“Who fought for you in Vietnam while you were in Paris?”
That’s the sign I saw a protester holding on the way to my rally.
Oh come on.
For Pete’s sake, my father was in the Nixon cabinet. If I went to Vietnam, I never would have been on the front lines or in combat. I would have had a desk job. Look, George W. Bush got a spot in the reserves, and at the time, his dad was only one of 435 Congressman. If you think I would have been sent to combat, you must be crazy. No one fought for me while I was in Paris. Someone else got my desk job. And I’ll bet you $10,000 that guy wasn’t as well connected as I was. So he got a break. The real question is who fought for the guy who got my desk job.
This is nothing new. Andrew Carnegie was drafted in the Civil War, and he paid an Irish immigrant $850 to take his place. Carnegie went on to create thousands of jobs. That Irish immigrant didn’t have to take the $850. It was his choice. The free market worked.
How many jobs do you think that Irish immigrant would have created if he stayed at home instead? Do you really think the country would have been better off if Andrew Carnegie had died fighting the civil war? Do you think that Irish immigrant would have created the jobs? John D. Rockefeller and Grover Cleveland paid $300 for a substitute to fight for them in the Civil War. This is nothing new.
I came home from Paris, and created thousands of jobs. I know my campaign advisers won’t let me say it, but the country is better off if the job creators aren’t put at risk.
And don’t think I had an easy time during the Vietnam War. Have you ever tried to convince a Frenchman sipping a Pinot Noir to become a Morman?
And while you’re at it, stop asking about whether my kids should have served in Iraq. They worked for my election, and the country would have been a whole lot better off if I had been elected in 2008. And years from now, my boys will be job creators too. Just like me. My kids made the right choice.
But don’t dare to say that I don’t appreciate those fine people who did the fighting and dying. I say thanks to them at campaign stops all the time. And I’m the one who will win the vote of the military. Not the guy who envies Europe and apologizes for the United States.
So put your sign down. I’m glad the press doesn’t bother me about stuff like this.