Friday, March 28, 2008

'Atta boy, Nick

Long time, or even short time, readers of the Cucking Stool will know that Spot had a little post about the cancellation of the Vets for Freedom traveling roadshow at Forest Lake High School. In yesterday's column, Nick Coleman called it out even better: A political agenda hid behind a talk with heroes:

Tuesday's cancellation of a visit to Forest Lake High School by Iraq War veterans in a giant bus labeled "Vets For Freedom National Heroes Tour" produced a bonanza of outraged media reports:

"Heroes banned by School! Minnesota hates the Heroes!"

Or maybe a Minnesota school was just trying to keep its students from becoming pawns in a political game.

There would not have been much outrage if that big bus, instead of saying "Heroes Tour," had been painted to say "Republican Tour to Shore Up the Pro-War Vote." But that would have been an honest paint job.

Here's how the planned visit came about:

The visit to Forest Lake was worked out by [Forest Lake High's principal Steve] Massey and Forest Lake alum Pete Hegseth, an Iraq veteran who heads Vets for Freedom. VFF says it is nonpartisan, but the liberal watchdog group the Center for Media and Democracy said it began as a Republican front group managed by White House insiders.

Their plan? According to the Center for Media and Democracy, the plan is to drum up support for the war. The group's political bent was clear last year when it bought TV ads to thank Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., for supporting the war.

Nick points out correctly that the right-wing blowfish would have a different view if the veteran was on the other, er, foot:

After all, they [students at Forest Lake High] may soon be in Iraq, or Iran, themselves. But if they hear from Vets for Freedom, they should hear from Iraq Veterans Against the War, too. Or see "Body of War," a documentary about a soldier named Tomas Young who volunteered after 9/11 and was paralyzed in Iraq.

"Many of us volunteered with patriotic feelings in our heart," he says. Until he was "sent into the wrong country," to fight in Iraq, not Afghanistan.

Your assignment this morning, boys and girls, is to google (some day they're gonna lose that trademark) "Nick Coleman" to see how many right-wing blogs have commenced their wounded bellowing over Nick's column.

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