John Kerry Even Flip-Flopped On Veterans Day

Given John Kerry’s (D - France) attacks on our President for daring to defend the war in Iraq on Veterans Day, it might behoove us to remember Monsieur Kerry’s own thoughts on the holiday.

Here they are expressed in the epilogue of his self-suppressed 1971 book, The New Soldier:

And so a New Soldier has returned to America, to a nation torn apart by the killing we were asked to do. But, unlike veterans of other wars and some of this one, the New Soldier does not accept the old myths.

We will not quickly join those who march on Veterans’ Day waving small flags, calling to memory those thousands who died for the "greater glory of the United States." We will not accept the rhetoric. We will not readily join the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars-in fact, we will find it hard to join anything at all and when we do, we will demand relevancy such as other organizations have recently been unable to provide. We will not take solace from the creation of monuments or the naming of parks after a select few of the thousands of dead Americans and Vietnamese. We will not uphold traditions which decorously memorialize that which was base and grim.

It is from these things the New Soldier is asking America to turn. We are asking America to turn from false glory, hollow victory, fabricated foreign threats, fear which threatens us as a nation, shallow pride which feeds off fear, and mostly from the promises which have proven so deceiving these past ten years.

Luckily, John Kerry never politicizes Veterans Day:

November 11, 2005

Senator Kerry’s Veterans Day Message

Veterans Day means different things to different people. This Veterans Day, my mind returns again and again to a flight I took home from Baghdad in August — and an unforgettable reminder of the obligation we have to all who serve the country we love. As we boarded the C-130, I looked into the cargo hold and saw a simple, aluminum coffin with a small American flag draped over it. We were bringing another American soldier home to his family and final resting place.

These brave Americans serving today deserve sound leadership and smart policies so that they can complete their missions and come home. That means a clear strategy in Iraq, shared with the American people. That means helping Iraqis economically, militarily and politically. That means Iraqis fighting for the future of Iraq. That means a phased process for bringing our troops home as benchmarks are met, including bringing home 20,000 American troops over the holidays after the first benchmark, Iraq’s elections in December, is met. Then we can begin to make real the words "mission accomplished."

But on this Veterans Day, we must remember that leadership also means taking care of our troops when they return home. Tragically — and unforgivably — too often that doesn’t happen today.

This year, America’s veterans have suffered another round of deception and misplaced priorities. In June, the administration was forced to acknowledge what many had warned of for months: funding for veterans healthcare was woefully inadequate. The administration sought to cover up the $1 billion shortfall by taking money away from other necessities.

Veterans deserve leadership that understands the moral obligation we have to stand for those who have stood for us. They deserve leadership committed to mandatory funding of veterans healthcare ahead of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Most importantly, they deserve leadership with the courage to take politics out of providing for America’s veterans.

On this Veterans Day of 2005, we must demand accountability from any elected leader whose misplaced priorities leave veterans out in the cold — and at last demand commitment equal to our veterans’ sacrifice.

It would appear that Mr. Kerry always demands accountability for everyone but himself.