Vance fires up the Swift Boat campaign on Walz

Ask Walz. That’s what this thread is about.

 

Why would I ask Walz?

 

Then make an actual case rather than obliquely referring to 19 years of public statements. Show me a major speech in which he defined himself to voters with untrue statements. If all you have is a single offhand remark from a speech years ago (that, again, you falsely stated was from the speech yesterday) that wasn't even about his military service but rather gun policy, then your case is beyond weak. And, as I said initially, a sign of the desperation of Republicans at this moment where they haven't been able to gain any footing for weeks now.

 

To add to this, Reservists can declare their intent to retire 9 months in advance of their last day of enlistment. And the military prefers at least 6 months notice. So Walz not only retired 2 months before deployment, he declared his intent to retire 8 to 11 months before.

Again, 24 years and honorably discharged. What's the problem?

 

What proof do you have?
Vance says he was ‘asked’ to go to Iraq and he went.

Has he released his military records? He volunteered to go or was he ordered to go?

 

I was referring to his quote in your post.

 

He enlisted in the active duty U.S. Marine Corps in September of 2003. That was a pretty direct ticket to Iraq for most folks.

 

Obviously not for him because he was ‘asked’ to go.

 

He was promoted to CSM in April of 2005, retired in May of 2005, and then his rank was administratively reduced back to Master Sergeant for not completing courses required by his promotion. That doesn’t really scream that his retirement had long been in the works - neither does his statement in March of 2005 about how it would be his duty to go to Iraq if his unit was deployed.

 

As an Afghanistan vet, I have no problem with what he did. At 24 years, he did his time. You don’t need to deploy to serve honorably.

 

Stolen valor is one serious accusation that you just don't throw out. The man served 20+ years and you have to put in a request for a retirement up to a year before retiring. Vance is a veteran and knows that. You just don't slander a veteran's military record without proof. The GOP has now stooped to a new low.

 

Retiring from the military is not like putting in your 2 weeks at other jobs. It's a long process.

 

You don’t need to deploy to serve honorably.

 

Here is his statement on the matter from a while back:

While he may not have the law correct (I don't think it is actually the Hatch Act), active duty military are prevented from engaging in pretty basic political activities.

Know before you post: politics in the service > Joint Base Langley-Eustis > Article Display

It seems like if he was about to be called up to active duty, he would need to suspend his campaign to abide by the law. I can't think of anybody on active duty who has run for office while on active duty. Can you?

 

CIC Bone Spurs and Couch Banger gonna hang a hat on a 24 year-year service member.

Whoo, slow day in the MAGA Idea Room.

 

He retired in May of 2021 to “focus on his campaign for Congress.” His campaign for Congress didn’t exist until February of 2021 (check the FEC filings) and in March of 2021 he put out a statement about how he intended to continue serving while he ran for Congress. That would seem to be pretty objective proof that, at least in his case, retirement was not some many months long process.

It’s difficult to be a candidate while on active duty (someone who was already a candidate when called up for active duty can remain a candidate if the activation is for less than 270 days, for anyone else it requires approval of the Secretary of the applicable service branch, and there are severe limitations on what either can do in terms of campaign activities).

https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodd/134410p.pdf

The idea that he decided his personal campaign for Congress was more important than deploying with his unit (notwithstanding that he said the opposite a month earlier) doesn’t feel great to me, but it’s certainly true that it is quite difficult to be both a political candidate and an active duty member of the armed forces. DOD’s guidance suggests that the appropriate remedy for that difficulty is to end your political campaign, not retire from the military, but it is what it is I guess.