I have never watched the TV cartoon series, "Family Guy." Too old, I guess, to get all the hip humor.
"It’s not a secret that Family Guy is famous for its offensiveness and tendency to cross the politically correct line. That said, I suspect they may be called upon to issue some sort of apology after tonight’s episode (not that they will, but I don’t think this will go unnoticed…by a longshot).
Here’s what happens: On a search to find the source of all dirty jokes (which eventually leads them to Virginia) Peter, Quagmire, and Joe pass through Washington, DC where they see the Washington Monument, the Obama Monument (it’s black) and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This is the part that is going to ruffle some feathers. Standing in front of the Memorial are two Vietnam Vets and a Vietnamese man who calls the Memorial a “scoreboard” and says “aw, what happened to your friends? Hey I know that guy, I killed him, he cried like a bitch. Vietnam! Undefeated!”
Um. I’m sort of at a loss on how to follow that exchange except to say the funny is lost on me. I suspect it’s going to be lost on a whole lot of people (though, I guess you never know)"
And, this on the same day that the Attorney General of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal (currently a Democratic candidate to replace the retiring Senator Chris Dodd) was exposed by the New York Times as having repeatedly lied about his service as a Marine in Vietnam and his alleged maltreatment as a returning veteran.
Blumenthal was a Marine, but never set foot in Vietnam. Just another one of the four out of five men who responded to the 2000 Census long form, saying that they served in Vietnam when, in fact, they had never been in Vietnam or had never served in the military at all. Must be tough to be asked by your grandchildren, "What did you do in the war, Grandpa?" Particularly if you were in Sweden or Canada, or were just too stoned to realize that burning your draft card might cause problems later.
My 30+ West Point Classmates who died in Vietnam, all of my Class who served our country in combat, and the large number of us who were wounded and/or permanently disabled are not amused by either Family Guy or Mr. Blumenthal.
Freedom is not free.
