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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMichaell Steele and GOP busted with lying about Berghdals's father
Bergdahls Dad: Drone Killed Captors Kid
In a 2010 speech, Robert Bergdahl claimed that the man who held Bowe recently lost a son to a CIA missile drone strike. The reports at the time appear to back him up.
In June 2010, Robert Bergdahl, the father of released American POW Bowe Bergdahl, gave a speech at an Idaho Republican Party fundraiser. In one of his first public appearances during his son's five-year captivity, he asked the conservative audience to show compassion for his son's captorsand, in a twist that foretold the plot of Homelandhe alleged that the United States had killed one of those captor's children with a drone strike.
In the past week, Bowe Bergdahls case has grown into a full-blown political firestorm. The 2010 speech was not televised, but it was one of the first sparks. It was Robert Bergdahl's first turn as either a tool or technician of national politics in his family's struggle.
The Idaho fundraiser was an election year event, and the day's other speakersIdaho Senator Jim Risch, then-national-party-chairman Michael Steele, radio host Dennis Prager, and a belligerent stand-up comic named Eric Golubtook the usual shots at President Obama and rallied partisans to donate money to November's cause. [I covered the event as a reporter for AOL News.]
"There are many things that can hurt America," Senator Risch said. "Al Qaeda, Iran, North Korea, the Talibanthey can all hurt us. But they can't destroy us. This [Obama] Administration can destroy us."
It was four years before Bob and Jani Bergdahl would know that their son's imagined execution would not be videotaped for Taliban propaganda. The traditional symbols of MIA-POW remembrance were laid out before the speakers' podiuman empty table set for one with a white cloth, a red rose in a vase tied with a yellow ribbonand Bergdahl began by explaining why he was at a political event at all.
"I grew up in a conservative family in Los Angeles," he said with a smile. "My father was for Goldwater. He wore a Nixon button in our liberal Jewish neighborhood. I was the lone U.C. Santa Barbara surfer who voted for Ronald Reagan." Many in the audience nodded in approval, and then Bergdahl talked about the work of retrieving his son.
His contacts in the Pentagon had assured them that Bowe's safety was an absolute priority. "Everything that can be done has been done. I have [then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] Admiral [Mike] Mullen's cell phone number on me right now."
Several people in the room began to cry. Then Bergdahl turned his attention to his son's captors, and his speech veered into the complexities and humanism that, four years later to the week, have confounded the American media and made his private thoughts a national speculation.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/06/bergdahl-s-dad-drone-killed-captor-s-kid.html
Cha
(297,136 posts)article and I don' understand this part, either..
"At the GOP fundraiser, the crowd was with Bergdahl when he led a traditional prayer for MIA-POWs. They nodded emphatically when he asked them to pray for his son. But the moment he lost them, when he turned his family's spiritual lens outward, was obvious. They applauded, and a few minutes later, when the comedian made some cracks about Janet Napolitano's weight. Then-RNC Chairman Michael Steele brought the event full circle."
"We are with Bowe," Steele said. "We appreciate the sacrifice of the mother and the father watching their son go off to war. We appreciate it," he said. "But I don't believe this administration, or those of its ilk, appreciate the sacrifice."
Good ol Michael Steele.. and then there's Rince..
thanks for the article, mfcorey
mfcorey1
(11,001 posts)malaise
(268,913 posts)not from his comments on GEM$NBComcast.
When I read about this meeting on another thread, I said OhOh because Steele was about to be exposed for the ReTHUG scumbag he is.
George II
(67,782 posts)Let's not become "republican" by making stuff up, there's plenty to criticize the republicans about without creating things and looking foolish.
Cha
(297,136 posts)know that Bob Bergdahl was speaking at a gop fundraiser back then and they were all for him and getting his son back while they were sliming anyone who wasn't their "ilk".
And, now the gop is sliming Bob Bergdahl while Pres Obama did help get his son back.
Funny how things can 180 on us.
George II
(67,782 posts)Actually, they're sliming Bob Bergdahl BECAUSE Obama got his son back! If it had been a republican who arranged the swap we'd see "Mission Accomplished" banners plastered all over the country.
CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)Rupert Murdoch has them trained to do the opposite of whatever the other side is doing.
Which means that all their actions are uncontrolled reactions.
They've lost control of their own independent thought and actions.
(Most of them anyway. There are a few like Krauthammer who read the signs and went against the grain).
Cha
(297,136 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 7, 2014, 07:06 AM - Edit history (1)
Message! the gop is full of sociopathic liars and their supporters are soaked with brainwashed propaganda.
"gop is full of sociopathic liars and their supporters are soaked with brainwashed propaganda."
And their man Bush started these f*cking wars in the first place!
BumRushDaShow
(128,829 posts)since all of this is a result of them concocting and living in the GOP otherworld.
mstinamotorcity2
(1,451 posts)I want them to keep going. They are backing themselves into the proverbial corner. trying to satisfy one segment of the population only allows for one point of view. That of the one who has their ear. In this case its the 1%. Does anybody know how stupid Senator John McCain really looks coming out talking Smack. I mean Really?? Get back with me in a Month with 38 days!! He was a P.O.W. We didn't leave his Bitch Ass over there. And for those who were against the trade off, get something else to harp on, this is weak and getting real old real fast. You look silly and utterly Ridiculous!! Is your child serving?? If so, maybe you would like for them to stay?? They can. But when Troops draw down, those that got good sense will leave.