THREAD

"If you are cornered by a bear, and a fox comes along to help you out, you'll accept help from that fox. That doesn't mean you like foxes."

Malcolm X

Two words why we must keep our eyes on the Lincoln Project folk: Max Cleland.

1/Between 1999-2000, I was Chief of Staff to Congressman John Lewis. One of Georgia's Senators at the time was Max Cleland. Who was Max Cleland?

Before he was Senator Max Cleland, he was an officer in the US Army in Vietnam.

"Cleland then served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, attaining the rank of Captain. He was awarded the Silver Star and the Bronze Star for valorous action in combat, including during the Battle of Khe Sanh on April 4, 1968."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Cleland

"On April 8, with a month left in his tour, Cleland was ordered to set up a radio relay station on a nearby hill. A helicopter flew him and two soldiers to the treeless top of Hill 471, east of Khe Sanh. Cleland knew some of the soldiers camped there from Operation Pegasus."

"When the helicopter landed, Cleland jumped out, followed by the two soldiers. They ducked because of the rotor wash and turned to watch the liftoff. Cleland reached down to pick up a grenade that he believed had fallen off of his flak jacket."

"It exploded and the blast slammed him backward, shredding both his legs and one arm. David Lloyd, a Marine in a nearby mortar bunker, rushed to the scene, took off his web belt and tied it around one of Cleland's legs to control bleeding."

"When the medics arrived, Lloyd left to help another wounded soldier, one of the two who had gotten off the helicopter with Cleland." Lloyd says that the unnamed soldier was crying. "It was mine," he said, "it was my grenade."

"Due to the severity of his wounds, doctors amputated both of Cleland's legs above the knee, and his right forearm. He was 25 years old."

Max Cleland rebuilt his life. Became a VA Secretary under Jimmy Carter. Won a US Senate seat for Georgia - the next to the last Democratic Senator for 20 years.

His opponent for re-election? Saxby Chambliss, who'd dodged the Vietnam draft. Chambliss' goal? Paint Cleland as un-patriotic because he voted for worker protections and labor unions in legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-amazing-story-of-saxb_n_144307

Ann Coulter piled on with one of the most infamous editorials ever written (and I've read a lot of them in my 60 years). What did she say? Glad you asked.

Source: https://observer.com/2004/02/vile-ann-coulter-smears-a-war-hero/

“Max Cleland should stop allowing Democrats to portray him as a war hero who lost his limbs taking enemy fire on the battlefields of Vietnam,” she writes, claiming that he “lost three limbs in an accident during a routine non-. . ."

" combat mission where he was about to drink beer with friends. He saw a grenade on the ground and picked it up. He could have done that at Fort Dix. In fact, Cleland could have dropped a grenade on his foot as a National Guardsman . . ."

"Luckily for Cleland’s political career and current pomposity about Bush, he happened to do it while in Vietnam.”

So who was part of the communications team for Saxby Chambliss? The ad that linked Cleland to Osama bin Laden (you can't make this up).

Rick Wilson.

Yeah.

That dude.

Receipts here: https://publicintegrity.org/politics/anatomy-of-an-attack-ad/

Oh. Here's the ad.

(I know. I started out numbering this thread but I got all hyped up. I LOVED Sen. Cleland, and for him to lose on the humbug? The ONLY election that get my goat more than this one is the Harvey Gantt v. Jesse Helms one I actually worked on.)

Harvey Gantt was the Black Mayor of Charlotte; Jesse Helms was a racist Senator. You remember the race in which Michael Jordan couldn't endorse Gantt because Republicans buy sneakers too. Just saying. Yeah I canceled Jordan then, too.

FIN/All I am saying is be careful. No permanent friends. No permanent enemies. Just permanent interests.

Where our interests and the Lincoln Project's don't align?

Nice knowing you.

Remember Max Cleland.