# Senate candidate lies about service in Vietnam. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 18, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875 "2010-05-18T13:31:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/21 "2010-05-18T14:41:09Z")
The man is a lying sack of shit, but even worse are all you left-wing liberal eggheads that are closing ranks and blindly supporting him just because he’s a demon-crat. Have you no shame? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/22 "2010-05-18T14:43:15Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Yeah, this guy is scrod. > > I was watching a piece on this on MSNBC this morning and apparently (and I could be wrong here) but he didn’t originate the lie; he just never corrected anyone when they identified him as a Viet Nam vet. Then after the fact, once the non-denials got out of hand, he latched onto it like a barnacle and couldn’t let go – ultimately repeating the lie bald-facedly. Now he’s up to his spasming sphincter in it and there’s no going back. > > He also apparently lied about being on the Harvard swim team. Oh he was _on_ the Harvard swim team, just not a member of it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/23 "2010-05-18T14:45:38Z")
[Video added for your viewing pleasure.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEl0wMmyZ2Q&feature=player_embedded#!) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/24 "2010-05-18T14:45:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The man is a lying sack of shit, but even worse are all you left-wing liberal eggheads that are closing ranks and blindly supporting him just because he’s a demon-crat. Have you no shame? ??? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/25 "2010-05-18T14:46:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I haven’t seen what MSNBC is reporting. If they found evidence for that it might be true, but the Times story makes it sound like he spent years carefully implying he’d served in Vietnam by saying using the truth about his service to create a false impression. And more recently he screwed it up by stating flat-out that he was in Vietnam.x Well, I wasn’t taking detailed notes, but that’s the gist I got from it. They went on at length about how all these different rolls, or statements, or whatever listed him as Viet Nam War Vet that he never denied … and then rolling it right into the “When I was in Viet Nam …” stuff that there is no going back from. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/26 "2010-05-18T14:49:20Z")
> [@](#): > > “We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Do we know for certain whether he’s had any study abroad programs where he might have taken a job as a waiter? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/27 "2010-05-18T14:54:17Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > ??? Remember, as the **wise man** said, “all democrats are liars.” ---
**Author:** ![Phatlewt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Phatlewt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phatlewt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/28 "2010-05-18T14:56:35Z")
[Something about it makes me think of this scene.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4qQ66LgM1c#t=00m34s) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/29 "2010-05-18T15:00:44Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > You can’t _prove_ Blumenthal was born in Kenya! That’s because his Vietnamese “Birth Certificate” is really just a “Certificate of Live Birth.” ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/30 "2010-05-18T15:01:08Z")
This is a completely media generated story. As far as I can tell, Blumenthal is guilty of nothing more than innocently confusing his own service record with the plot of First Blood, Part II. All he wants is what every other guy who came over here and spilled his guts and gave everything he had wants! For their country to love them as much as they love it! That’s what he wants! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/31 "2010-05-18T15:09:30Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > Oh he was _on_ the Harvard swim team, just not a member of it. I think you’re confusing him with Eric Massa. That was a helluva birthday party. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/32 "2010-05-18T15:31:11Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > This isn’t even on the map, frankly. GWB never lied about where he served. During a visit to West Virginia in January 2002, Bush joked, “I’ve been to war. I’ve raised twins. If I had a choice, I’d rather go to war.” [Link](http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0309.mendacity-experts.html). > [@Czarcasm](#): > > The man is a lying sack of shit, but even worse are all you left-wing liberal eggheads that are closing ranks and blindly supporting him just because he’s a demon-crat. Have you no shame? Actually, no. I’ll agree that he’s a lying sack of shit, but he’s OUR lying sack of shit. If we were back in the ‘bipartisan’ era that David Broder longs for, where many Republican Congresscritters would support Democratic initiatives, and vice versa, I’d cheerfully sack him. But we’re not in that era anymore; we’re in a near-parliamentary situation, where the most important thing about a legislator, quite frankly, is whether s/he’ll vote Democratic almost all the time, or Republican almost all the time. I’m sure that Rob Simmons is a hell of a nice guy who, back in 1975, would have voted for reasonable Democratic legislation as a Republican Senator. But as a Republican Senator in 2011, he will rarely cross party lines, and will generally be one more vote to filibuster practically any Democratic legislation. I believe that passing Democratic legislation will make a positive difference in the lives of millions of Americans. Then I have to ask myself, for comparison’s sake, just how Blumenthal’s lies about his military service will affect the world, should he manage to get elected despite those lies. And I’m coming up empty here. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/33 "2010-05-18T15:31:59Z")
When I read this story I thought, ‘‘Well, _his_ career’s over.’’ What a sleaze. And not a particularly smart one. It’s such an easily falsifiable claim. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/34 "2010-05-18T15:37:03Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Ah ha! > > This proves all Democrats are liars! Thanks for the assist, **Bricker**! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/35 "2010-05-18T15:39:45Z")
…because he didn’t think anyone would notice? I mean, really, what the fuck? This is kind of like what Edwards did. Not the bad thing, but doing something so mindbogglingly stupid, and then thinking you’re going to run for a national post, with millions of people gunning for you, and thinking you’re going to get away with it. At least with Edwards he could tell himself that there was no paper trail, so he might pull it off. But this guy? I know he’s trying to play the parsing game and say that he “served during Vietnam”, but it’s pretty clear what he was trying to pull. Let him burn. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/36 "2010-05-18T15:42:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The man is a lying sack of shit, but even worse are all you left-wing liberal eggheads that are closing ranks and blindly supporting him just because he’s a demon-crat. Have you no shame? It’s hardly our fault. The Liberal Media doesn’t give us any choice. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/37 "2010-05-18T15:42:35Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Ah ha! > > This proves all Democrats are liars! > > 😃 Naah, they just can’t lie half as well as Republicans can. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/38 "2010-05-18T15:42:42Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Remember, as the wise man said, “all democrats are liars.” [/QUOTE] Huh…and I always thought it was ‘all politicians are liars’, and the way to tell was to check to see if their lips were moving… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/39 "2010-05-18T15:44:26Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > During a visit to West Virginia in January 2002, Bush joked, “I’ve been to war. I’ve raised twins. If I had a choice, I’d rather go to war.” He was a POW in the War on Drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875/40 "2010-05-18T15:45:02Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Thanks for the assist, **Bricker**! 🙂 You passed the puck to me when I was right in front of the net. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-candidate-lies-about-service-in-vietnam/539875.md?page=3)