“Phony Soldiers”: VoteVet’s Perfect Retort
By SusanUnPC on September 28, 2007 at 4:11 PM in Afghanistan, Iraq, Soldiers/Veterans
Take this, Rush Limbaugh:
And there’s a great letter to VoteVets.org supports from our friend Brandon Friedman (aka “Angry Rakkasan”):
Dear VoteVets.org Supporter,
Whew! It has been one busy week for us, but we wanted to take the opportunity to let you know what we’ve been up to, thanks to your support.
First, today, we released the following internet ad, challenging the notion Rush Limbaugh put forth on his show yesterday – that those of us who fought in Iraq, and came home to speak out on the President’s failed policy, are “phony” soldiers. Until Rush Limbaugh has one of us on his show, to say that to our faces, or admits he was wrong, we’re going to keep on him. We will not let someone try to silence us by smearing us.
Second, we just got back from our few days in DC. Thanks to you, we were able to fly in, and house, some of the greatest patriots you could ever hope to meet. All of these fine men and women served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and rather than doing the easy (and deserved) thing by taking time off, they’ve all committed to speaking out. Here are some of the highlights of what your money helped us to do:
Each of our veterans received training on how to effectively communicate with public officials and media, from top professionals in the business. Paul Begala, former advisor to President Clinton, came and gave our veterans some great pointers!
Some of our vets got intense one-on-one media training, to prepare them to do national television and radio at the drop of a hat.
We held a press conference and were joined by Senators Dick Durbin, Patty Murray, Charles Schumer, Barbara Boxer, Bernie Sanders and Representative Ellen Tauscher, highlighting the need to refocus the war on terror, to responsibly exit Iraq and go on the offense against al Qaeda.
Our veterans then blanketed Capitol Hill to lobby Congress to pass legislation mandating rest for our troops between deployments. That amendment passed in the House, but was killed in the Senate by the minority (even though a majority voted for it).
On that note, we also wanted to alert you to a very important website – www.restedandready.com – which has information on that legislation, and how you can help get it passed. We strongly suggest you go to that site, and pass it on to all your friends and family who support our troops and veterans.
We’ve got some huge plans ahead, and look forward to keeping in touch, and keeping you all involved.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely
Brandon Friedman
Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran
Vice Chair, VoteVets.org
Peter Granato
Iraq Veteran
Vice Chair, VoteVets.org
Let’s SUPPORT VoteVets.org!
And there’s Brandon’s new book: The War I Always Wanted: The Illusion of Glory and the Reality of War: A Screaming Eagle in Afghanistan and Iraq. (I have a copy, but haven’t begun reading it — which I intend to begin this weekend.)
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
by 
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.by David Fredosso who wrote 2008's 
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