan**. Definitely one of your better demonstrations in the arts of dynamic mendacity! “Repudiating the medal and then claiming it”! Boy, that’s a beaut, a ring-tailed humdinger! When you sling the shit, the shit gets slung! I stand in awe. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/89 "2007-04-24T21:10:12Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] You can truly be an ass sometimes Mr. Shodan. Way to misinterpret the OP and toss out a burning straw man. Are you ever embarrassed by what you post? [/QUOTE] Pretty much all Shodan does anymore is post one line drivebys that quite often demonstrate that he hasn’t even really read the OP. for this he pays 14.95? I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/90 "2007-04-24T21:11:44Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] Pretty much all Shodan does anymore is post one line drivebys that quite often demonstrate that he hasn’t even really read the OP. for this he pays 14.95? I don’t get it. [/QUOTE] He’s a Charter Member so it’s only $7.48. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/91 "2007-04-24T21:13:32Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Accepting the gift as a gift is one thing. Accepting the “citation” is offensive. [/QUOTE] And how does one tell the difference? I would expect if one were to wear the decoration. Got a cite that this is what Bush is doing? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/92 "2007-04-24T21:15:24Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] He’s a Charter Member so it’s only $7.48. [/QUOTE] Oh look, a one-line post - **Apos** must be soiling himself in outrage. Besides, mine are always at least three lines, because I am sure to add Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/93 "2007-04-24T21:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] “Bush could have turned down the PH with grace and class” [/QUOTE] Assumes facts not in evidence (Bush having grace or class). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/94 "2007-04-24T21:27:01Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] Pretty much all Shodan does anymore is post one line drivebys that quite often demonstrate that he hasn’t even really read the OP. for this he pays 14.95? I don’t get it. [/QUOTE] He’s the conservative gadfly who points out the hypocrisy of the Left. Kinda like _Mallard Fillmore_, but not as funny. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/95 "2007-04-24T21:38:12Z")
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove] [Abraham Lincoln, 1860](http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/upload/lincoln_1860_large.jpg) [Same man, 1865](http://www.accd.edu/pac/history/rhines/images/last.jpg) [George W. Bush, 2000](http://www.chrisabraham.com/President-George-W-Bush-Official-Portrait.jpg) [Same man, 2007](http://images.salon.com/opinion/conason/2006/03/31/bush_lies/story.jpg) In my opinion, Lincoln was no saint. He was driven by personal ambition, and could just as easily have been “Mr. Reduced Tariffs,” or “Mr. Civil Service Reform.” But the because he chose the preservation of the Union as his holy grail, with its tremendous cost, his health took a visible toll. Even if 9/11 hadn’t happened, Bush was set to be the Iraq War president. Where is the evidence of the loss of sleep, of the inadequate digestion, of the stress-induced illness and susceptibility to infection that would accompany anyone who’d considered the distance between his goals and their reality over the course of four years? [/QUOTE] You don’t suppose increased standards in medical care over the past 140 years could have much to do with that, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/96 "2007-04-24T21:41:15Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Kinda like _Mallard Fillmore_, but not as funny. [/QUOTE] I think Shodan is an irredeemable jerkoff who wouldn’t stop eating the shit straight from Bush’s hole if he were caught using American soldiers for skeet shooting just because it’d piss the liberals off, but don’t you think you’re being kinda harsh here? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/97 "2007-04-24T22:21:01Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] And how does one tell the difference? I would expect if one were to wear the decoration. Got a cite that this is what Bush is doing? [/quote] From the link in the OP: > [@](#): > > Thomas is taking a copy of the original citation showing the origin of the actual medal to present as a companion piece with the citation he drew up for the President. ---
**Author:** ![usar\_jag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@usar\_jag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usar_jag)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/98 "2007-04-24T22:24:03Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] I think if you look at post#51, section B (1) you will see that this is not the case. Only one medal is awarded, subsequent awards are of of Oak Leaf Clusters. If I am reading it right that is [/QUOTE] You are reading that right. Often times, that is not what happens in practice. I was writing my answer to cover all of the US Armed Forces. The the Wiki cite that you are referring to is to an (outdated) US Army regulation. ETA: The current AR 600-8-22 does not differ substantively from the old AR 600-8-22, which was cited earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/99 "2007-04-24T22:33:19Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] That still would leave the vet with two Purple Hearts- why not give one to Cheney? [/QUOTE] I thought Cheney already had a purple heart, ulnless it’s darkened all the way to black. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443/100 "2007-04-24T22:33:47Z")
Just another hijack: How many Presidents have been awarded Purple Hearts? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-bush-for-accepting-the-purple-heart/401443.md?page=6)