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Liberal Hall of Shame
Treating soldiers fighting their war as brave heroes is an old civilian trick designed to keep the soldiers at it. But you can be sure our soldiers in Iraq are not all brave heroes gladly risking their lives for us sitting comfortably back here at home." "Our soldiers in Iraq are people, young men and women, and they behave like people - sometimes good and sometimes bad, sometimes brave, sometimes fearful. It's disingenuous of the rest of us to encourage them to fight this war by idolizing them." "We pin medals on their chests to keep them going. We speak of them as if they volunteered to risk their lives to save ours, but there isn't much voluntary about what most of them have done. A relatively small number are professional soldiers. During the last few years, when millions of jobs disappeared, many young people, desperate for some income, enlisted in the Army. About 40 percent of our soldiers in Iraq enlisted in the National Guard or the Army Reserve to pick up some extra money and never thought they'd be called on to fight. They want to come home." The angry octogenarian goes on to cite 23 suicides by troops in Iraq last year, says we must support the soldiers because most "are victims, not heroes," and complains that "Bush's determination to make the evidence fit the action he took, which it does not, has made things look worse," Monday, April 12, 2004 On Sunday's broadcast, Rooney commented on Robertson's January statement that he believes God has told him that President Bush would be re-elected in a "blowout" in November. Rooney said God had spoken to him, saying, "I wish you'd tell your viewers that both Pat Robertson and Mel Gibson strike me as wackos." "They're crazy as bedbugs, another earthly expression," Rooney said, quoting God. "I created bedbugs. I tell you, they're no crazier than people." Andy Rooney: Mel Gibson's a 'Wacko'
CBS "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney has become the first big media personality to admit that he was wrong to oppose President Bush's decision to liberate Iraq. "I have not been a supporter of his. I did not vote for him. And I was very critical of what he did here," Rooney told radio host Don Imus Thursday morning. Andy Rooney: I Was Wrong, Bush Was Right “We should change our attitude toward the United Nations. There has to be some power in the world superior to our own....We should not have attacked Iraq without the okay of the United Nations....Now we have to live with that mistake. We’re living with it, and too many of our guys are dying with it.” 60 Minutes - October 12, 2003
“They [Pentagon officials] say they’re gonna let the correspondents be in with the troops, but I think maybe they’re trying to stick it to the correspondents, they hope some of them will get killed. I don’t know what their point is.” On the Record with Greta van Susteren, March 4, 2003 |
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