There's trouble in Connecticut.
At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life.
“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”
There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.
The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.
In 1970, with his last deferment in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. ...NYT
The unit he managed to get into was in Washington. Later, in New Haven, his unit most notably organized a Toys for Tots drive. His efforts to avoid Vietnam were as tenacious as those of Dick Cheney. The problem is that he tends to embellish his lies with greater artistry. He was a bit more theatrical even than Ronald Reagan in his wartime fantasies.
The Times investigation is front page center, three pages long. Blumenthal is probably toast.
Ned Lamont?
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The Hill reports that Joe Lieberman is "undecided" about which candidate to back in the Connecticut race. This latest news gets Lieberman off the hook.
“I’m not sure,” Lieberman told The Hill when asked about an endorsement. “The first thing I’m going to do for now is to do what good Independents do, which is to wait and see who both parties nominate. And then I’ll decide what I want to do, either endorse somebody or stay out of it.”
"Good independent"? Good for what?
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Political analyist Larry Sabato said this morning on a talk show that he wonders what the heck Blumenthal was thinking when he exaggerated his service. Blumenthal, Sabato says, has a stellar resume without Vietnam service. Why on earth did he embellish a great career with lies?
Marc Ambinder writes at Atlantic:
Blumenthal is -- or was -- the odds-on favorite to win Chris Dodd's seat in Connecticut. This is the type of story that Blumenthal can close off tomorrow; if he doesn't, it likely drags him down significantly.
The facts are not unambiguous. The best the Times has is statements where Blumenthal talked about "returning" or "getting back" from Vietnam, but there are plenty of instances where he acknowledges that he never served overseas. That said, he never seemed to correct the impression that he did serve overseas.
